A Birth day

"Oh, I'm not complaining a bit," Elwood said. "Of the two of us, I was much more down to earth than Pearl was. She was set that we had to rival some of the old pureblood families like the Blacks and the Malfoys. Frankly, I couldn't have cared less. My family was a farming family, and we grew herbs for potion makers. At the time, we had one of the largest herb farms in the wizarding community. In fact, Horace Slughorn and I grew up together, and he was the one who managed to talk Hogwarts into buying most of their herbs for the school from my dad. Pearl, on the other hand, came from a poor family, and she had it stuck very deeply in her head that she needed to make something of herself and her life. I wanted to keep up the farm, and Pearl wanted nothing of it. So, as soon as we had enough money, she bought us a house in a much more affluent neighborhood, and it ended up that i had to sell the farm to pay for the house she'd bought. We were just two very different people, she and I. I probably should have been a lot more assertive. Maybe none of this with Pearl would have ever happened."

"You can't look back, Elwood," Angus said. "You still have a family, and there is plenty of land here, and a lot of crops. When you're well enough, we'll take you to see all the fields, and the creatures in the barn. This operation is so much bigger than you know, and you can be as much a part of it as you want."

"I'll consider it," Elwood smiled. "By the way, the salmon is lovely. Well done, Lad."

"I'm glad you like it," Angus smiled.

Aria listened to Elwood and smiled nodding as he spoke of his past and how he should have been more assertive " Angus is right can't look back because you can't change the past, look forward because that you still have to come" she said smiling then chuckled "oh its amazing" she said as she continued to eat her own food before once she had finished Ruby smiled and took the empty plates from every one and took them to the kitchen.

Joseph walked to his room and quickly changed into some boots and dry trousers he slipped on a rain coat and headed out for his patrol walking the permitter of the grounds making sure the charms and barrier was still strong. As he walked he saw Jack walking the opposite way and stopped so he could give his report.

Angus went upstairs when he finished eating, and he found Amari in her crib, sucking her thumb. He wiped the tears off her face and brought her back downstairs and put her back in her high chair.

"Feel free to try it again," Angus told Ruby quietly, knowing Ruby had put a plate for her in the fridge.

"Can I get you anything else, Elwood?" Andrew asked.

"My heavens, no thank you," Elwood said. "You have no idea what this is like for me to go from the stuff...and I use that word generously...that the pukwudgie made to having such excellent food at every meal. It still is beyond anything I could imagine."

"Save a little room. We have cake for dessert," Angus said.

"Cake?" Elwood asked.

"Angus always makes dessert," Andrew laughed.

"I'll clear the table and then serve some coffee and some cake," Angus said.

"What kind of cake?" Sam asked.

"Orange Creamsicle cake," Angus replied.

"Yum!" the kids said.

"What's a creamsicle?' Elwood asked.

"Basically, its an orange vanilla flavor," Marcus said. He explained what a creamsicle was as Angus cleared the table and served mugs of coffee and then proceeded to serve slices of the creamsicle cake.

Elwood wasn't certain he had room for cake--until he took the first forkful of cake. His face brightened.

"I don't know where I'm going to put this, but I'm sure going to try," Elwood grinned. "This is incredible."

"I'll finish that for you if you can't manage it," Sam teased.

"You touch my cake, and I'll break your arm, Boy," Elwood teased him right back. The kids all laughed.

Ruby watched Angus head up and return with a much quieter Amari, setting her down she stood up and move to grab the plate , unwrapping it she set it down in front of Amari " now shall we eat properly" she said seeing Amari pick up her spoon and eat quietly next to Ruby and Ruby smiled to her. " much better" she said as she took some cake from Angus .

Aria took a bite and looked to Elwood " oh your so right this is wonderful" she said continuing to eat loving he tang of the orange with the creaminess that touched her tongue as she ate . " I dough there will be any of this left after tonight" she said as she licked her spoon once she was finished eating her first bowl.

"I'm glad you like it," Angus told her. Everyone finished their dessert, and when supper was over Andrew took Elwood upstairs to help him wash up before bed. Angus knew that Andrew had not said he was taking him for a shower. Instead, he was helping him wash up instead. Angus knew Andrew's thinking. Elwood just wasn't strong enough to put through the ordeal of a bath on a daily basis. Helping him wash up needed to do in between. Angus was glad that Andrew was being conservative of Elwood's energies. Elwood was looking tired tonight, and Angus had expected it because of the busy day out at the beach for him.

"Is he okay?" Ginger asked.

"His energy readings are really low," Anise said quietly. "Like yours used to be when you were really sick."

"Yes. I know," Angus said. "He is very weak, and he went with us to Tuscany this morning. I think he had a really good time, but I know it tired him. Besides, he isn't used to having the good meals we have here. He's not used to having as much food as he wants whenever he wants it. It's a big adjustment for him. I think Andrew is right to help him settle in bed early. I'm sure he's going to sleep quite a lot until he starts to get stronger. And that's fine. He believed he was dying, and that could still happen. I hope he changes his mind, but either way, this is his home now and we'll do our best to take care of him."

"Okay," Ginger nodded. She and Anise got up and cleared the table. Angus set washing up spells in place to get the dishes cleaned up. Then the kids all headed for the showers.

Aria and Ruby said night to Elwood as Andrew took him upstairs , seeing the babies become tired once their tummies were full Aria took Amari for a bath while Ruby cleaned up Caprice for when Aria returned to take her for a bath too. Ruby listened to Angus and nodded " it might take time for him to realize we're not letting him go with out him knowing what a true family is" she said smiling as Caprice lent on her shoulder " oh thank you girls for cleaning up."

Aria returned without Amari and gently took Caprice opting to just give her a gentel wash down before putting her to bed since she was already sleeping on Ruby's shoulder. Ruby let her take Caprice and moved to the kitchen to clean up , putting all the plates into the washer and set it going.

The girls headed to their rooms, and Sam and Victor came down after their showers and wanted to talk to Angus. They both approached him about two apartments that were coming available and they were asking Angus about his opinion of them each renting one, moving out to start living on the estate in their own places. They were wanting to get set up in their own places so that as soon as the girls could move out, they could move in with them.

Angus wasn't entirely surprised. Sam and Victor posed strong arguments to Angus. they both had stuck with school until they graduated, and they had both earned their apparition licenses. They both had full time jobs, and they had worked them steadily for over a year now. They hadn't missed work, and no one had ever complained about their work. They had saved up every bit of money that they had not had to spend. They weren't guys that enjoyed going out to the pubs, and they had both taken the organization training. By everything they could both think of, they were good, decent, stand up young men.

Victor had one point that he was up front about but it was scarcely a surprise. Neither of them had the furnishings for their own places, and they were hoping not to blow all their savings on furniture and linens and dishes and such.

"Well, I'm not entirely opposed. I don't know how Ruby feels, though," Angus said. "You're both adults, so you don't honestly have to ask our permission but I appreciate it. If you want my help in getting some good deals on furnishings, I can help you with that. However, let's get one thing straight. I am not going to let Anise and Ginger quit school to go move in with you while they are both still under age. That's just not going to happen. That is something I have a voice in, and my voice is absolutely not."

"As long as we're looking at that," Sam said candidly, "you do know that we're not just holding hands anymore, right?"

"I am very much aware," Angus said, "but do spare me the details. I don't need or want to know any more. That still does not mean I am ready to let you four start cohabitating yet. That isn't going to happen. They have one more year of school to go, and they are going to finish. They've worked too hard for you two to bait them away with raging hormones. You let them finish or I will put a crimp in your styles. Understand me?"

"Yeah," both boys sighed.

"You talk to Ruby, and then decide if you can afford it and if you want to do it all on your own or if you want some help, and if you want help, you have to decide if you want the sort of help that I'm willing to give," Angus said.

Ruby sat and listened as Sam and Victor talk to Angus she said nothing and let Angus talk when he said they would have to talk to her she looked up and at them both " Angus has said all I would" she said smiling " and yes I agree with Angus about the girls, no cohabitation until they are of legal age, and I hope to god you guys use protection" she added then paused.

Hearing Angus mention about being able to afford moving out , ruby looked to Angus " then back to the boys " you do have a trust but Angus control's it till your twenty one, but with his permission and atheisation you can pull from it to get furniture and necessities, but that's not things like muggle game consoles or games" she said to them then looked to Angus " You could go with them when they chose the furniture." she said simply standing she walked to the fireplace and opened a small box taking out two payment books and handed them to Angus. " I'll let you decide if you want to show them , exactly how much they have in their accounts." she said and sat back down.

"We know about those," Sam said. "Angus didn't make any secret about them, but we also know we don't get them until we turn 21, so that's gonna be awhile."

"I set up the trusts to not be granted to you until you're 21 so you didn't misuse those funds. I deposit into them monthly. The girls also have trusts, and they work the same way. However once you turn 21 and you receive the trusts, if you do decide to burn through it and buy muggle toys, I can't stop you. That'll be your choice. You've always been able to look at the passbooks, but just as I told you then, I need to keep the books if you want me to keep depositing into the accounts."

The boys opened the books, looked briefly at them and handed them back to Angus.

"So can we furnish our places from the trusts?" Sam asked.

"Are you 21?" Angus asked. They rolled their eyes at him, not liking that Angus wasn't budging to let them tear into the trust money.

"But don't you know how expensive furniture and stuff is?" Sam whined.

"As a matter of fact, no," Angus said sarcastically. "I stole all the stuff in this house. Stole the wood and the glass and the nails to build it, too."

"Idiot," Victor snarled at Sam.

"How are we ever going to afford..."

"Calm down. I told you I might consider helping. You might not get the finest furniture on the market, but if you're willing to learn to shop wisely, I would consider helping you buy the things you can't afford. But you might be surprised how much you can do without in your first place. You each get me a list, room by room, of what you think you're going to need. We'll negotiate and then we'll consider shopping. I'll let you know which things I'm willing to buy and which ones I think you should buy. Fair enough?"

"Maybe," Sam said. "Guess we'll have to make lists first."

"You do that. take your time. We don't need it by morning."

The boys sighed and went upstairs without saying a word.

"They don't need to tie into that money," Angus said to Ruby. "They haven't needed to spend much of anything at all out of their earnings. I've never charged them for room and board, and I've paid for all their clothes and pretty much everything else they have since they moved here. I don't know how much they have actually saved, but I think they need to learn to do some wise money management right from the outset. I want them to dig into some of those savings rather than to start dipping into their trusts. If I'm wrong, you're entitled to tell me."

Ruby let Angus talk and show them the funds and the amounts in it. She stayed quiet as he explained then she spoke " some flea markets have great second hand things in them really cheap too" she added then watched them head up to their rooms and she nodded " oh I will let you know I think with the wages Robert is paying them they should have a fair amount but nothing exorbitant." she added as she took out her book and opened it as Aria walked down from putting Caprice to bed.

"okay both out like a light" she said " oh I made a cursory check on the upstairs before I came back down." she said and sat down with them for a moment before getting back up and grabbing a mug of coffee. She watched as Finn himself lay by the back door looking out but not going out as she saw Jack walk to the Fae area to help clean and dry it up ready for them to return.