A Birth day

They were gone for a about 90 minutes, and then they came back. Marcus had his arm around Angus's shoulder, and they were still talking. They were, however, both eating large sugar cookies that were pumpkin shaped and iced with colorful icing.

When they went in the house, Marcus handed Aria and Ruby each their own pumpkin cookies.

"We ran into Kate over at the farm," Marcus said.

"No, she came looking for us," Angus said. "And she came bearing cookies."

"Well, she did actually come looking, to be honest," Marcus said. "She apparently was uprooted by his distress. She didn't see what he saw, but she felt his distress."

"I'm going to go check on the chicken. I'm not discussing this again," Angus said, heading for the kitchen.

"He doesn't remember a lot of the details. I'm guessing he must have been in a deep sleep," Marcus said quietly. "All he remembers is that he dies, we die, we all die. That's honestly all he remembers. It isn't enough. There's not enough information there to be helpful. I'll just have to keep my eyes open at least unless he remembers more. Kate thinks it very likely is a threat and not a premonition. And if it is just a threat, then we can prevent it if we stay on our toes."

Ruby and Aria both smiled when Marcus and Angus returned both eating cookies , Ruby stood up and walked over taking hers from Marcus " we'll have to tell Kate thank you" she said as she started to eat her cookie as she listened to Marcus talk of what had been bothering Angus " hum sounds like it " Ruby said " but I do agree , we all should be on our toes." she said as she ate her cookie.

Aria saw Angus go to the kitchen " I did the rub and got them trussed and ready for the oven, hope its okay" she said pulling back the tin foil to show him. he saw her cookie on the counter and nodded to Marcus a thank you.

"It looks good. Thank you. You did great," Angus told her. He put the chickens in the oven and adjusted the temperature. "And now we leave them alone to roast. They'll be great."

Anise came back downstairs, sighing.

"What's the matter?" Marcus asked.

"I'm never gonna get it," she said. "I lost every game."

"But are you learning?" Marcus asked.

"He says I am, but its so confusing. I can never remember which one moves which way. It's so complicated."

"You'll get it."

"Isnt there a game where all the pieces move the same way?"

"Checkers?" Marcus teased.

"No, you dope. Backgammon. Teach her backgammon. She'll get that in a hurry," Angus said.

"Oh! Yeah. Backgammon. It is less complicated. You're right. Good idea," Marcus said.

"I'm up for it, but I need to finish an essay for school. I put it off because of the tournament, but its due tomorrow," Anise sighed.

"We'll be eating in an hour or so," Angus said, starting to set up the sideboard for supper so it was ready whenever the chickens were done. He sliced the pies and set them out, along with setting out supper plates, dessert plates, coffee mugs, water glasses, wine glasses, silverware and the rest of it. He even set out a corkscrew for opening the wine he knew Edward would bring.

"I'll have it done by then," she said, heading downstairs.

Aria smiled when Angus said she had done a good job with the chickens and then watched as he place them in the oven to cook. Taking her cookie she opened it and sat to eat it. Seeing Anise return from upstairs she chuckled and nodded she understood how she felt. " that's a good idea" Aria said " I found backgammon easy to learn, way easier than chess" she said as she munched on her cookie " and these cookies are great" she added.

Ruby looked at Anise and nodded when she spoke of having an assignment to do " assignments are important , shouldn't let school slip " she said smiling to show she agreed and was glad Anise still thought of her school work.

While supper was cooking, Angus happened to glance out the window and saw an owl sitting on the kitchen windowsill at the cottage.

"Marcus, you lot have an owl at your place," Angus said.

"Hm. Probably letters from the kids. They tend to write on the weekends because they have more time then," Marcus said. "I'll go tend to it, if you say inside while I'm gone."

"Certainly," Angus said. "The chickens are probably done, so I need to get them out of the oven and start plating thee vegetables and carving the chickens."

"Be right back," Marcus said, taking an owl treat from the jar. Marcus let and crossed over to the cottage. When he got there, he saw that the owl did have a talon full of letters, and he took them and gave the owl a treat. He turned around and he saw that the kitchen door of the cottage was open an inch. He knew for certain he had locked it before he had gone to the duplex. He drew his wand, now on high alert. He touched his medallion just once to alert Aria to be on alert but not to page her to the cottage. He presumed that the yellow glow of the medallion and not the bright red alert light would be enough of a heads up, just in case.

He walked through the cottage, checking every room, every closet, every nook and cranny. He saw nothing. Nothing missing, nothing out of place. It made no sense at all. He double checked it, going through it a second time. He cast revelio spells everywhere, and it showed him absolutely nothing. Frustrated, he left the cottage and walked over to the closest groundsman.

"Did you see anyone over at my house today?" he asked, trying not to be demanding about it. "Someone was in my house. My door was unlocked after I locked it. Someone's been in the house, and I need to know who it was."

"I didn't see anything, I swear," the groundsman said, but I can ask around. I can notify Jack. If there's an intruder here, we'll find them."

"You'd better find them before I do," Marcus said unhappily. He headed back to the duplex. He looked at Aria and then at Ruby and Angus. "There were letters from the kids, but there was something else. The back door of the cottage was unlocked. I didn't find anything missing or broken or moved. I cast revelios everywhere, and I came up empty handed. I did not leave it unlocked. I don't like it. We're going to be extra careful tonight."

Angus didn't say a word. Whatever was going to happen, it was already in motion. All the reassurances he had gotten from Kate and Marcus were going to actually be for nought because the wheels had already started to turn. He did not want to alarm anyone, so he kept working on carving the chicken and arranging it on a large serving platter for supper, acting as if it was just another Sunday night.

Aria watched as Angus served up the chicken and smiled " smells great" she said as Ruby walked over to him and smiled at the smell.

"have to agree on that" she said taking a small piece of the chicken he'd just cut up " tastes good too" she added and chuckled as she heard the toddlers wake from their nap " okay back to mom duty" she said and walked over to the play pen.

Aria glanced out the window when the mention of an owl was said she smiled and nodded it could be letters from the kids. She watched as Marcus walked to the cottage but then went inside before returning outside with what she could see a very puzzled look on his face. Aria felt her medallion vibrate she glanced at Ruby and Angus not wanting to spook them but she did glance over at the cottage and wave she had got his alert and moved close to Angus and Ruby her eyes watching what was going on around her, her wand was slipped into her hand while she walked around the duplex living area .

Jack had sent Sam to the main house to wash up when he saw Marcus talking to a grounds man " anything wrong?" he asked walking over to him.

"Someone's been into my house," Marcus told Jack. "I am positive I locked the door when I went to the duplex this morning, and I found the door standing open just now. Someone's been inside. I didn't find anything moved or taken or broken, and I've checked every room, every closet. But no alerts have gone off on the grounds? And nothing taken? Nobody's seen anything. No one here has any need to break into my house, and no one else has keys except Aria and I, oh, and maybe there's one at Angus and Ruby's, but we've been with them. I don't like it at all. We've had intruders here before who haven't tripped our alarms, and with Angus having weird dreams, I don't think we can afford not to be on alert. If we have an intruder, we need to know."

Angus set the chicken and vegetables on the table and called the kids to wash up. Andrew brought Elwood downstairs to join them at the table, and Edward came over bringing two lovely bottles of white wine. Angus opened them and poured the glasses.

"Come fix your plates, Everyone," Angus called.

"I've been smelling your cooking all afternoon," Elwood said. "Do you know what a welcome smell that is becoming for me? It smells like the sort of home I should have always been in, and the only one I want to be in."

"And the one with family, where you belong in, now and for the rest of your life," Angus smiled. "Hungry?"

"Starving," Elwood said. "If I stay here and keep eating like this, I'm going to need a whole new wardrobe because these clothes aren't going to fit."

"I will gladly buy you more," Angus smiled.

Jack listened to Marcus and then to the man next to him " Jenkins go fetch Hanson and do a full sweep of the area double the guards on the perimeter" he said and the man ran off " we take this sort of thing serious, especially around what happened to Angus" he added " it is strange that your door was open but nothing was removed or broken" he added walking over to look at the lock on the door.

Ruby picked up Caprice while Aria picked up Amari and took them to the high chair but she didn't sit with them she stayed on her feet as Ruby dished up food for the babies and herself as Elwood joined them at the table to eat. Aria kept looking around as she could see Marcus talking to Jack and a third man who ran off once Jack had spoken to him.

"I am not generally a target of anything and neither is Aria. It's weird, but, if someone is trying to start something, I can assure you, I will not hesitate to finish it," Marcus told Jack. He sighed. "Alright. I'm leaving this to you. I have to get back to Angus. He's having dreams that it isn't just him this time, that we're all going to die, and that's just weirder yet. It has definitely rattled him, and he doesn't rattle easily. Someone's mucking with us, and Angus tells me it doesn't seem to be Suzanne. But that only means we should be that much more alert. I'm heading back to the duplex. If I can do anything, let me know. Thanks, Jack."

He turned and headed back to the duplex. He went in and saw everyone else either already seated at the supper table or fixing their plates.

"What's up?" Angus asked.

"Someone's been in the cottage," Marcus said.

"What?" Angus frowned. "What for?"

"Dunno. I've searched every room, every closet, every nook and cranny. Nothing seems to be moved, missing or broken. No alarms went off, so there was no alert of any intruders. Nobody seems to have seen anything. Jack's going to get the grounds crew on it, and I've made a security check and made sure it was all locked up."

"Get your plate fixed, then, and get something to eat. If you and I need to go out and make our own sweep, we'll do it," Angus told him.

"Yeah, you're right," Marcus sighed. He fixed his plate and joined everyone else at the table. He was just taking his first bite of chicken when he heard a woman's voice in his head. And no one else at the table appeared to hear anything. It was a woman's laughter, and there was something familiar in this voice, but he couldn't place it. It was just a laugh and a whisper, saying, "...too late. You're already too late...."

"Angus," Marcus said, trying to be casual about it, "has your gran been around through any of this?"

"From time to time, but nothing in the last couple days," Angus said. "Not that I'm aware of."

"Would she come and not alert you?"

"Possibly, but that would be rare. Why?" Angus asked.

"Just curious. She's been helpful with things that are out of the norm," Marcus said.

"True. Well, I'll try to focus in on her a bit more, and if I see or hear anything, I'll let you know."

"Fair enough," Marcus said. "Just might make my job and Aria's a bit easier, that's all--at least until we know what we're up against."

Jack looked at Marcus and nodded " good , now head back and enjoy your supper" he said and patted Marcus on his shoulder as he watched him leave. Aria saw Marcus walk back to the duplex and slipped her wand back in its holder at her thigh. Watching enter she heard his words and frowned " that is unusual." she said know how Marcus was on locking up and security.

Ruby looked at Angus seeing something on his face change but she said nothing and just kept feeding Caprice her supper while Aria moved over to sit with Amari to help feed her. Both listened as Elder Caprice was spoken of. " I for one would feel happier knowing she was around" Ruby said and looked to Angus.