A Birth day

Ruby heard the girls and Marcus walk in and stood up as did Aria she chuckled when Angus acted like he didn't know but Ruby smiled when she saw they saw the cake " you deserve it, well-done girls" she said walking over and giving Ginger a hug " you too Ginger " she said " I also made caprices lemon meringue too , with some direction from Angus to" she said smiling " so it should taste heavenly"

Aria walked over and smiled at them both " congrats girls, you both did really well, you see hard work and practice does pay off" she said with a smile as she hugged both girls. " Now Ruby I'm going to place a hotel on Liverpool street station." she said and chuckled again.

"Thanks. All of you," they said, truly happy.

"Now, don't count on this happening every night, but, if you want, I'll give you just one night off from doing your homework, so use it wisely," Angus told the girls.

"Really? Awesome! Thanks!" They were elated. "Oh. Can we go over to the longhouses to tell our dad?"

"Absolutely," Angus smiled. "He deserves to know he's raised some prize winning fighters." Oh, and, Girls, we're having lemon chicken tonight. Invite him to supper if you want. It's fine." They ran downstairs to change their clothes into some jeans so they could go outside.

"Oh. I forgot entirely. I ordered something for them, and I forgot I had it. I meant to give it to them at Christmas but it didn't get finished in time." He went to the bookshelf and pulled out a book that he had long ago carved out the center of to have a hiding place in it. He opened the book and pulled out a couple small boxes, and he handed them to Ruby to look at. Inside each box was a really pretty gold bangle bracelet with the Donohue family coat of arms as the focal point in the center.

"See what you think, would you? The centers are enchanted. They work rather like the doubloon necklaces. They're portkeys that can bring them home. Or they can send out a distress signal to every other Donohue that we decide to link them to. My thought was tha they'll be learning to port soon, and the wizarding world is a dangerous place. I want them to always be able to call us for help, and I want them to always be able to get home. What do you think?"

Ruby walked over to Angus and took a small box , opening it she smiled and looked to Angus " you always had good taste" she said smiling Aria walked up behind her and nodded.

"they will love those" she said and smiled as she looked at them " that's your crest isn't it?" she asked pointing to the engraving on both bracelets. " when you giving them these?" she asked him handing him the second box back to put away again. " and when do you have a secret book stash?" she asked

"It's always been there. I just don't use it very often. As I said, I had ordered these at Christmas but they didn't get done in time. I sort of forgot I had them, but since I do, maybe this is a good time to give them to them. These two--they're young, and they think they can handle anything. They're more vulnerable than they think they are. I know Sam and Victor will look out for them, but they aren't any more experienced than the girls are. Maybe I'm overprotective, but I want our kids to always, always have a way home."

"I think you're wise," Marcus said. "I know you didn't ask me, but, I've given similar things to my kids--all five. I gave mine enchanted wristwatches, but they work about the same way. You're right. Our world is a dangerous place, and especially right now for you and your family. I think it's a wise choice."

"It may always be dangerous, given the Geldings. They've been in business for 40 years. We've been trying to stop him. But what if this business passes on to his son? What if our organization ends up being passed down to the next generation--to Sam and Victor and Abbey and Caprice...And Diamond?What if I never stop them and I never manage to make the world any better for them?"

Ruby listened to Marcus and Angus and nodded " I agree its a very wise idea, and if it does then it will show we brought them up right and these will add a bit of security for all of us while they are not with us." she said " as for the secret books , they must be really good since I didn't even notice them" she said with a chuckle Aria did too.

Aria walked back to the board and threw the dice landing in a two she moved her piece two spaces " darn it, I'm in jail with no get out of jail card" she said then smirked at Angus then Marcus as she sat back waiting for Ruby to make her move.

"I don't have a library of books like that. Just that one. I mean, there aren't a lot of hiding places in this house. If I wanted to hide a gift for someone, where the heck would I hide it? It was just necessity, you know?" Angus laughed. "And frankly, that book was one that came as a free book when I bought a particular book a few years ago at Flourish and Blotts. Neither book--the one I wanted, or the freebie that came with the one I wanted--were worth a crap. So it honestly was no literary loss for me to cut the innards out of that book. A hiding place was truly all that book was good for."

"We're going to see Dad," Anise shouted as the girls dashed up the steps and out the door. "We'll be back for supper--I think."

"For girls who lost their mum a year or so ago, and thrown into a human world from living in a werewolf refugee camp, those two are amazingly well adjusted," Marcus said. "You both should be proud."

"Well, I don't know that I did anything," Angus said. "They were good girls when we got them. They were blessed enough to have good parents. All we had to do was to give them a place to sleep and food in their bellies. They've never given us any trouble. Honestly, some days Caprice and Diamond give us more trouble than that." That made Marcus laugh.

"That's a baby for you. No boundaries whatsoever," Marcus said. "Someday you'll miss it."

"Remind me of that in about 20 years, will you?" Angus laughed. "Right now, I'm about over the dirty diaper thing."

"Well, the worst could be about over. I mean, after all, Caprice is going to be one in a few days, right? Some babies are potty trained as early as 18 months. And she's early as it is, so maybe by July or so, she'll be done with diapers."

"From your mouth to God's ears," Angus laughed.

Both Ruby and Aria chuckled as they heard Marcus and Angus talk . hearing Anise Ruby smiled and waved to them " stay safe" she said as she rolled her dice again hitting a six this time and landing on Mayfair. " does that mean potty training, I'll have to see if Kate still has Abys potty chair, I think she mentioned it a while back" Ruby said seeing Caprice trying to pull herself up onto her feet.

Aria looked down too and chuckled " yep not long and they will be running around , and that's when the fun starts, do they sell magical trackers for toddlers?" she asked and chuckled as she moved her piece after throwing a two.. " and I agree with Marcus , those two will be just fine" she said and looked at him " yeah , don't get a big head just because I agreed with you" she teased with a smile to him.

Aria seeing Ruby now interested in the secret book put away the game and chuckled knowing they would continue another day " so how's supper coming?" she asked as she slid the box back with the others in the bottom of the coffee table.

"We've got four of them," Angus said. "We don't need Abbey's. Look in the very back of the nursery closet. There's a box with some shrunken stuff. They're in there. That surplus stuff from the crap I bought a couple years ago."

"I don't know if they sell trackers or not," Marcus said, "but you've got Finn. Jack might be able to have a word with him and ask him to look out for them. And, I'm sure the Fae would help if you asked. They like babies, after all."

"They do," Angus said, "particularly Minos and Ili. Supper's doing fine. I'm cooking the chicken a bit slower because I started it a bit early, and it might as well cook lower and slower. It'll help keep the chicken moist anyway." He set the sideboard up so everyone could take whatever they wanted when it was actually ready.

Ruby looked at Angus and chuckled " I had seen that but wasn't sure what it was" she said smiling Aria heard Marcus and laughed.

"so true , so true, and I'll ask Jack tomorrow" she said chuckling but Finn brushed against her hand " I'll give you a large bone if you watch and protect these two" she said Finns tail started wagging " I think he understood." she said and chuckled again as he ran and sat by the play pen. Ruby looked at the bracelets and smiled to Angus.

"they look beautiful the girls will love them , especially since you will give them to them." she said smiling to him a she handed him back the second bracelet she had been looking at.

"I'll save the bracelets til after supper," Angus said. He tucked the bracelets temporarily in one of the kitchen drawers underneath the dish towels. Minos fluttered over to him with a small piece of paper and handed it to him. Angus looked at Minos's sketch. He smiled. "I didn't know that was even possible," Angus said, and Minos nodded. "Marcus, look. Minos has an idea." Marcus got up and went over and looked at the tiny sketch.

"Minos believes he can enchant a piece of jewelry to alert one of us is Priscilla is around," Marcus told Ruby and Aria. "All he needs is some of Priscilla's blood. That will be extremely dangerous to get, though."

"If it keeps my family safe, I'd get some of the devil's blood," Angus said, determined. "And since she's hunting me anyway, I doubt I'll have a hard time finding her."

"Well, that's what makes me a tad nervous," Marcus replied.

"Yeah, I know, but now we could use it to our advantage, and if we have a good plan, that could reduce the risk significantly," Angus said.