A Birth day

Ruby chuckled and looked up from her game " sounds a good idea" she said with a single move of her knight. She and Aria sat listening to them men talking and smiled " well , we'll have to suggest that to Jada and see if she wants to do that" Ruby suggested " but it would make sense and she'll be safe here too"

Aria glanced into the play pen as she heard one of the girls whimper in their sleep and pulled the blanket over her. " does sound good to me too" she said " since we have our cottage close by too she'll have company and we'll keep an eye on her when we do our checks" she added

Jada came back downstairs, not feeling that she should remain by herself that long, and she found Simone heading for the kitchen. Simone laid a cookbook on the counter, and Jada went over to look and see what she was doing. When she saw the picture of a decadent chocolate dessert, her eyes went wide. She pointed to the dessert and pointed to herself.

"It's a kind of a really decadent chocolate cake, and it's going to be dessert for supper tonight. Do you cook?" Simone asked, and Jada made a gesture to try to communicate that her skills were so-so. "Would you like to help?" Jada nodded. "Well, perfect," Simone smiled. "By all means. How about starting by grating those chocolate bars? We're making ganache." Jada frowned, not knowing what ganache was. "You'll see," Simone laughed, handing her a bowl and a box grater.

As Angus was debating on going and starting on the macaroni and cheese casserole, Robert came over and let himself in as he usually did.

"You've been busy, haven't you?" Angus asked. "You have that look."

"I have a look?" Robert asked.

"Actually yes. Sort of like a man on a mission," he replied.

"Ah, well, yes. In that case, yes. I have been. So here's what we know so far. The orphanage had some very sketchy documentation about Jada. The name was given to her by the director at the time. That woman is deceased now, so some details do appear to be lost. However, Jada appeared to be perhaps 3 1/2 or so when she was taken there. There was a photo of her in the file, which they gave me." He handed Angus a photo of a small, white haired little girl with those same stunning teal eyes.
"They actually had her listed as being albino, which, of course, we know isn't true at all. That photo was taken in 2007. That means she is most likely either seventeen or eighteen."

"And that's what we pretty much surmised," Marcus said.

Aria walked over as Robert walked in and handed Angus the file they had on Jada. Aria looked at the photo and smiled " she was a cute thing" she said " who would give her up , just leave her at an orphanage" she looked to Angus and Marcus.

Ruby walked from the kitchen and over to Angus " casserole is on, mac and cheese right?" she said softly and smiled as she looked at the photo in the file " hum easy to see why she was classed as albino with looks like hers." She said hearing Simone talk to some on next door and she knew it was Jada.

Aria heard Simone talk and moved to sit back down on the couch while she read the news paper some on had left on it.

"Well, Ruby, that's the thing that doesn't set well with me. I need to know more. I have Michael coming everywhere to see if he can find more," Robert said. "According to the file, a woman who had whitish blonde hair and the same teal eyes brought her there and dropped her off, saying she was just a neighbor. She told the director that the mother's life had taken a bad turn, and the mother couldn't keep her anymore. The woman got a bit weepy at having to leave the child there. Frankly, I'm not buying it. I think that was the mother herself, and I actually don't know whether I want to be right on that or not. There's a notation in the file that the woman actually wanted to leave by the back door. I think the mother was on the run from something, and she gave Jada up to try to keep her safe."

"How much do you want to bet her mother was running from the same damn faepyre that Jada's running from now?" Marcus said seriously.

"And you just read my mind. That's exactly what I'm thinking," Robert replied. "The file says that Jada was mute but they frequently heard little bells, and they attributed it to accidental magic. She was a loner from the start. Never liked hanging out with anyone else, but didn't seem unhappy either by being alone."

"The bells. She was speaking or singing, and the staff didn't know what they were dealing with," Angus said.

"Precisely," Robert said.

"So, if she stays with us, I know this is really leaping way ahead but do we have to enroll her in school?"

"Not going to be possible, I don't think," Robert said. "We don't have an exact birth certificate, and we need to make every effort to find one. If we can't find one, it'll have to go to the Wizengamot for a short hearing to establish an identity and an approximate birth date. That all takes time. I can get you guardianship if you think you want it, or I can take guardianship myself. I do not want to leave her unsupported."

Ruby heard Robert and nodded when he spoke of schooling she shook her head " I don't think that would be necessary if she needs anything like that I'm sure some one around here could help out" she said to him as he began to talk again about what the people at the orphanage had told him about her early life. " bells sound like she was talking to Fae" Ruby said thinking to how Minos sounded to them.

Aria walked over to the chess set and looked at it then moved a pawn on the right side of the board smiling to Elwood " your move" she said as she sat down in front of the board while listening to Robert and Angus talking then she chuckled.

"you think we wouldn't" Ruby said and looked at Angus " well what's one more to the group." she said with a chuckle " unless Edward or Simone want to take guardianship?" she said and looked at the door to their side of the duplex.

"Sign us up for it, Robert," Angus sighed. "We've only got four right now that are under age. The boys are both adult now, and the girls are going to be very soon. And those four are chomping at the bit to be on their own. So, then we'll be down to parenting two. So it might as well be three, I guess."

"Ruby, with her being half fae, that's how she sounds too when she vocalizes," Robert told her. "I had her try to speak for me. She's not truly mute. She just can't vocalize words as we do. She speaks Fae. And I think her magic is probably largely Fae based, but could also have some human magic abilities mixed in. The sounds they heard could have been her talking to the Fae, but it also could have been her singing or just chattering to herself at that age."

"I was just telling them that I saw a vardo in the paper today," Elwood said, moving his knight.

"I saw that too," Robert said. "Most unusual."

"Well, if we bought it, put an extension charm on it, we could put it out right behind the garden. She'd be right on Minos's doorstep, and she'll still be right on ours too. She'd have the best of both worlds," Elwood said.

"What a bloody good idea, Elwood," Robert said. "I think that since she's been on the run, she might not need so long to adjust. Once the faepyre is off her back, she should work somehow."

"We've already given that some thought. Robert, what would you say about us opening a shop to try to sell some of our excess? Maybe add some of our jams and jellies and sauces and such. Maybe add a kitchen for some baked goods from our own home grown things? We've been considering it for awhile."

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Robert said. "Draw me up a business proposal, but don't be so restrictive. We have a lot of wizarding farmers and artisans that turn out some remarkable things. We should welcome their wares too, perhaps on consignment."

"You should call it Homegrown," Elwood said.

"That is definitely worth considering," Robert replied. "Dream it up, write it up, and get it to me. Now, as for Jada, we should talk to her about staying with you until the danger is past, with guardianship so that you can protect her properly."

"Then let's go talk to her," Angus said. "You want to continue your game, Ru, or come along?"

Ruby smiled when Angus said they would take guardianship of Jada she was happy and when the mention of the vardo came up Ruby nodded she agreed " there's space beside the duplex not far from the fae village" she said " Angus mentioned it earlier" she added then chuckled seeing Elwood move his knight " um I think I'll concede" she said and chuckled as she stood up " sorry Elwood" she said smiling as she moved to Angus .

Aria looked up at Ruby " I can take over" she asked and Ruby motioned to the board " now your for it" Aria said moving the bishop diagonal.

"Oh, you and what army?" Elwood pishtoshed Aria. "Come on, then. Bring a good game if you can."

Angus finished his firewhiskey and got up, went to the door, looked out and motioned to Minos. He spoke to Minos about what they were planning on talking to her about, and Minos was in full agreement that Jada needed someplace safe and with people who were safe. Angus wanted him to come to help translate Jada's thoughts. Minos agreed to come, and they went with Robert next door. Jada and Simone were just pouring the chocolate cake batter into the pans to put them in the oven.

"Now what brings you lot over here?" Simone laughed.

"We have a proposal of sorts for Jada," Robert said. "Could we borrow her for a moment?"

"Certainly," Simone said. She looked at Jada. "Go sit. I'll go fetch your things and give them a quick wash, shall I?" Jada nodded. Simone looked at Ruby. "Oh, might we see if we can borrow a pair of pajamas from one of the girls tonight for her? And maybe some slipper socks? She doesn't have any pajamas."

Angus and Robert sat down on the Edward's sofa, and Jada went and sat down in one of the chairs, feeling a bit nervous. Minos spoke and signed to her, and then Robert spoke.

"Jada," he said, "we've been able to identify the creatures that's been hunting you. Its extremely dangerous, even for experienced fighters. It's called a Faepyre--half fae, half vampire. the blend of Fae and vampire is what gives it such extreme powers. It hunts you because of your Fae blood. You are not going to be safe as long as it hunts you. We will have to try to eliminate it before it eliminates you. We are experienced enough to handle this task, so you will need to leave that to us. In the meantime, you need to be in hiding."

"We want you to stay with us," Angus said. "We know you don't know us, and we don't know you, but we can do this most effectively if Ruby and I take guardianship to protect you. It doesn't mean we intend to run you life for you. It means we intend to keep you safe."

Ruby walked with Robert and Angus into Edwards side of the duplex , Ruby smiled seeing Jada with Simone cooking. Hearing Simone she nodded " of course" she said and followed her back to their side of the duplex and down to the girls room to look for pajamas for Jada. " before you say anything I'm contacting Clive in the morning to arrange some new clothing for Jada, she doesn't have a lot right now, probably because of having to move around due to the Faepyre chasing her, but that's stops now" she said and smiled " we're going to be her gradians " she said smiling to Simone. " so you and Jada will have plenty of time to cook deserts"

Aria chuckled at Elwood and began to make her move on the board, " I'm no expert but I might give you a good run for your money, Marcus has been teaching me chess." she said moving her pawn to start the new game.

"I see," Simone said. "Well, she's welcome here as long as she likes."

Angus didn't say anything when Ruby said she was contacting Clive to send clothes. For some reason, she was taking over and deciding to order clothes rather than his original plan to take Jada to Venice so that Clive could get her proper measurements and determine what sorts of styles and fabrics worked well on her Fae body build. He figured Ruby had her reasons, so he refocused on what he believed was far more essential. He was determined to take her to Ollivander's in person. They had no way of knowing what sort of wand would align with Jada's Fae species. Ollivander himself needed to help find a wand for Jada because Jada's situation was so unusual.

"I'll get you something of Anise's or Ginger's for tonight," Angus told Jada, seeing it was all sudden for her. A pub brawl had led straight away into her life taking a 180 degree turn, and Angus was guessing that for someone who had been raised in an orphanage who had been living on her own, this was probably causing her some anxiety. "Not a problem. They have plenty of pajamas. Wait til you meet them, though, because they're going to love you. You wait and see. You're going to get along just fine. They had a bit of a rough start in their lives too before they came to us." Angus looked at Jada.

"I'm sorry this has been so fast," Angus told Jada. "Have you had more encounters with that creature than just today?" Jada nodded, and Angus could see how frightened she was of the faepyre. "I think you're entirely justified to be afraid." She shook her head, not wanting to look at him, and Minos signed something to him. "Aurors weren't helpful?" She shook her head. "Well, I daresay they don't run into things like that very often. There are aurors and then there's us. We're not aurors. We're more of a private fighting team, and we tend to handle things like this. Several of us were aurors at one point, and then we came here to advance our skills. You're safer here than just about anywhere else. This place is unplottable, and very well protected with all sorts of fighters and enchantments."

"He's right," Robert said. "You told me you recognized me from the papers, so you know I work for the ministry. This is the force I rely on when the aurors can't deal with a situation. You haven't begun to see the team here, but e en though the aurors couldn't deal with him, this team can. You have no need to fear here. This isn't about taking over your life. You don't know us at all, and we understand that. For now, this is about keeping you safe and making sure you have whatever you need while you're here. You can take your time and get to know us at your own pace. No pressure. As long as you're honest with us, then all will be well. We'll figure the rest out as we go. Fair enough?" Jada nodded. "Good. Sounds like we have an agreement, then, and you have a large, somewhat quirky family of your own for as long as you want it."