A Birth day

Ruby listened to Marcus and nodded to him. " I can understand his reluctance, but she can't get away with it" she added but heard Angus as he spoke she looked to Marcus some what confused at Angus last words as she had never heard him talk that way before but she could understand why he was saying it.

Ruby returned to the kitchen " well if anything does happen I do not want to know " she said taking the last batch out of the oven to cool. Aria just sat quiet listening to them talking knowing it was Angus prerogative if he wanted to take it further or drop it. She opened her paper and began reading from it.

Angus got up and headed upstairs to get some clothes go try to dress.

"Well, since she's not out of Azkaban, this is not something we need do anything about today," Marcus said. "I suppose I should go help him so he doesn't need to come back down naked." He got up and headed upstairs.

"He can be far more of a closed book than I realized, it seems," Elwood said. "I hope Robert can get him to work through some of it, but I don't get the feeling Robert takes no for an answer very often."

Marcus helped Angus clean up and dress, and he was in a bit of a better mood when they came back downstairs.

"Angus and I might go out for a very short walk," Marcus said. "Since he's still working on getting his energy back, I doubt we'll be gone long--unless there's any objection."

"None from Elwood and I," Andrew said. "I'm going to start taking him out for a little on good weather days because I think some fresh air would be good for him and might help him to continue rebuilding his immune system a bit. That, and he really enjoyed walking in the grass again."

Ruby and Aria both saw Angus head up stairs followed by Marcus. Aria placed down her paper and looked at the babies. Ruby placed the cookies on a plate and looked up seeing Marcus return from upstairs. Hearing him mention they were going on a walk both women shook their heads.

"none from me." Aria said looking over at him " enjoy your walk" she added with a smile. Ruby looked at Marcus and shook her head.

"me nether" she added placing the plate on the table for any one who wanted a cookie.

Marcus took Angus outside for a walk, hoping that Angus would vent maybe a little, but he didn't.

"What is it you really want?" Angus finally asked Marcus.

"You're moodier than normal lately," Marcus said. "You shut down any idea of a long weekend yesterday. You don't want to see Dora pay for her crime. You don't want to testify at the Wizengamot, and you don't want to talk to Robert either. What's up?"

"It's a matter of trust."

"With whom?" Marcus frowned as they made it clear down to the pond.

"When we talked about taking a boat to the island, Ruby didn't want to do that because of the problems the last time we went out. We've gone out before with no issues, but now she doesn't trust me..."

"I don't think that's the case..."

"Okay, in order, then. First question--When a witch chooses a muggle helicopter over a wizarding boat, there's no trust. I'm staying home. Edward can shove that island where the sun won't ever shine again. That discussion is closed. Question two-- I don't want to testify because I don't trust them. I'm not testifying--discussion closed. And your last question--I don't want to talk to Robert because he's going to want to talk about what I do and don't remember, and when it comes to that, I don't trust myself. It's all about trust. And that discussion is closed too. And so is the discussion you're going to try to have to try to change my mind."

"I see."

"No you don't. Ruby's happy, so don't be trying to cause a problem where there isn't any. If I'm lucky, Dora will go free, and I'll never hear from her again. If she comes again, I'll take care of her. I'll protect my family like I always do. Done?"

"Not really," Marcus shot him an amused grin.

"Bastard."

"Well, I figured I might as well give it a try since I'm the only one who could get away with it."

"Yes, and now you're done and I'm heading home. Its eight miles from the house to the pond.

"More like about 50 yards," Marcus laughed, motioning for Angus to sit on a log by the pond and catch his breath before heading back.

"Ruby," Elwood said, "I am not trying to interfere in your marriage. That isn't my style, but perhaps you and Angus should consider maybe some sort of really short outing when he's strong enough to do it. Even if you just go to the Leaky for a pint. Or go to Sparks for breakfast or some other idea--something you both would enjoy. Not about overing the physical activity, but maybe just to get a little change of pace without anyone else there--just the two of you. It doesn't have to last long or be far. It might do you both good."

Ruby look at Elwood and walked over to sit facing him as he spoke to her about taking a break once Angus was better " I have been thinking about that myself" she said and looked at him " I was thinking of taking Edward up on his offer of the island and yes I'm going to go by ship, have to have at least one good memory of sailing again with Angus without a sinking" she said with a chuckle " or as you suggested the leaky for a pint and some good food, maybe even Sparks in diagon alley." she said as she looked at him " we both need something" she added.

Aria looked up and looked to Elwood nodding " I agree they both need a day out on a date" she said smiling " maybe arrange something with Sparks as a back up." she suggested and Ruby looked to Elwood to see what he could suggest as she placed two cookies down next to Elwood.

Thank you, Aria. Ruby, I don't know when he's going to be ready or able to go for a full weekend," Elwood told Ruby. "I'm not a healer either, nor do I profess to be. Robert would need to weigh in here. I could be wrong but if you go, and if you want time alone for two, I think, most likely, you would have to have someone sail you to the island, drop you off, and come back and get you when you want to leave. I don't know if he has quite the strength yet to captain a boat by himself--especially if any rough seas come up. And, if you would go this soon, you'd likely be doing all the cooking and a few other things. I think he's certainly stronger, but he's not 100% yet. As an alternative, though, you could go out for a couple hours. Go out to eat. Go browse at Flourish and Blotts since he reads. I'm sure you can come up with some ideas of your own."

"Angus, I don't foresee the Wizengamot being all that gutwrenching," Marcus said.

"No," Angus said sarcastically, lighting a cigarette. "Certainly not. All I have to do is tell them what I remember, which, incidently, is not the same as what the rest of you say actually happened. And, even though what apparently really happened should have only been somewhat traumatizing, what I remember happening was quite another story. Now--once again--the discussion is closed."

"I'm not trying to diminish what you remember."

"Then why on earth do you think I'm just jumping at the chance to rehash it in front of a bunch of bureaucrats that honestly don't give a damn about what I think I remember? Some things that are up in my head are not things that anyone else needs to know!"

Edward came in with half a dozen bottles of good wine from Tuscany.

"Thought you lot might like to try our new limited edition spiced wine for fall and winter," Edward said. "I think you'll find you can just decant it and cast a warming spell on it. No need for hours of simmering on the stove. And why does it look like Angus and Marcus are having a row? Is there a problem between them?"

Ruby listened to Elwood and nodded " we could wait to do that when hes a bit stronger but the couple of hours out might be good " she said then heard Edward walk in with several bottles and she heard him say it was mulled wine " wow nice" Ruby said and walked over to take a bottle from him. Looking at it Ruby smiled as she took it to the kitchen.

Aria looked at Edward and smiled " good idea" she said taking another bottle from him " it will go great with some pumpkin pie" she said smiling to Edward " or on its own." she added with a chuckle.

Marcus continued to talk with Angus to try to get him to unwind just even a little bit. It did take some doing. He finally managed it by agreeing that postponing a weekend for even a little bit would be probably better, but he had managed a compromise by suggesting that maybe a weekend away still was a good idea and did not have to involve sailing of any kind. As for the wizengamot, Angus was going to leave that to Robert to argue with. Angus was tiring, and continuing to try to solve Robert's issue for him with Angus just wasn't going to happen this morning. Truthfully, though, Robert ran into tougher characters than Angus on a daily basis, so Marcus wasn't worried. Angus finally went inside, and he found himself a couple aspirin powders in the cabinet.

"My dear friend can be a bit of a pest at times," Angus told Ruby, taking the aspirin powders. He looked at the spiced wine Edward had brought over. "Hm. That's interesting. You've been considering a spiced wine for years, Edward."

"And my dear friend has a stubborn streak," Marcus said, amused.

"I have," Edward said, "but I put it off because our Christmas celebrations in Tuscany had gotten pretty small in the last few years. Now, however, we have no shortage of people, so I thought maybe it's time to actually do it."

Ruby saw Angus return and grab some aspirin powders from the cupboard then noticed the bottle she had taken from Edward " I thought we could try some" she said smiling as she pored two glasses and warmed it a little before handing it to Angus and she took a sip of hers " yum, very nice Edward" she said handing her glass to Aria so she could have a small tastes too.

"very fruity" Aria said " but nice" she added taking a second drink from Ruby's glass before ruby took it back and chuckled as she walked away from her making Aria chuckle. Hearing about Christmas in Tuscany.

Ruby smiled " that sounds perfect." she said " but we'd have to give ginger and Anise the option to have it with us or with her dad , or we could invite him too" she said as she sipped on her mulled wine.

"Oh, I wasn't thinking of going to Tuscany," Edward said, "though I suppose we could. I was honestly thinking of bringing Evan and his family here instead."

"Thanks," Angus said, taking the wine from Ruby.

"i think the girls know they have the option anytime of going to visit Dennis," Angus said. "They were with us last Christmas morning. They went to see him in the afternoon while we weren't doing anything. And, since the full moon is liable to still be giving the pack problems during that time, I don't think they'll go see the pack til afternoon this year anyway."

"I seem to remember the girls or Dennis, one or the other," Marcus said, "telling me once that the pack didn't do much of a Christmas observance--solely because they were rather limited to meat for their meal, and also because when you have a lot of people living a nomadic lifestyle, any gits have to be very small or very practical or preferably both."

"You're right about that," Edward said. "When Fenrir was sick here last year, he and I spent many hours talking. He said that Molly actually got them started with a rather Victorian tradition of sorts. She got the women knitting Christmas stockings, and they would fill them with oranges, peppermint sticks, dried fruits and nuts, chocolates, cookies and usually a pocket sized puzzle book of some sort, along with a new pen or pencil. And, when Christmas was over. the Christmas stockings were transformed into something else--a warm winter scarf, some gloves or some socks, usually. Molly apparently became concerned that when one's diet is almost exclusively meat, the risk of illness from a lack of Vitamin C becomes quite high. So, citrus fruit became a much desired commodity and a perfect gift. As it is, I have arranged donations of as much fresh fruit as the pack can eat this winter, including an abundance of citrus fruit from our place in Tuscany. The nutrition won't hurt them a bit, and we have plenty to spare."

"Thank you," Angus said. "I was hoping to discuss diet with them to try to encourage them to have a bit more balance."