LONDON CALLING

Andrew went over to the main house to get the dining room ready for supper. Kate met him in the kitchen, and seeing as though no one was going to help him set up things for supper or finish getting it ready, she pitched in to help. They set up the dining room. Then they worked together to get the chickens out of the oven, got them carved and the chicken put onto two huge platters, one with dark meat and one with white meat. Then they set out an enormous serving bowl of the root vegetables for everyone, and some generous slices of Irish soda bread to go with it, some French creamery butter, and then, last but not least, the pumpkin apple galettes, sliced and plated so that all anyone had to do was to take a dessert plate. They added lemonade, ice water, and pitchers of hot tea and hot coffee. Everyone could fix their own plates.

Robert called everyone to supper, and people started to fill in, including the boys. They deliberately sat next to Abbey. Sam even fixed Abbey a little plate and filled her little pink cup with lemonade for her before fixing his own plate. Sam sat on one side of her, and Victor sat on the other.

Andrew fixed a plate for Angus and didn't know whether he was supposed to fix one for Ruby or not because she hadn't given him any sort of a clear answer on whether she was coming over to the main house for supper or not. He was wondering if she was suffering from baby brain today again because she had appeared to be a bit off kilter today. He decided, finally, not having a decision from her, to send a tray for two. He fixed it and then floated it over to the duplex before finally fixing his own plate and sitting down to eat.

"Its fine that you eat over here, but, yeah, do let them know what you're doing so they're not guessing," he said. "I like foolproof recipes, and sticking a chicken and vegetables in the oven is about as foolproof as it gets. And, I know how to do it so that all there is to wash up, aside from plates and silverware, are sheet pans. That's it. No pots and pans and complicated kitchen gear. Just sheet pans. And, since I put parchment paper on all the sheet pans, there won't be any scouring even of the sheet pans to do."

Angus saved back his chicken and made sure all the bones were out of it, and then he gave it to Finn while Ruby was gone so that Finn had some supper. He presumed that the dog food that he had ordered for Finn had not arrived since it hadn't gotten to the house. So, he figured that Finn deserved to eat more than he did. He kept the dessert for himself, but he found some leftover brown rice in the fridge, mixed it with his chicken and gave it all to Finn.

"Sorry, Pal," Angus said, setting down the chicken and rice to Finn. "I'll make a trip into London tomorrow myself and get some dog food for you. This is the best I can do tonight, I'm afraid." The dog was appreciative and tucked right into his nice hot meal. Angus put on just a half a pot of coffee to brew, feeling like he needed a bit of a lift. His mind went to Edward tonight. He hoped Edward and Simone were having the time of their lives, and in his own way, Angus was glad that in just two more days, they would be back. Things had been quiet--except for the construction crew next door. But they would be done tomorrow. And then Edward's place would need cleaned and restocked like Angus and Ruby and the boys had had to do. Angus was hoping that he could work at it and get it done for Edward and Simone before they returned.

"Yeah, I can understand that," Andrew said. "Just let me know what you're doing next time so we're on the same page, okay?"

Sam scooped up Abbey from her high chair and put her up on his shoulders and headed upstairs with her, as Abbey chattered to Sam about her Halloween costume and about Gam saying something about lots of candy. Sam was trying to explain trick or treat to her, and she really wasn't quite getting it. Sam was hoping one of her storybooks was about trick or treating, so they were going to check it out.

"Victor," Kate said. "There is a storybook that talks about trick or treating but I think it's maybe on the top shelf of her closet. There is a box on the top shelf that has holiday storybooks in it, and I think there are some Halloween and some Christmas books in that box. Try there. I'll be up in 20 or 30 minutes to give her her bath."

"Okay. Thanks, Kate," Victor said, heading upstairs.

Andrew set spells in place to clean up the kitchen and he put the leftovers away.

"I think I'll start to take some of the dog stuff over to your place," Andrew told Ruby. "Finn probably thinks he's going to starve to death if we don't feed him pretty soon."

"I just fed him," Angus said, when they arrived with dog food.

"What?" Andrew frowned. "What'd you feed him? You didn't have any dog food."

"Gave him some chicken and some of the leftover brown rice we had in the fridge," Angus said.

"Chicken? Where'd you get chicken?" Andrew frowned.

"I gave him the chicken on my plate," Angus said.

"Dude, seriously? You gave him your supper?"

"No, not the whole supper. Just the chicken," Angus said. Andrew scowled at him.

"It's a good thing I'm not your nutritionist. She isn't going to be happy about that."

"Oh, up hers," Angus said. "I wasn't hungry anyway. It's fine. I have a choice. Finn doesn't. if I get hungry, there's a full pantry and a full fridge. I'll find something."

Andrew opened a large box and found two overstuffed dog beds. One was in a dove gray color and the other was identical except it was in a buckskin color.

"Why do we have two dog beds?" Andrew frowned.

"One for upstairs, probably in the boys room until they go back. Then it can come over to our room," Angus said. "And the tan one is for down here so he can be with the rest of the family when we're down here."

"That dog hasn't been here even 48 hours, and he's completely spoiled," Andrew laughed, opening the next box and finding box after box of dog treats--all different flavors and shapes.

"You really have lost your mind. All the dog needs now is a winter coat," Andrew said, pulling more stuff out of the box. "And here it is. Good God. It's a red plaid winter dog coat. You're completely barmy, you are."

Sam and Victor came over, carrying another box for Finn.

"Kate sent this box over for Finn," Sam said. "This might be the last of the dog stuff."

"Go ahead and open it, Sam," Angus told him. Sam and Victor opened the box and inside they found a bone shaped wicker basket for Finn's toys, and a big pottery treat jar. "I can promise you Kate made those," Angus said. "She probably wove the basket, and I'm sure she made the pottery treat jar."

"Really? She wove the basket? Who does that?" Victor said, impressed by anyone that could weave a basket shaped like a bone.

"She does," Angus said. "And since he's your dog, I think you two need to write her a thank you note. You'll find blank note cards in the desk. Get one out and you two write her a note and both of you sign it."

"Okay," Victor said. He found a place for the toy basket and put in all of Finn's toys, both the new ones and the two old ones that Brian had brought from Finn's old home. Andrew brought Angus a mug of coffee from the half a pot that Angus had brewed and then Andrew took out all the leftover boxes and packing paper. Sam took the treat jar and filled it up with a mix of two different boxes of treats and then put the jar on the kitchen counter. Then, with mugs of coffee, they sat down and wrote a note to Kate. After the note was written, Angus sent the boys up to shower and brush their teeth.

Yawning, Angus thanked Andrew for all his help and dismissed him for the night. Finn jumped up on Angus's lap as Angus kicked back the recliner and picked up the latest copy of the Daily Prophet to catch up on the news. The house was quieting down for the night.

"Did you ever try any of Robert's new caramel pumpkin tea, Ru?" Angus called. "Sometime you'll have to try it and tell me what you think. Its in the orange tin near the teapot."

"Thanks," Angus said. He tasted the tea. "I like that a lot. You know, people take tea and they use it to make desserts all the time, like tea infused cookies or ice cream. I wonder if I could take this tea and use it to infuse it into some sort of dessert. He's using a great tea base in it, and he's added the pumpkin and the caramel to it, so I don't see why it wouldn't work. Maybe it's worth trying. What do you think?"

At that moment, Finn jumped off Angus' lap and went over to sit with Ruby.

"Well, Finn might be quite the little diplomat. Seems like he thinks he has been with me long enough, and that he needs to give you a little equal time," Angus laughed.

"Hey, Angus?" Sam called down from the landing. "We still going out tomorrow?"

"Out?" Angus asked.

"You forgot, didn't you? You were taking us shopping for Halloween costumes for next weekend."

"Oh. Oh, yeah. Yeah, we'll go," Angus said, silently regretting now that he had said it.

"Cool! You're the best. Night!"

"Night, Sam," Angus laughed. Sam disappeared into the bedroom. Angus sighed. "They caught me off guard while we were pumpkin picking and asked if I'd get them costumes. I answered them on the fly, and didn't really give it any thought. Tonight, that just seems like its going to take a lot more energy than I have, but I don't want to disappoint them. Its their last Halloween in Hogwarts, after all."