A Birth day

Ruby smiled as she set foot back on land again she looked at the boat and sighed " you know we'll have to take that boat out again next time were here" she sid then saw him head to the office and Evan she followed but stayed outside enjoying the cool breeze. Hearing Angus explain she chuckled and shook her head then took his hand as he left the office. " Im glad the kids got home safely and yes lets" she said smiling as he mentioned Gelato " oh do thy have that nutty coffee one?" she asked as they walked down to the cafe.

Aria packed up the kitchen and placed the cooler into the back of the car " okay, foods packed up and safly in the car." she said to Marcus " are the kids done packing yet?" she asked as she moved to their room and packed up her clothes and things. Before she moved to place her suitcase in the back of the car she paused and kissed his cheek " thank you , this has been wonderful" she said smiling to him as she reatched up and wiped some of her lipstick off his cheek.

"We could, but there are a lot more boats to choose from," Angus told her. "I'm glad you enjoyed this one, but there might be others you enjoy just as much. We should try a sailboat, like a sloop, where you can get the true feel of what its like to have the sea breeze in the sails. There's a lot to like about that." As they neared the restaurant, Angus could smell sausage cooking, and it made his stomach growl.

"This is the place," he told her as they arrived at a little boutique hotel. "The restaurant is outside in a center courtyard." He took her through to the courtyard, and they were shown to a table. The waiter handed them a couple of menus and left. "The way it works here is that you order by courses. My favorite thing here is the fattoush salad. It's a great way to start a brunch, and their fattoush is terrific. Then you order your egg course. I'm going to have a cheese omlet, and, if you're having any additions, you order that with your eggs. I might have a skewer of grilled shrimp with mine. They'll bring warm, fresh bread with an olive oil vinaigrette as a dip for your breadk, and then you get dessert too. I think I'll have the panacotta. It comes with a raspberry syrup and some crumbled amaretti cookies on top as a garnish."

"The kids packed before they came out for breakfast," Marcus told her. "Their bags are sitting right there against the outside wall of the tent. I'll get the furniture and things packed up in a moment. I'm glad you had a good time. They aren't going to want to go straight home, though, and I can understand that. I suppose we could take them to see Clive before we take them home maybe."

Ruby followed Angus and smelt the fod being cooked and smiled hearing his stomach growl at the smell " time o eat I think" she said as they drew close to the restaraunt. Sitting down she loked at the menu " I think I'll have the same sounds delishious" she said smiling at him.

Aria chuckled and shook her ehad " shesh morning bird brain" she said softly seeing the bags aleady packed " I'll put them in the car" she said and picked each one up placing it in the car until all of them were packed away. She heard Marcus and nodded " yeah that would be good to introduce them, and me to him" she said smiing rembering she hadn't even seen him yet.

Angus ordered for them, and then the waiter brought coffee and brought bread with the vinaigrette for dipping. It was only a few minutes later when the waiter brought the fattoush salad.

"I think you'll like the dressing for this salad. It's actually a Lebanese salad, and the dressing is basically a vinaigrette. It's made with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, chopped fresh mint, sumac, and pomegranate molasses. It's sort of a tangy and sweet dressing, and it's a really good choice with the vegetables. Oh, and those little brown squares you see in your salad are fried squares of pita bread. It really is something I could make at home. I've just never thought about it, I guess."

Marcus went into the tent, shrank the funiture, and Zack and Kai helped by packing the furniture as Marcus shrank it. When the tent was empty, Zack took the pack out to the car. They helped him take down the tent and pack it in the car. Marcus knew he would have to take the car out into the middle of nowhere to shrink the tent equipment and pack it with the furniture before he turned the car back in to the rental agency.

"Now," Marcus told them, "I'm taking this car to a safe place where we can shrink the tent and not be seen by muggles. Then I'll drop all of you off at the same place we ported in at. Aria, if you would just port them home to the estate, I'll turn the car in and be right behind you. We'll drop off the packs there and then we'll go see Clive. Make sense?"

Ruby watched as the waiter brought their food and Angus explained what it was and how it had been made " sounds perfect" she said as the waiter returned once more with the last peice of their beakfast. Taking her fork she began to eat " humm this is perfect" she said smiling as she ate happily.

Aria noded to Marcus as he shrunk the furniture then packed up the tent as a muggle would . When he spoke to her she smiled and nodded " just don't be too long" she said softly to him as they waited for him to take them to where they arrived so Aria could port them to the estate to wait for Marcus. Once at the spot Aria slipped the food bag and clothing bags over her shoulder then took hold of the younger girls " okay all hold tight and please , keep all arms and legs inside the vehicl" she said trying to make them laugh. Aas she watched Marcus drive away she checked nobody was around or any cameras then ported every one back to the estate.

"honey we're home" she called out then chuckled knowing nobody was there. " okay we wait for Marcus , your dad to get here now." she said sitting on the porch.

"It's a really different sort of salad, but sometimes something different is a really good thing," Angus said. As they ate, the waiter brought the cheese omelets, stuffed with provalone and parmesaan cheeses, and he refilled their coffee.

"I won't," Marcus said. He took the car, repacked the tent into the gear bag so he could send it with Aria and the kids and then dropped them off so they could port home. Then he took the car, returned it to the rental agency and paid the bill on a muggle credit card. Then he walked a safe distance to where he could safely port home without being seen.

He arrived back at the estate to see that the skies there were dark and gloomy, looking like it was going to rain in England.

"Well, looks like we might come home to rain," he told them. "So, let's go see Clive and see if he can help us get Yule Ball outfits. We'll have to port again. Grab hold, All." He drew a new key from his pocket. This one had an engraving of the Rialto Bridge on the bow. It took them to a back street in Venice.

"Where are we?" Zane frowned, looking around.

"Venice, Italy," Marcus told them. "We're off in an alley away from the canals, but, just so you know, they're that way." He pointed off into the distance. "Come with me." He walked with them down a couple more alleys as they got narrower and narrower, and then he came to a wooden door. He opened the door and went in. The kids looked around, amazed to see a high end clothing store for wizarding men, women and children here.

"Marcus," Clive greeted him, "I haven't seen you for awhile. I wasn't sure you worked for Robert anymore because Khaat's been coming with a new chap."

"He's an addition to the staff," Marcus smiled. "I'm just on some different assignments temporaraily. And, this is Aria Barnett. She's also new on staff. She's going to need to be fit with mission wear. And these are my kids. The girls need to be looking now at Yule Ball gowns."

"Ah, yes. It's hard to get them from the school to shop for them after the term begins." Marcus introduce the kids to Clive and let them go look. He left Aria with Clive for measurements and her first allocation of mission wear and any other clothing she wanted. He went with the girls to look at the formals for the ball.

Ruby smiled and nodded " your so right , if I hadn't decidsed to ry this I would never have known this was wonderful" she said as she ate and sipped her refilled Coffee.

Aria breathed out seing Marcus apeared infront of them leaving the bags on the porch out of the rain she walked over to him and took his hand in her own so he could port them to venice. She smiled seeing the archteture around them as they walked " oh a gondola" she said looking over the railing of a stone bridge as it passed underneath it. Reatching the shop she let Marcus and the kids go first then she followed . Being introduced she smiled to him " hi, yeah,I was with the ministry's special force but now with Robert and his lot" she said chukaling as she followed him to a place with a large mirror so he could get her full mesurements with the girls and the boys.

Once she was done she stepped down and let Poppy stand up smiling as she stood close to her " you'll be fine, if your dad voices for him he has to be good" she said and looked to Clive who chuckled to her.

While Clive was measuring Poppy, Marcus was helping Daria look for a dress. Daria found one almost right away in a royal blue that she liked, and, actually, Marcus couldn't argue with it. It had some sequins on top and a chiffon skirt. When it was Poppy's turn she took a bit longer, and Marcus realized she was going to need something that had a bit of a more mature look because people tended to think she was just a little kid. He did not want something thinking she was six or seven. He wanted her to be taken seriously.

"Aria," Marcus called, "what do you think of these? The girls like these two. I figured it would be an all day affair but maybe not. They seem to know what they like." Diana came out from the back and suggested some little gold strappy shoes with kitten heels for them, and Marcus couldn't argue with that either. Diana suggested that they make shrugs for both dresses to allow them to have a little matching jacket in case the great hall was breezy and chilly. Marcus thought it was a good idea.

He glanced over at the guys to see they were looking at new winter coats and some pullover sweaters. He asked them if they needed new witner clothes, and they admitted that they had outgrown what they had last season. Well, he wasn't surprised.

"Clive," Marcus said, "can yhou equip them all with new winter clothes? Growing kids, you know."

"Oh, sure. We get that all the time," Clive said. He called Diana from the back to lend a hand.

Aria stod and watched as the girls were mesure. She heard Marcus and walked over smiling as she saw the two dresses he held " they will look so grown up in those, there perfect" she said smiling at him. Pausing she listened to Daria and nodded " I agree if its cold which it usaly is they will need something like a stole to cover ther shoulders and arms" she said looking around but not seeing any. she heard Daria mention shoes and nodded " not too flat a little heel would be okay?" she said and looked to Marcus " not stellettos, but a low heel, that would be okay right?" she asked him.

Looking around he heard him talk to the kids about winder clothing then ask clive to provide new winder clothing for them all " with boots and jackets too" she added " I'd like to cover half the cost too" she said hoping he would understand she wated to show that she was diferent , caring, about them and not like their birth mother evil and mean.

"I think a kitten heel is perfect for them. I don't think they need much more than that," Marcus said.

"But, Dad," Daria moaned, "kitten heels won't make me look hot."

"I know," Marcus said. "You're twelve."

"So?" she countered.

"You don't need to be hot at 12," he told her. "When you're old enough to look hot, I'll help you look hot. There's a good hot and a cheap floozy hot. You do not want the latter."

"What do you know about looking hot?" she scowled at him.

"Oh, my dear," Diana laughed, "your dad has a reputation of not only knowing what's hot but of being quite hot himself. I know you don't see it because he's your dad."

"I don't need them to believe it," Marcus laughed. "Let them think I'm just Dad. That's more than enough for me." When Aria asked to help with the costs, he smiled. "I appreciate that. Why don't you hold onto that and put it towards that other little project we were talking about?" He didn't want to bring up the house in front of the kids, but he wanted the house to be hers too, so that was why he suggested she just hang onto her money and put it towards the house, if that worked out for them.