LONDON CALLING

Ruby chuckled as Edward tasted the hot chocolte that Angus had made and Jessie just nodded to him when he thanked them for putting up the roof decorations. she smiled t Angus as he spoke of the decorations " well I love them, you have great taste." she said now holding one of the cups Kate made now filled with Hot chocolate and marshmallows that floated on top of the hot chocolate slowly expanding as they soaked in the chocolatly goodness. " and I have to agree this is realy good" she let out a soft sigh as she took a sip.

Jessie chuckled at Ruby but side glanced at Yulong who smiled as he too took a small sip then smiled seeing Jessie with a froth mustach. "Thats not a good look on you" he said picking up a napkin and wiping Jessies mouth clean pausing only when he realized what he had done but Jessie just blushed and smiled at him " um..sorry" he said and Jessie chuckled .

"its fine" he told him taking the napkin from Yu and finishing wiping the froth from his lips. Ruby glanced at Angus as the name Ralph was mentioned and chuckled now understanding what and why he was using that name and she smirked as she sipped more of the hot chocolate. " why not its a good name." she teasdalong with Angus.

"Why Ralph?" Simone asked, amused.

"Well, she wasn't always a she. She started out as an it, if you recall. I didn't want to just call her an it forever," Angus said.

"And Ralph was better?" Edward frowned. Simone laughed.

"Well, you do know that Raphaela or Raffie is a feminine form of Ralph, just in Italian," Simone said.

"And change her name? Never," Angus laughed.

"I might have to hurt you, Boy," Edward laughed, knowing Angus was teasing.

Ruby chuckled at the teasing and looked to simone as she smiled as Edward finally understood they were teasing him. "Don't worry, we'll anounce the name we've chosen when she is born." she said finshing her hot chocolate " but for now Ralph is her name" she smirked. Standing she moved to the kitchen and washed her cup clean and placed it on the drainer.

Jessie shook his head " Could be worse they could have called her something worse." he said sipping his hot chocolate before letting out a yawn. Yu saw theis and shook his head .

"okay finish up, its time you slept " he said " your no good to any one half asleep" he finished his own and washed both cups and placing them on the rainer " okay we will take our leave, have a good night" Yu said and motioned to Jessie they should head back to the cabin. Ruby chuckled and shook her head as they left .

Edward had always known that, in the long run, the baby wouldn't be Ralph, not even if it had been a boy, but he and Angus had always had a way of teasing each other that could sound to everyone else like they were serious. It was just their style. Andrew collected all the rest of mugs and cleaned them up and made space for them in the cabinet, leaving two out near the coffee pot for morning. He put the left over cocoa in a pitcher and put it in the fridge so that, if someone wanted some, they could pour a mug and use a warming spell to heat it. Then, he got the coffee and tea brewers ready to go so that all anyone needed to do was to turn them on.

"Goodnight," Edward said to Jessie and Yulong.

"'Night," Angus told them.

"I think I've got you both settled for morning," Andrew told Angus. "Is there anything else you need tonight?"

"I can't think of a thing," Angus said. "Thank you."

"Goodnight, then," Andrew said. He headed for the door, and when he opened it, Finn came in. "I wondered where you were, fella." Andrew gave the dog a scratch on the head and headed home.

"I think that's our cue too," Edward said. "Thanks for all the Christmas decorations. It all looks great. Goodnight, you two." He and Simone went back to their side of the duplex, leaving Angus and Ruby alone for what little remained of the evening. Angus turned out all the lights except the lights on the Christmas tree and then he sat down in his chair to simply enjoy the lights.

"I've always enjoyed how the Christmas tree looks at night when it's the only light on in the room," Angus said. "It has a magic all its own. Almost the same as the stars at night. Except this is here for only a few weeks a year. I think I just want to enjoy it for awhile."

Ruby smiled as everyone filtered out of the duplex and back to their own homes. Seeing Angus turn out the light but leave the Christmas lights on the tree she sat down next to him and wrapped her arms around him "Yes, it's relaxing and a little romantic too" she said smiling up at him and resting her head on his shoulder. she watched the lights twinkle and change colour in front of her.

Jessie and Yu entered the cabin they shared and saw their place was bare, quickly they set up a tree and began decorating it smiling as they hung baubles and lights on it. Jessie moved to the kitchen and made some hot chocolate for them both and sat down to admire Yu as he put up the last decoration and then the topper but paused s he turned and offered it to Jessie. Jessie placed down the mugs and walked over but reaching up he was too short. Yu placed his hands on Jessie wait and lifted him so he could place it.

Ruby smiled contentedly at Angus then loked out the window " oh its snowing, I wonder if we'll have snow for christmas?" she asked taking her hand she raised it and waved so soft music started to play around them making the moon more cosy and relaxing for the pair of them.

"Maybe," Angus said. "I wouldn't mind a little snow on Christmas eve. Edward and I had a lot of green Christmases. Snow is really rare in Tuscany. Pretty rare in Paris too, honestly. I can't honestly tell you when he had a white Christmas last. We've been lucky here the last five years or so to have just a little, just a couple inches. Just enough to cover the ground. Now, Colorado, on the other hand, gets hammered with it. It isn't unusual for them to get over seven feet of it, and up in the mountains where our estate is there, they get even more. That's why Robert will often do a winter survival weekend there in January or February. I am not disappointed that he has already told me that if he does it, he does not expect me to go, even if I'm completely back by then. He says he doesn't want to overtax my system by doing it. And I'm fine with getting out of it for one year. Changing subjects just a little, what do you think we should get the boys for Christmas this year? I think they're in good shape as far as winter clothes go. I honestly thought about getting them some skates and a couple of sleds and snowboards. What do you think?"

Ruby smiled as Angus spoke to her about having a white Christmas. "Yeah would be wonderful, for the boys too," she said as he spoke of what to get the boys for Christmas this year and heard his suggestions "I agree on the clothes and yes, I like those ideas." she said smiling knowing at least one of the boys will want to skateeventualy. " do you like skating?" she asked " have you ever been skating in a rink or on a frozen lake?" she asked keeping her head laid on his shoulder. " I went skating once in centeral park but I kinda fell on my butt more times than I stayed upright, and with this one I am not doing that again until she is born."

"Actually, I have," Angus said. "The first Christmas after my grandmother died, Edward really needed a break away from the tradition that we had always had because it was just entirely too hard without my grandmother to try to do things the same old way. Edward and I went to Switzerland, just the two of us, and we spent the holiday in the Alps, skating and skiing and taking full advantage of anything having to do with snow. I found some local kids and we made snow forts and had some huge scale snowball fights, and just spent two weeks embracing the winter. That's when I learned to skate and ski. The resort we were at had some amenities in several different buildings but since we were that high in the mountains, the only way to get to some o those buildings was either by cross country skiing or by using snowshoes. We didn't have many presents that year, but we sure had a great time.

"I doubt that skating or skiing will be on my list this year either, but there will certainly be more opportunities for that. If I'm lucky, I might be able to throw a few snowballs and maybe help the boys make a snowman--maybe.

"Kate did a really interesting thing last year. She and Robert and a few friends got together and had a really simple fondue and wine and cookie party for supper and then they made some homemade ornaments for one of the evergreen trees outside especially for the birds. They strung popcorn and cranberries on yarn and made suet ornaments and ornaments out of all sorts of fresh and dried fruits and nuts and cereal. They made enough to cover a tree and then they decorated it together. Robert did some sort of enchantment to make it look like it had lights. It looked great, and the birds and the squirrels had food to eat for weeks. I wonder if we could get anyone interested in doing that this year. I thought it was a cool idea to make sure the birds and the squirrels ahd plenty to eat, and everyone had a great time doing it."

Ruby listened to what he said and smiled liking the sound of his voice and the suggestions he put up " I like that, helping nature and having fun too, the boys could help make garlands to decorate one of the trees close by" she said " and the fondue and wine sounds divine but , no wine for me though" she chuckled " now you got me looking forward to Christmas this year, it will be the first time Jessie, the boys and I have all been together and happy" she said moving to kiss his cheek with a smile.

Settling back down she smiled contentedly at him. " I love you Angus and I love being here like this with you, I feel at home and happy, theres no worries , no one trying to hurt us or those we care for just the sound of the light snow on the window and the light from the tree, its perfect as are you" she said leaning back up to kiss him deeply.

Breaking it she chuckled " maybe we should head to bed and see what tomorrow brings " she sugested "I'll set the washer going so the dishes and mugs will be clean for tomorrow" she said " but.." she shifted to face him " what is it you want for christmas?" she asked him " and plese not peace and good will on earth , im not that good" she said with a chuckle.

"I don't think there are any dishes. Andrew did the washing up before he left for the night," Angus said, draping his arm around her, "and he got the tea brewer and the coffee brewer ready to go too. All we have to do is switch them on in the morning, so I think we're done for the day. You're right. We should turn in pretty soon.

"I'm really not sure what I want for Christmas. I have pretty much all I could ever need or want, except for maybe a few little things. I do need a new mission hat. The last one I had got ruined in the rain. Gil, over at our outfitters in Venice suggested I have him make me one that's waterproof. I haven't done it because I really would want it to look nice. So there's that. And, I have sort of thought about some sort of vacation property for us. Someplace where we could get away from it all. Edward has a whole portfolio of miscellaneous properties that he's bought as he came across them, and he's never used them. I have absolutely no doubt that we could take our pick of them and build something on it if we wanted to, so I've given some thought to that. And then there is that griffin I rather liked at Halloween. What about you? What do you want?"