LONDON CALLING

Robert sat with Angus, leaving the tray on the dresser for now. Nigel appeared a short while later, after Edward and Simone had finished breakfast and had left the dining room.

"I did my last follow up exam on Edward after he ate breakfast," Nigel told Robert quietly. "He's fully mended, and I am releasing him from my care. I realize its a day short, but he's duty ready again."

"Thank you," Robert said.

"And your hands are mending far more quickly than I anticipated they would. The damage was extensive, as you know, but being aggressive with your treatment has certainly paid off. You might be able to try testing your magic again in small ways. Nothing too difficult or taxing, and, please, no fire spells for awhile."

"You have my word," Robert said.

"When we get around to it, I'll change the dressings and put new gloves on. Those are just about out of their enchantments. The blue color is almost completely gone. So--has our boy been restful?"

"Yes, up until a couple minutes ago. Now he's getting restless."

"Then I say we wake him," Nigel said. "I'd rather have him not overly taxed today."

Robert gently woke Angus, and they managed to do a better assessment of whether he was injured last night or not and decided he really was no worse for wear. Robert coaxed him into eating the toast and fruit and coffee, and Nigel got him to get up and shave and dress.

The rest had done him good, they decided. He was quiet, but he wasn't falling apart either. He was just quiet and calm, almost too calm. It was Robert who suggested that he see Edward because Edward wanted badly to see him.

Robert took him downstairs, and they found Edward at the pond with a couple of folding chairs and a couple fishing rods and a tackle box.

"Come join me," Edward motioned for Angus to take the other folding chair and the the other rod. Angus saw no harm, so he sat down beside Edward, and Robert promised to have a couple of cold drinks sent out to them.

Robert went back and the house and saw Jess still in the kitchen.

"Do we have any sodas left after last nights pizza party? Angus and Edward are fishing at the farm pond, and I'd like to have a couple cold drinks sent out to them. Can we find something worthy of our two devoted fishermen?" he asked her.

"I'll have Brian restock the sodas at his place and have some sent here too. We all seem to enjoy them, so I see no harm in having some around," Robert said. "If the team starts to get paunchy from them, I'll get rid of them again. As for lunch, I think we should let our fishermen enjoy their day, and if they have enough by supper time, I'll bribe Michael into making some of his amazing fish and chips, and Kate can squall about it all she likes. I haven't had fish and chips in weeks, and I'm highly overdue. I'm going to go through malt vinegar withdrawal.

"Now, as to lunch, Kate has some recipe she got from somebody or another for some sort of Asian chef salad for lunch she's been wanting to try. Some sort of teriyaki beef thing, I think. Now where did she put that?" He frowned. Then he thought to himself that Nigel had suggested he could try some minor spells now.

"Accio, Recipe!' he cast a wandless spell, and in a twinkling the kitchen was filled with hundreds and hundreds of pieces of paper flying around in the room.

"Oh, buggar," he sighed, realizing he hadn't been specific about what recipe he wanted. "Maybe we should just have takeaway sent in for lunch, Jess."

"I think I just saw some material worthy of blackmail," Michael teased, coming into the kitchen, laughing.

"Well, I hate to admit it, but yes, you did," Robert said. "I wasn't specific on which recipe I wanted."

"You don't cook anyway. You really should leave the recipes to the cooks on staff."

"I was looking for that Teriyaki Steak salad recipe Kate mentioned."

"You should have asked me. The one she's talking about is one of mine," he laughed. "Do try to stop helping in the kitchen. You really aren't good at it. Why were you using magic anyway?"

"Nigel said I should try a few things."

"Nigel needs his head examined. Your magic is all wonky or something. Either that or you're all wonky."

"Gee, thanks for that," Robert rolled his eyes at Michael

"What are friends for?" Michael said.

"I'm ignoring you now," Robert announced and pretended to turn his focus entirely to Jess. Michael laughed out loud. "Anyway, before our local criminal came in, Jack was mentioning tempura. Any sort of crispy fish and chips with malt vinegar fills the bill. And we'll have to open a few growlers of beer and pour a few pints if we're going to do it right."

"Pints with dinner, what are we coming to?" Michael teased. "So what's new with Tuscany?"

"I made Jack our first new team leader, and I asked him to form a team to go secure Tuscany and make sure that Angus's mother doesn't show up and try to bring Gelding or James back in or run off with the family silver or something. Benjamin's gone, so she needs to make plans to buggar off now. Especially if there's any chance James turned her."

"Oh buggar. There's a chance of that? Well, that's not good. Jack, if I can help, just say the word," Michael said.

"Do let me," Michael said, drawing his wand. "Recipes, look sharp now, Sort, collate, and stack yourselves neatly in the proper culinary catagories." He flicked his wand, and there was a new flurry of papers.

"What the hell kind of spell is that?" Robert scowled.

"Give it a minute," Michael said. "You have to let it know who's boss." The papers sorted themselves, collated themselves and then organized them by culinary catagories--appetizers, soups and salads, main dishes, sides, desserts, and beverages. "There! See? It worked perfectly."

"I can't believe that actually worked at all," Robert said. "That was no kind of a proper spell."

"But it worked, didn't it?"

"Yes, and I don't know how."

"Good, that'll keep you up for a month of Sundays trying to figure it out, then."

"Doesn't it bother you?"

"No. Why should it? If I can simply tell it what I want, I don't have to bother with all of that mumbo jumbo that Dumbledore said was absolutely necessary to make it work. Changing the subject, how are Angus and Edward?"

"Angus and Edward are fishing. Angus is quiet, but he's alright so far. Edward has been completely released off of Nigel's disabled list, so he's mission fit again."

"And Simone?"

"Albeit a bit surprising, she's solid as a rock, or so she appears," Robert said.
"You know these young lovers, all twitter pated with each other so that they see nothing but each other."

"Young lovers, are they?" he laughed out loud.

"Do you have any sodas at your place?"

"Two or three cases of things. Why?"

"Can we have them? For now. I'll replace them."

"Don't replace them, just drink them in good health. Jack, if we can find some able bodied folks, you could go raid my larder and bring back anything that will spoil in the near future so I don't have to air out my house for several weeks. Snidely knows you, so he'll let you in, I'm sure."

"Wait, you're going to send Jack to raid your icebox?" Robert teased. "That's like sending the fox to guard the henhouse."

"In the pantry--wherever you can find a place. We'll put some in the fridge to cool so that if someone wants one they can have a cold one straight away. Thank you, Jack, and thank you, Michael," Robert said, getting up and going to the window to check on Angus.

"He may be into it now," Robert said quietly. He saw Angus sitting now on the dock, and Edward was sitting beside him, his arm around Angus's shoulder. "I think Edward has it in hand for now, but I will keep an eye.

"I think, for those of us who have had childhoods like Angus's was, there remains inside each one of us a young child that is perpetually seeking an answer to one key question. It wants to know 'Why don't you love me?' And a part of Angus is probably feeling that most keenly today. Just like Ruby felt it when she tried to visit her parents. I can't imagine what would have become of Angus if Edward hadn't taken him in almost from the start."

"Robert," Michael said seriously, "Edward is his grandfather, and thank goodness for him, but you do know that you and Kate are the emotional parents he has always looked for."

"I know, but he does need time to grieve Benjamin's death, and he may likely grieve the relationship that would never come from him rather than the man Benjamin actually was. And I think his mother probably is in much the same spot, although she isn't dead. He doesn't have contact with her, though, so she might as well be."

"Can't blame him for just wanting to know that his parents loved him."

"They couldn't give him what they didn't have," Robert said. "and that really is their loss more than his because they didn't get to know a truly remarkable young man."

"He's going to need you and Kate," Michael said.

"He knows we're here. He needs every one of us."

"And if his mother is a werewolf too?"

"I don't want to predict, but for some reason it seems to be that women that are werewolves are not generally blessed with an abundance of warm fuzzy feelings. Jack can certainly attest to that. His own mom had the same problem. She wasn't a candidate for Mother of the Year either."

"I think we should soon buggar over to Tuscany and see if Mummy Dearest showed up, Jack," Michael said. "What do you think?"