A Birth day

Angus didn't understand why Ruby always made a bottle for the baby right at mealtime. It wasn't a big deal but it just had never made sense to him. He would have made the bottle and fed her either right before or right after eating so that everyone could eat without having to either delay eating to feed the baby or having to hold her with one hand and eat with the other. He had never asked her about it because she could do what she wanted. it just had never made even the slightest sense to him.

"Give her to me," Angus said quietly.

"How are you going to..." Andrew began.

"Just give her to me. I'm not all that hungry anyway," Angus said. He accio'd the bottle from the table.

"I can get it," Ginger offered.

"No thanks, Poppet. I've got it," Angus smiled at her. "Thanks for offering, though." Andrew brought the basket inside and took the baby out of the basket. It took a little work to position her. He ended up taking off his sling and laying the baby between his chest and his arm, on the pillow that was under his arm. That left his good arm to feed her with.

"Would you like some iced tea or lemonade, Angus, while I'm getting it out for lunch?" Anise got out the pitcher of lemonade and the pitcher of iced tea and set them on the table.

"Is there any coffee?"

"I'll look," she said.

"Can you get some soup bowls, some bread plates, some glasses, and some silverware?" Simone asked Anise. "Do you remember how to set the table like I showed you?"

"Yes, but that was with plates. We don't have plates this time," Anise said.

"Good point," Simone smiled. "Just put the soup bowls where the plates would go. Everything else is the same."

"Show me so I know too," Ginger said. Anise laid the table, and Ginger helped by copying Anise.

"Oh, well done, Girls," Simone said, pleased. "Good job."

"What are we having?"

"Mulligatawny soup, and some fresh salads, with fresh homemade bread," she replied.

"What is a mulligatawny?" Anise asked. "What sort of animal is that?"

"It isn't an animal," Simone smiled, trying not to show she was amused. "It's a word that comes from India. It actually means pepper water, but this soup is not that hot, so you don't need to worry."

"I thought it was some animal I've not hunted before," Anise said.

"No, Dear. Just a different language."

Ruby sighed and passed Angus the bottle " I was going to feed her while you guys ate" she said placing it down next to Angus and then saw him take Caprice from her bassinet. She was glad they got the bowls, but was confused as she'd already sent the crockery to the table. Listening to Simone she said nothing but finished the salad and sent it to the table then went to make herself a cup of coffee to have with her dinner. Pushing thoughts that crept into her mind aside she smiled and waitied on the others " Marcus are you going for a run after dinner?" she asked needing to get out of the house into the outdoors and run off her thoughts.

Jack moved to the kitchen and took a cookie from a pile Nicky smiled as he did " these are good" he said and sat back down to read a news paper and wait for the others to arrive.

"You certainly could have done that," Angus told her, "but as I said, I'm not that hungry anyway. Go ahead and eat."

"I hadn't thought about running after lunch, but I could," Marcus said.

"Oooh, a run," Anise said, already wanting to go.

"Uh uh," Angus said, firmly. "You haven't started your homework. I can tell. You're not going anywhere until you get your homework done. Not only the things that are due tomorrow but all those assignments that are overdue."

"How did you know I have overdue assignments?" she looked at him wide eyed.

"I did not fall off the Stupid Dad truck," Angus said. "I want to see each assignment so that I know that they're finished, and, yes, if I need to, I will be checking with Robert to make sure that you aren't skipping anything."

"Oh, alright," Anise sighed. She didn't mind studying but she wasn't as interested in it as Ginger was. Anise would much rather be running, climbing trees, exercising, and training.

"Did Mom tell you she hates homework?" Ginger asked Angus.

"No, she didn't need to. So she did the same thing at home too, did she?"

"All the time," Ginger said. Anise rolled her eyes at Ginger.

"Well, that ends right now," Angus said firmly, and at that moment, while Caprice was still drinking, she suddenly spit up all over Angus. Angus sighed, and Andrew hurried to Angus to rescue him. Andrew took Caprice to go clean her up, and he handed Angus a towel.

"I'll be back in a moment to give you a hand," Andrew told him. "Then I'll get you cleaned up. She got you pretty good this time. You're going to need clean trousers and probably pants too, and you're going to need to wash up. Then I'm going to have to change the bed too. Just give me one minute to hose this one off first." He took the baby upstairs to clean her up.

"Not my favorite part of fatherhood either, Mate," Marcus said. "Hold still, and let me see if I can help. Well, this bedding all has to go, sheets, blanket, pillows, looks like she got everything in about a three foot radius." He took the sheets and the blankets off the bed and rolled them up so the spill was tucked inside and tossed them temporarily to the floor so he could help Angus wipe some of it off himself.

Ruby looked at Angus as he spoke and nodded to him as he spoke to Anise " I agree, if you can get it done before I go for my run then you can come, but not if it's not done" she said and turned to gather the shets and dirty pillow cases from Angus bed once Caprice had thrown up on them. " I'll get these in the wash, " she said, carrying them to the washing machine. Accioing some clean ones she began to remake the bed for Angus making sure to place the pillows back in the original place soas not to make him uncomfortable.

Once she was done she looked at Angus and Marcus " looks like she didn't miss any place" she said grabbing a damp cloth and wiping down the floor next to the bed then the bedside table . Grabbing his cup she took it and made a fresh cup of coffee for Angus then accioed some fresh clothes. " here you go." she said placing down a clean tee and trousers as she pulled the privacy screen around his bed " do you want a hand?" she asked.

"Thanks," Angus said, glad for her help. "I appreciate it, but I think I'm going to have to somehow get a bath before I can get into clean clothes."

"I hate to tell you, but Robert isn't going to let you get that shoulder wet for at least two to three weeks, and probably longer," Marcus said. "Not if a couple of my friends who've had similar surgeries are to be believed."

"You're just full of good news, you know that?" Angus frowned at Marcus who cast him an amused grin. He took a basin and filled it with warm water to help him wash up and brought it back.

"One of us is going to have to help him with a bed bath," Marcus said. "You or me, Ruby? If you want dibs, that's fine. Otherwise, shall we flip a coin for it? Oh, and don't forget Robert got him those adaptive tees. Those will be much easier for now."

Ruby smiled to him and looked to Marcus as he began talking , she nodded " its okay, I'll do it." she said taking th sponge she rung it out so it was touch damp then removed his tee shirt gently then placing it in the wash basket next to her. Now with the lightly damp sponge she began cleaning him off. Pulling the screen around him as she did the rest of him making sure to get every place that could hold sweat or dirt but keeping it gentle around his shoulder and under his arm so not to cause him any pain. Soon she was done and was doing up the last snap on the tee Robert had got for him " so do you feel better now?" she asked smiling.

She picked up the bowl and walked to the kitchen poring the water down the sink and washing out the bowl to place it back where Marcus had got it from.

"Yes, thank you," he said. It wasn't a happy thing for him to have to rely again on others helping him with things that he preferred to do for himself, but he was wise enough to accept the help offered and to be grateful for it. By then, Andrew was coming back downstairs with Caprice.

"Sorry. I had to bathe her completely. She was a completely fouled up mess, and somehow it was even in her hair," Andrew said. He handed her to Ruby. "Here. I love babies, but I've had enough of this one for just two minutes, please." That made Angus and Marcus laugh.

"Go eat your lunch," Angus told Marcus and Andrew. "I'm sure the soup and the salad are both delicious. I know how these two cook." Andrew put a bowl of soup, a salad, a slice of the fresh soda bread and some of Simone's freshly made jam on the overbed table for Angus, along with a glass of iced tea.

"Eat something," Andrew told him and then he went to eat his own lunch. It was all delicious, and the girls each had a second bowl of soup. Angus had just a bit more than half. He was tired, and he was really starting to hurt. He got up and went out on the deck and sat down in the chaise outside in the sun.

Anise volunteered to clean up the lunch leftovers and do the washing up and Marcus laughed.

"Don't think you've fooled Angus for one moment that you're stalling," Marcus told her. "Go do your homework, and I'll ask Michael to take you tree climbing."

"Him?" she frowned. She knew he had gotten down into the well in Tuscany but she had also see Jack pull him back up.

"You have a lot to learn about Michael Tremaine, Squirt," Marcus laughed out loud. "I think I shall let him surprise you. I'm not going to tell you anything. You can find out for yourself. So, if you want to go tree climbing, I'd go do your homework." She and Ginger went outside to do their homework, taking the little radio with them.

Nigel arrived about thirty minutes early for his shift, and he had a big tin of warm chocolate chip cookies from Zoe.

"Soup is still hot if you're hungry, Nigel," Simone said. "Homemade mulligatawny, if that strikes you."

"Really?" he asked. "I haven't had that since I was a boy."

"Well, I'll dish you up a bowl," she said. "Sit down there, and I'll get it straight away."

"Where's Angus?"

"He just went out on the deck," Marcus said.

"Nobody gave him permission to be out of bed. What's he doing up, and what's he doing out there?"

"Sunning himself, it looks like," Marcus said.

"I'm gonna kill him," Nigel scowled.

"Well, then I won't tell you he was in Tuscany this morning," Marcus teased.

"Yes. In his pajamas, bantering with a demon. I heard. I'm gonna kill him again for that too," Nigel said. "He had no right to be doing that either. Robert could revoke this all and send him back to St. Mungo's, you know."

"Well, he could try, but he won't. And Angus wouldn't go anyway. Look the deck isn't more than five steps away, and the chaise isn't more than another five or six steps beyond. He's fine. and I'm right here," Marcus replied. "For him, I think he is actually behaving pretty well, all things considered."

"Eat your soup, Nigel," Simone said in a nurturing tone. "You'll feel better." Simone believed men like Nigel could be buttered up with a decent meal, and in her experience, it usually worked.

Ruby smiled at Angus "It was my pleasure" she said then saw Andrew return with Caprice, chuckling she walked over to Andrew and took her from him "It was greatly appreciated, thank you" she said to him and nodded when they spoke of food and that he should eat. She saw Angus head out to the deck and she went to place Caprice on the play mat to play with some of her toys. Dishing up a plate for Andrew she saw Nigel enter and she smiled "Afternoon" she said then heard Nigel talk about what Angus had done in his PJs.

Handing Nigel a bowl she went and sat down finishing her food then glanced at Angus "I'm glad he's out getting some fresh air, surly if he knows his limits he's good ." she said as she took a warm chocolate chip cookie and bite into it " yum these are great" she said smiling.

"The soup is wonderful," Nigel said as Marcus went out with Angus. "Better than my mum's ever was, that's for sure."

"Well, I'm glad you like it," Simone smiled. "So tell me, why the tight restrictions on Angus?"

"Because that kind of a surgery truly does put a massive strain on the human body. He doesn't have nearly as much strength as he thinks he does. I do not want him ending up in a heap someplace and blowing all those little surgeries. I am quite sure that Robert would not be any more anxious to have to take him back to surgery to redo what we just repaired. It is entirely too soon for him to be globetrotting..." At that moment Caprice let out an unhappy squall. Nigel looked down to see she had rolled onto her side and then didn't know what to do with herself.

"Got yourself stuck, didn't you?" Nigel said. He flicked a finger at her to roll her back onto her back. She just looked up at the ceiling, wide eyed, not certain how she got back on her back. "I suppose I should soon go out and bring our boy back inside."

"Don't nag, Nigel," Angus called. "I'm on the same position I was in bed. I'm just doing it outside.'

"Schoolboy," Nigel muttered. "Delicious lunch. Thank you, Ladies. So tell me, did you lot actually get the demon and run him off?"

Ruby smiled "Thanks to Simone" she said to Nigel as he complimented the soup. She looked at Caprice then chuckled as Nigel made her roll back onto her back and she stooped and stared at the ceiling . " she then watched as he spoke about Angus and how it might be possible he could undo all the surgeries they had to do. She also chuckled when Angus called out to him and she shrugged knowing that was just how Angus was and what she loved about him.

She saw Nigel walk out to Angus and start to talk to him. Ruby cleared the table and made sure all the ingridiats were back in there right places. Taking Angus order book she noted down what neded to be ordered and sent it off to the supliers while she looked to Anise and Ginger outside working on their home work.