LONDON CALLING

Andrew arrived bright and early, knocking on the door. He did have a key but he didn't want to use it if someone was up. He had ordered some scones from Sparks, and he had already delivered four dozen assorted scones to the main house. He was now bringing a dozen assorted scones for Angus and Ruby and the boys. All the scones were still warm from the Sparks ovens, and he knew that fresh scones were always a hit with the people here.

"Good morning," he told Ruby when she answered the door "I come bearing fresh, warm scones from Sparks. Kate says you should take your time. She has an egg casserole in the oven, some broiled ham slices, and a big bowl of fresh fruit. She's drinking her second cup of tea and reading the newspaper. She said she'll send over some egg casserole when it comes out of the oven. So, how was it finally sleeping in your own bed again last night? I bet it felt good to be home."

Ruby had just finished setting the coffee going when she heard a knock at the door, moving to it she smiled seeing Andrew with a large box " oh nice, they smell delicious she stepped back so he could come into the house " come in" she said " and it was perfectly wonderful" she said smiling to him " coffee's on teh go if you want some and Angus I think is still sleeping, he was when I left, and please tell kate that is most welcome." she said  hearing about the egg casserole. " the boys enjoyed it last time" 

She took the box and set the scones on a platter to send to the table ready to be eaten.

"I'm glad you've got the house back," Andrew said, heading for the coffee pot. "And, yes, I definitely need coffee. "Well, if Angus is sleeping, I'm going to let him sleep. Nigel wants to see him this morning but what time he does it is flexible.

"I know," Andrew continued, "Nigel is planning on going back to New York today or tomorrow if he believes Angus is still on schedule with his recovery. He can't stay in England forever, and he really is needed there. Lee went back to New York yesterday. Angus is actually still months ahead of what we've ever seen anybody else do with his sort of injury. We don't have a lot of other cases of his sort of injury to go by, but after all, he's gone from being barely alive in July to having an entire bodily system regenerated enough that he was able to dance with you on Saturday. That really is completely unheard of. I look for Nigel to check Angus's systems regeneration, his functioning, and then he'll probably communicate by floo for the next few months and leave Angus's care primarily to Robert and me. Personally, I'd like to see you and Angus put a few pieces of exercise equipment in the house. Maybe a treadmill in the basement so that when the weather is bad, any of you could go workout a little if you felt like it. What do you think?"

Ruby listened and nodded " yeah he's doing well and sure, it would come in handy," she said smiling " if Angus agrees we could convert part of the basement into a permanent gym," she said " and yes he's doing well he went from down here to our room last night, he was wiped out when he got there, Its kinda why I left him to sleep this morning, he needs it," she said sipping her tea as she looked at Andrew as he spoke about Angus's progress " oh that would be good and I agree on Nigel checking him befor he leaves , it would put all of our minds at ease I guess."

It was now she heard the work men start on Edward and simones side of the duplex an she chukled " well I don't think he'll get much sleep with that noise" she said " its why I got up becuse I knew they would be here soon, plus dosn't help I think our daughters sitting on my bladder, its not too bad right now just slightly mpre trips than normal."

"A permanent gym is a good idea. You know if you put it in the center of the basement just right and make two doors for it, then Edward and Simone could use it too. It could be a family gym. Maybe Angus and I could start on a rough design later today." He heard the construction starting too, and he laughed. "You're right. He's probably going to be rooted up any moment now. I was really hoping he wasn't going to try stairs by himself, but I knew better after he got stuck in the garden yesterday in the rain. That really bothered him, so I knew then that he was going to start pushing himself again. I'll do my best to reel him in a little. I'm all for the exercise and for seeing him regain his skills, but I want him to do it safely."

Andrew got up, poured Angus a cup of coffee and took it upstairs. He came back downstairs a moment later without the coffee.

"Would you believe it? He's still out like a light. I'll keep checking on him. The boys are awake and dressing, and they'll be down shortly, but Angus is comatose," Andrew laughed. "He must have been just knackered last night. I presume you're going over to the main house this morning? Kate mentioned she wanted to go into Diagon Alley this morning and she was looking for somebody to keep Abbey out of trouble for a couple hours. If you're tied up, Abbey could always come over here with me, if you don't mind."

Ruby smiled at Andrews sugestion of desins and nodded at one wher there weere two doors for ether side to acess it " I like that idea a family gym, but I would still like to talk to Angus about it" she said and saw him stand and walk up to their room returning he told her Angus wasstill sleeping and she chukled " yes he was" she said " and if you could make sure he dosn't over do it that would be fantastic, as much as I love seing him back on his feet I don't want him pushing it." she said as he spoke of Kate wanting some one to mind Abby " yep I'll do it , I need practice after all" she chuckled.

She slipped on a pair of boots and a warm jacket a she looked at Andrew "let me know if you need anything sent over " she said then headed to the main house. Entering she smiled at Kate " morning" she said hanging up her coat. She could see Jack and Jess along with Rowan and Jessie all sat eating. " Jessie looking much better today" she said " he feeling better?" she asked softly as she moved to the dinning room to find Abby " hey Abby, guess what, Im your play mate today" she said smiling" so what do you want to do today?"

"ROOby," Abbey was excited to see her. "Gam buyed me somfin new! Lookie!" She handed Ruby a box that looked like a pink treasure chest. In the box were several drawstring bag, each one made from a different printed fabric. And in each drawstring bag, was a jigsaw puzzle for a little girl age 4-8. Each puzzle coordinated somehow with the print on the bag. There was a puzzle of a cupcake with pink icing, and it was in a drawstring bag that was made from fabric printed with little cupcakes. There were eight different puzzles in the chest, with room for more.

"And she buyed me this too!" She had a purple box, and it had several activities to start to learn to read some very simple words. Kate came in and sat down with a fresh cup of tea and saw Abbey showing Ruby the contents of the purple box.

"I wasn't sure about that box, actually," Kate said, "but it honestly was Robert's idea. He wanted her to have it. He thinks that since she is already doing some 5 and 6 year old tasks that there isn't any reason why she shouldn't have some games or activities that will teach her to read some sight words. He worked with her last night with it, and he thinks she really does get the concept that letters make words. She knows her letters and her numbers and her colors, so he thinks she needs to move on to the next things. So, because these are her newest toys, they are today's favorites. Oh, and BooBoo Kitty is in the dryer. We had an accident this morning and dropped BooBoo in the loo. So, I gave him a very thorough washing, and now he's in the dryer.

"I am going into Diagon Alley," Kate told Ruby. "I want to get costumes for Robert and me and the supplies to make the costume for this little one for the Halloween benefit carnival.
This one has it in her head that she wants to be a Cornish pixie for Halloween, so guess who is going to have to sew her a shiny blue jumpsuit with a hood that has pixie ears and antennas, and of course, no self respecting pixie would be without translucent wings. This costume might take me awhile, so I need to get my fabric and notions so I can get a head start on it. As long as I'm out, is there anything you need?"

Ruby smiled hearing Abby call to her and show her her new toys " wow those look really good." she said sitting next to Abby and looking at the puzzles and the little bags each one came with. she smiled thinking they will soon have their own Abby to hold and love in six months. Seeing the second box Ruby picked up a picture card with a letter on it and chuckled " what letter is this Abby?" she asked hoping to make a game of it so she would pick up the letters faster.

Ruby heard Kate and nodded " awe, she'd be a cute pixie." she said and smiled " Im not sure what or if Angus and I will be doing for halloween this year since hes not said anything about it, if he wants to dress up thats fine so will i, but if not then thats fine too." she placed a puzzle peice in its place but let bby do the magority of it herself. " what are you and Robert going as?" she asked

"Apple!" Abbey said, focused on the picture.

"Not the picture, Sweet Pea," Kate said. "What's that letter?" Abbey thought a minute and finally answered.

"A!" Abbey said.

"Good job," Kate smiled. "Does Angus even know about the carnival? He was so caught up n the wedding, he might have missed that discussion. You know how men are. They can be right in the room while a discussion is taking place and still not hear it if they have something on their minds. If you think you two might go, you might want to talk to him. I know Robert and I have to go because of Robert's position at the hospital.

"As for us, I think we may go as Prince Albert and Queen Victoria. I had it down to that or, Sherlock Homes and Dr. Watson. I didn't like the way the Dr. Watson costume fit me, though. It's a tad too generous through the belly for me. I suppose I could have altered it, but the Queen Victoria fit right the first try. I actually have no reservations about going as a man. Robert and I won a costume contest when we were dating. We went as the Lone Ranger and Tonto, and we won first prize. We won a large size potions cauldron, and Robert still uses it over at our place in his lab downstairs. You know, since you could use something a little more roomy, maybe you might want to check the Holmes and Watson costumes. Robert said first prize this year is a week long, five star luxury vacation in the Bahamas. A little fun in the sun might be a lovely thing for you two."

Ruby nodded " yeah I think he was so fucused he didn't catch it, but I'l mention it to him when Im home" she smiled as Kate spoke of the costumes " oh that would work, but depends on Angus if he wants to go, I like the idea of a carvaval." she said smiling as Abby got the letter " thats right but you know what else starts with A, Abby , your name does." she saod smiling " we've still not thought of any names for our girl" she said to Kate. 

" do you have any sugestions?" she asked her not having any names she felt were any good for their daughter.