LONDON CALLING

Ruby listened to Jeffery and smiled as he told them they were exspecting " thats wonderful, do you know or want to know aht it is?" she asked then chuckled as he said Sarah wantd him to deliver their first child.

Jess smiled " oh thank you" she said looking at Jack " oh and we might have some baby blankets that Kate made for our children but there all off to Hogwarts now, their growing up fast" she said " Il'll wrap them for you to give Sarah, our gift for her nd the new baby"

Ruby heard Abby and nodded " sure I like looking at the stars, Angus showed me the milkyway and it was beautiful so now when I look at it it reminds me of him and that no matter how far apart we are were always under teh same sky." she said smiling.

"Well, she's supposed to see our specialist tomorrow. I found out there's a baby pool at the clinic, and they're taking bets. Some are betting its a boy, some are betting its a girl, and some are betting on triplets for some oddball reason. It had better not be freaking triplets." Robert roared with laughter."

"Don't laugh, Robert," Kate said. "Remember what I told you. Twins and triplets run in the Fawcett family. Just because Khaat didn't have a twin or two, doesn't mean Khaat won't have a twin or two or three or four."

"Four?" Robert frowned. Now it was Jeffrey's turn to laugh.

"I think quintuplets would certainly be newsworthy, even if you weren't a former minister," Jeffrey teased.

"Nope. Nope, nope, nope," Robert said, absolutely not having any of it.

"Thank you, Jess. I'm sure any blankets you would have would be much appreciated," Jeffrey said

"Wassat?" Abbey asked Ruby as she talked of the Milky Way.

"Remember that big ribbon of light I showed you at night?" Robert asked Abbey. She nodded.

"Where milk comes from!" she piped up.

"Close enough," Robert laughed.

"How we get it down, Papa?"

"It's not really where milk comes from, Abbey," Kate laughed. "It's just a silly name. You know where milk comes from."

"Moo Cows," she nodded.

"That's right," Kate said.

Jess chuckled and nodded " alright" she said then Ruby chuckled sotly and nodded as she spoke.

"Well twins do run in my family I have twin younger brothers" she said " so Im being very careful, i wonder do twins run in Angus's family" she asked Edward not sure if they did. On hearing Abby she smiled at the folly of youth, " thats exactly it." she said " it looks like a guint swirl of milk in the sky, you'll see it tonight." she said her hand moved to her necklace , the one Angus had given her as she thought about him. she then screwed up her nose at the thought of two men in a tiny cabin for two days and the amount of washing the'd have with them. " sorry just ahd a horrid thought about how smelly the guys will be when they get back and the mountain of washing too." she looekd at Kate " best warn the laundret there in for quite the load." she chuckled.

"Twins do run in the Donohue line. We had twins and so did Angus's parents," Edward said. "So you never know."

"Hopefully, even if their clothes are smelly, they won't be," Robert said. "Remember, the Orient Express is a black tie affair. There are sinks in their compartments so there is no excuse for not washing. And I suppose they could manage a quick cleaning spell on at least one change of clothes but if they're too rank, we could strip them off in the yard and hose them down with the garden hose. But, yes, the clothes might need burned, knowing those boys."

"Where were they going this time?" Jeffrey asked.

"Carpathian mountains," Robert said.

"Now, that is beautiful country. Dangerous going in places, but spectacular views. And you sprang for the Orient Express? That's not like you," Jeffrey said.

"Michael talked me into it," Robert shrugged.

"Well, that shouldn't surprise me one bit," Jeffrey laughed. "Does he still live in that goofy little cottage where all the magic was all buggared up?"

"He does," Kate laughed. "He likes it that way."

"And does he still have that boggart that Flint gave him?"

"That bloody boggart gets around," Robert said.

"Michael and Robert spend an inordinate amount of time releasing that stupid boggart on each other," Kate said. "Boys being boys."

"That hasn't gotten old yet?"

"Not yet. They just keep upping the ante on it."

"Who's turn is it now?"

"Mine," Robert said with a mischievous grin. Abbey looked over at Ruby and tugged on her sleeve.

"We need to make magic star cookies for tonight!" she said.

"What's a magic star cookie?"

"She wants someone to make the sprinkles sparkle," Robert said. "That always ends up being a job for Papa."

Ruby smiled s Edward said twins were on Angus's side of the family too she nodded to Abby as she asked to make sparckle cookies cookies " of course we can" she then heard Robert " but wouldnt you like papa to do them with you?" she asked lookingat Robert if it was okay for her to do them if Abby wanted her to. " I think Angus had the recipy in his folder in his office, once we've eaten I'll find it." she told her " then we can have fun making them for every one." she smiled

Jessie looked at Brain and thought for amoment " all right we can do that." he said " the decor in teh dining car is fantastic, and I hear they have oysters, soup with Italian pasta, turbot with green sauce, chicken ‘à la chasseur’, fillet of beef with ‘château’ potatoes, ‘chaud-froid’ of game animals, lettuce, chocolate pudding, and a buffet of all types of desserts, your right can't pass that up." he said smiling like his old self again.

"Absolutely," Robert said.

"I think being a grandparent is well suited for you," Jeffrey told Robert. "It's making a softy out of you."

"She's normally a good girl," Robert said. "I see no reason to be strict with her when she really doesn't cause any trouble. After all, it just really is a few sprinkles."

"Then I'll make a reservation for us in the dining car," Brian said. He arranged a table for the two of them at the first seating, and then he was specific to send a message to Michael that they were going to the first dinner seating so that no one needed to have any conflict. Michael and Angus did appreciate the heads up, and they arranged to go to the second seating. Angus hadn't wanted to venture out of the compartment, but Michael convinced him that he had no need to hide. He talked him into going to the dining car. He ordered a couple of scotch and sodas for them to drink as they were getting ready to go to supper. Michael knew how to enjoy five star luxury, and he intended to do so.

Ruby looked at Abby " then its just us grls in the kitchen tonight" she said smiling at Abby.

Jessis nodded to Brian and stood up carfully so not to knock the game they were playing and took out his tux , hanging it he cast a refresh spell and let it air out. Next was his shoes again he sat cleaning and polishing them while looking at the board. He picked up his bishop and moved it diagonal across the board. " back to you." he said

Brian took a long, thoughtful moment, looking at the board carefully, having learned from Robert the importance of thought and methodical movements. He finally decided to reposition is queen into a more protected position, so he made a small but careful move with her.

"Alright," Brian said, "your turn. I'll get my tux out now too, I guess, since it's been in my bag for a few days. I guess its time to see whether my idea was worthwhile or stupid. Check this out."

He had tried something different with his. When he had packed it on the train to come to Budapest, after their night in the dining room, he had laid it out flat and shrank each piece--the trousers, the vest, the shirt, the tie and the jacket, then he had pressed them carefully and meticulously between the pages of a heavy book. Now he got out the book, opened it up and showed Jessie the doll sized tuxedo that had been pressed in the book. He took them out, laid them on the bunk and resized them before hanging each piece up.

He looked at it now that it was at full size.

"Doesn't look too bad, does it?" Brian looked at Jessie. "A refreshing spell should fix the rest, I should think." He cast a refreshing spell on it, hoping it would look presentable now.

Jessie watched as Brian took out a book there betewwn the pages was his tux " wow , thats ingenius, I have to rember that" he said with a chuckle as he watched Brian make his move then hang his now full sized tux up " looks better than mine, and protecting your queen?" he asked moving a pawn to sacrifice if Brain was to take it.

He looked at the guide book and sighed " I'll have to opologise to Michael, some of the pages got bent." he said then he shok his head " I'll buy him a new one as an opology, I hink there are special ones just for the train, I'll get him one of those." Jessie said as he sat back down.

"Wait a sec," Brian said. He flicked his fingers at the book for a nonverbal reparo spell. "Wizards, remember? A bent page is an easy fix. Now you don't have to apologize because it's not damaged anymore."

Brian studied the board and saw the opening for him to take the pawn, but he passed it up because he saw a much better opening that, if Jessie missed it, would let him take one of Jessie's knights. He really didn't think Jessie would miss the move, but he wanted to try it anyway. He shifted one of his pawns instead.

"Your move," Brian said.

Kate cleaned up the take out containers and then went to check the larder for supper fixings. There was some amazing looking salmon in the fridge that Kate felt would be a shame to waste. So, she went to Ruby and Abbey, and she looked at them.

"What about Teriyaki Salmon and---I don't know--some sort of sides and vegetables for supper? Or any other ideas you might have for some beautiful salmon fillets. And, then, of course, your cookies. What do you think?"