A Birth day

Aria looked at Marcus and nodded knowing it would put both their minds at ease , when he said to take Ruby she glanced over and shook her head " she's busy I'll stay close and only in the grave yard" she said heading out the door.

Now stood in the grave yard she looked around at the head stones none looked like they had been tampered with even the tombs were still sealed and over grown. Kneeling down beside Caprices stone she ran her hands over it but found nothing but old moss and a few spiders that had taken up residency on it

Ruby smiled and nodded as Angus said he had taken his potion " I hope he does, it defiantly would mean a lot to him" she said softly as she moved back from him. She heard Even talk about the girls and smiled to him " it will be good to se them" she said before moving slightly away from Angus.

Aria now knelt beside another headstone caught sight of something glinting in the sunlight . Standing she made her way over to it only to find it was nothing but the bottom of a glass bottle that was catching the sunlight. She pulled it out and threw it in a trash bin not far from her but returning she sighed not having found any sign that earlier incident was staged.

The minute that Tara told the girls they could finish their lessons later, Anise got up and raced, as fast as her teenaged werewolf legs would carry her over to Edward's and she flew to the house to the billiards room. She raced to Angus and flung her arms around him in a huge bear hug while Ginger followed Anise over and went and hugged Ruby.

"I'm glad you guys are here," Ginger told Ruby. "Sometimes home just seems so far away."

"What's all this?" Angus asked, surprised at being ambushed by his daughter. He hugged Anise.

"I just missed you," she said. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I buggared things up at home. I'm sorry that..."

"Look at me," he interrupted her, and he drew up her face to look at him. "Take a breath. We're fine, you and me. We don't have a problem. It's all good."

"You sure? I mean, I buggared so much..."

"We all buggar things. All of us. We're good. Right now, though, I think everyone's hungry."

"Carlo says that supper is ready in the dining room," Tara announced, coming in. "I think we should all go eat because it smells amazing."

Ruby chuckled as Anise hugged Angus she gave Ginger a hug back " we missed you too" she said still hugging Ginger a she looked at Anise " Little bump in the road and we got over it" she said softly smiling a she took Anises hand in her own, " it is good to see you both again" she added and chuckled when angus spoke and she nodded " I bugger up all the time " Ruby said and chuckled " ask Jessie he was the one who got me out of them when I was younger" she chuckled then her tummy rumbled " oh food sounds good" she said.

Aria left the grave yard and walked back to the main house after giving it a through search and coming up empty handed. Walking in she smiled seeing Ginger and Anise with Ruby and Angus. Walking to Marcus she soke softly " I gave that grave yard a good going over and found nothing out of the ordinary" she told him " no grave was disturbed or opened, its well kept I have to say." she chuckled at the mention of food " wondered if they had noticed" she said taking a deep breath in so she could smell the food cooking.

"I am not surprised in the least that you didn't find anything. By the way, did you notice?" Marcus asked Aria, barely above a whisper. "He can feel like hell, but when the kids need him, he pulls himself up from somewhere and makes himself look like he has himself completely together for their sake. I know a good portion of that is pure performance for their sakes, but he's doing what he thinks he needs to do to be a good dad to them. He used to think he needed to do that around Ruby too, but she's grown a lot, and he doesn't need to perform around her anymore. I'm glad of that. I'm actually hoping he turns in early so we can finish a check of the house and the rest of the grounds around the house. With a little luck, after the girls go back to Evan's, Ruby will lure him upstairs for some private time so we can finish our work for the night."

"Let's go eat," Angus gave Ginger a hug, and then he motioned to the dining room. Evan was already headed that way with Tara. Angus started to the dining room, and Ginger and Anise motioned to Ruby and followed Angus.

"Finally, I thought I was gonna starve," Marcus told Aria quietly, laughing a little. "Let's go. I like a good hearty stew when its cold out."

Ruby smiled seeing Angus with Anise. Aria looked over and smiled nodding " he's being the dad they need" she said then chuckled softly " she's become a mom" Aria said and looked to Marcus " I have a feeling she will, and you knew I'd find nothing but I had to check to make sure he wasn't being fooled by anyone, and I agree best thing when its cold." she added as they moved to the table and she sat next to Marcus while Ruby sat with Angus Ginger and Anise listening to how they were doing in school.

Now sat Ruby smiled at the girls as she pored some juice for them then Angus and finally herself before passing the jug to Aria who filled Marcus glass and her own. Now with the food on the table she smiled and started to eat the stew " hum this is really good." she said and continued to eat by taking some of the bread and dipping it into the gravy to soak it up.

"I heard Rosaria talking to Carlo as they were setting out the supper," Tara said. "Rosaria was muttering something about not enough vegetables? I didn't catch all of it. Do you know what she was talking about?"

"I do," Angus said. "I used to go with Edward as often as I could when I wasn't in school, but Rosaria never really liked it. She never believed Edward made me eat healthy when I was traveling Europe with Edward and seemed to think I got to eat pretty much nothing but chips and desserts while we were on the road, which wasn't true. She never believed Edward or me either one when we tried to tell her what we did eat. So, when I was home, she made lots of soups and stews or anything else she could find that she could tuck vegetables into."

"Was that why Edward forbid her from making stew more than once or twice a winter when you were no longer living here?" Evan laughed.

"Yup. He eats it now when I fix it though," Angus said. "I use an old Irish recipe that calls for single malt in it, and I use firewhiskey. He hasn't ever figured out what's different, but he says my recipe is much better. I also found a quick bread recipe that makes a good, hearty loaf of bread but it also uses whiskey in the dough."

"You need to send me those recipes," Tara smiled. "I'd like to try them."

"I will," Angus said.

"Do you have trouble getting your kids to eat vegeteables?" she asked.

"No," Angus said. "The girls eat pretty much anything, and they've had a good influence on the boys. They've come around to eating almost anything they see the girls eating--except tartare. They do not like raw beef, and that's fine. That's an acquired taste, and I'm sure that if the girls weren't werewolves they probably wouldn't like it either. It isn't for everyone."

"I dont' know of much of anyone who likes it who isn't a werewolf except perhaps for Edward," Evan said.

"Edward really does eat just about everything," Angus replied.

Ruby and Aria sat and ate their stew both loving it and how filling it was to them. Aria loved it because it reminded her of the out doors and camping out , Ruby because it was so tasteful and filling it was. Both chuckled hearing Angus explain Rosaria's words about from what she gathered, was about him when he was younger and would not eat his vegetables so she had to find ways to hide them.

" I do hope Caprice won't become picky about vegetable's when she's older, because I might have to ask for some of those recipe's too" Ruby said and chuckled as she looked to Tara as she asked for some of the recipe's of Rosaria's to help Faith and Hope eat more veg.

"I have a few of Rosaria's recipes," Tara told Ruby, "but not a lot because I didn't really have issues with Evie and Faith."

"I'm not worried about our kids," Angus said. "They'll figure it out eventually, and they won't starve unless they choose to."

"And that doesn't worry you?" Tara asked.

"No. Why should it?" Angus asked. "Even the dumbest kid in the world isn't going to starve themselves. Sooner or later, they're going to eat. It might not be their favorite food, but they're not going to go without food. They'll be fine."

"You sound like a parent that just isn't going to get into unnecessary drama," Marcus said.

"There are enough other things that create drama outside of my house so I'm not going to invite unnecessary drama into my house," Angus said.

"I have always liked the way you think," Marcus laughed. "Oh, so you all know, Aria and I are going to go out and make a security check of the land close to the house to make sure that the protection enchantments are secure and in place."

"There aren't actually that many," Evan said. "There are some, but the place isn't unplottable because we do so much business with muggles and wizards alike. We needed to remain visible."

"And that's fine. I'm not necessarily concerned about muggles because we can deal with those. However, I do want to make sure that more of our own kind don't get onto the grounds."

"I can go along if you like," Evan said. "I'd like to know what to look for. It would be good training."

"I could show you, but I'm sure you'd all make a lot faster time without me because of worrying about whether I'm safe or not," Angus said. sipping on the red wine that Carlo had opened to go with supper.

"I appreciate that, but if you're safe inside, then, I'd be just as happy to not have you along for a little," Marcus said.

Aria heard Marcus and nodded " just a precaution" she added then heard Angus staying quiet and letting Marcus respond knowing he would feel happier if Angus stayed in the house and just relax hey just relax and enjoy the quiet" she said smiling " oh and the wine too" she chuckled. Looking at Even she smiled and nodded " but do exactly what Marcus asks, do that and you'll learn a lot" she said finishing her stew and placing her spoon into her bowl and sitting back to look at every one.

Ruby heard Angus and for a moment she felt a slight panic but at Marcus words she relaxed letting Angus make his own choice whether to go or stay. She hid her panic deep down so Angus would not see , she really didn't want to lose him or for him to hurt himself after what they had gone threw that morning.

The tension in the room when Angus had mentioned going along didn't come from just Ruby. It had come from just about everyone at the table. Angus didn't say a word about it. It didn't mean it didn't bother him but he had noticed. It had caused a sudden negative shift in the moods of Tara, Ruby, all four of the girls, and just about everyone except, perhaps, Marcus. Angus simply added more wine to his glass and never said a syllable about it.

When supper was overwith, he excused himself to go shower, and he went to the kitchen, made himself a stiff Irish coffee and took it upstairs. He found, in the master suite bathroom, one of Edward's scented bath salts and just decided to soak in it to try to have a few moments to himself so he drew a bath and settled in with his coffee.

"I presume you dont need to check on him?" Tara asked Marcus after Angus left.

"While he showers? No, he's fine," Marcus said. "We need to not hover over him. If he needs help, I'll know it. He came here to get a little peace and quiet, so not hovering would be a very good thing."