A Birth day

Ruby chuckled as Robert talked about leaving him in the attic stuffed with werewolf fur. " some times its best to not fire a shot, its knowing when not to that makes the difference, right Robert" she said to Evan and looked to Angus, then to Jessie as he moved to the house to let the kids know they could come back outside. When Angus spoke of frozen lemonade she smiled " sounds great.

Jessie ran inside and up to the bedroom " okay you can come out now, get your swim trunks on and you can go swimming in the pool" he said heading to his own room to change so he too could go swimming. Ruby moved looked at Angus.

" you okay he did shove you hard" she said looking at his shoulder. " do you want Robert to check your shoulder?" she asked as she moved to the seating area beside the pool.

"Exactly, Ruby," Robert agreed.

"No, I'm fine," Angus told her. "He hit my ribs, not my shoulder, so I'm fine. You need to go change and hit the pool. I don't know that I can swim one handed. I might just lay here in the sun and work on a tan. Evan? You and Tara coming to the pool with us? I'm sure Rosaria would be happy to have the baby for a little."

"Well, actually, Tara volunteers at the local community pool helping babies learn to swim. There's no reason why the baby can't learn to swim, even at her age," Evan said.

"Well, I leave that up to you and Tara, then," Angus said. "I don't know if she has a swimsuit..."

"Oh, yes, she does," Simone said. She cast a quick spell and accio'd a tiny little swimsuit that looked like a strawberry costume. It was red with a green collar, and it had little black 'seeds' printed on it, and she floated it over to Evan.

"I should not be surprised she has a swimsuit," Evan laughed. "Alright, I'll go get Tara and one strawberry." He went back to his house.

Ruby looked at Angus and smiled " im glad hes such a rotten shot even with his fists" she said hearing Angus asy she should change so she could swim Ruby chukled and nodded " I'll go in a bit" she told him then saw the swim suit Simone had got for Caprice " awe thats so cute, its perfect and I agree, I read babies know instinctualy to put their faces above water." she said as she changed her clothing into an all black all in one swim suit as she then sat down beside the pool. It was now Jessie walked out with the boys and Girls all wearing swiming trunks and suits , Jessie dropped his towel on a seat and then ran to jump in the water making a splash before he surfaced.

"come on in the waters fantastic." he said and chukled.

Evan and Tara came back in their suits, with Caprice in her suit. Marcus and Angus went inside, so Angus could change into his swim trunks. They were just plain olive green swim trunks and actually somewhat conservatively cut, but Angus wasn't trying to make a statement with them. Marcus changed into his blue trunks and they went back out. Simone had a pretty black tankini that looked like it had embroidered flowers on it, and Edward's trunks were just plain navy blue. Robert, Michael, and Kate decided to join too. They went and changed and joined the others.

Angus simply laid back on the chaise and sunned himself while the others swam. He watched the others, and he noticed how happy Edward seemed to be. Angus understood. it had been decades since there had been this many in the huge pool, and it brought back memories for Edward of happier times. The last pool party Angus could remember of was before his grandmother had gotten sick. Edward and Caprice had invited a lot of friends, and, actually, Sergio's parents had come and had brought Sergio along. Angus remembered that he and Sergio had had a wager on who could do the biggest cannonballs, and Sergio had won--a hot fudge sundae, and when Sergio had won, Rosaria had made him the sundae, but Sergio had asked for two spoon, and he had shared it with Angus.

He watched Tara in the pool with Caprice, introducing Caprice to the water. That was a good thing. He wanted her to know how to swim."

"You're going to have to come enough that she learns to swim, Tara," Angus called.

"You mean, to England?" she called back.

"Yeah," he said.

"We could do that. I think our whole house would like that," she said.

"Then, make it a plan," he said.

"Consider it made," Evan smiled, beaming. He was really enjoying getting to spend time in England.

Ruby watched Tara with Caprice and smiled as Angus mentioned them coming to England more "That's for sure" she said and smiled. She watched as Jessie dove into the pool a second time and surfaced close to Caprice making her giggle as he blew bubbles in front of her. Jessie loved being in the water once he'd made Caprice laugh he swum to the side of the pool and rested. Ruby lay next to Angs catching some sun on her skin.

"This is good," she said softly "everyone is happy even Caprice is smiling now," she said and looked to Angus "This is how families should be." she said as she closed her eyes smiling at the sound of laughter rfromthe girls and boys as they swum and played in the pool. It was now she sat up on the cair " I shouldn't have said that, now I jinksed it." she glanced around looking for any sign it was about to go wrong not finding any she chuckled and lay back down.

"This place used to be a happy place," Angus said to Ruby. "It's been a long, long time since there was a pool party here. The last one was before my grandmother died. It was an afternoon a lot like this. Sergio and I were just little boys then. Everyone had such a good time, and Carlo grilled jacket potatoes and steaks for supper, and then, when it got dark, Edward and Sergio's dad set off some of the most amazing fireworks out over the sea. It was a great day. Sergio and I were completely knackered by bedtime. I only barely remember Edward carrying me up to bed, and Sergio's dad was carrying Sergio up. Tucked us into bed right in our swim trunks. I remember it was late enough that Sergio and both felt like we had stayed up all night. I'm quite sure we didn't, but when one is only five or six, I'm sure ten or eleven felt like it had been all night long.

"Today isn't the day for fireworks, but we should see if Edward and Robert would cast some fireworks over the estate when we do the big party this summer," he said. "I know Edward can make some amazing ones, and I bet Robert can too. I wonder if the girls have ever seen fireworks." Then he looked at Ruby.

"Oh, gosh. Don't let me forget to give the boys their gifts after supper tonight. I didn't want to do it this morning, but we really need to do that tonight, don't you think?" he asked her.

Ruby listened to Angus and smiled "Sounds magical" she said "And yeah, I'd love t see that but your right today isn't the day" she said turning to look at him as he continued. She smiled hearing about his childhood always loving the stories he told, it made her feel closer to him. When he spoke of the gifts she chuckled "Have to admit I forgot too, but I will remind you at supper" she said as Jessie walked past her and sprinkled them both with water "Hey" she said and Jessie laughed.

"come on sis, come swimming even your daughters enjoying the water." he said and Ruby chuckled and stood up "Be right back " she said and kissed his cheek before moving to the side of the pool and dove into the water gracefully before surfacing and swimming over to Caprice and Tara.

Tara showed Ruby what she was doing with Caprice and why and she promised to come and keep working with Caprice while Ruby was gone. Angus had actually wanted to teach Abbey to swim when Abbey was that age, but every time he got Abbey into the pool, Abbey would morph into a labrador pup and take right off in the water. Abbey was quite a swimmer now as a pup, but even now, it was nigh onto impossible to keep her in human form around any body of water. So, she hadn't learned to swim yet in human form.

Robert got out of the pool, took a couple of the slushy frozen lemonades from Carlo, and he brought one to Angus and sat down beside him.

"You looked a million miles away," Robert said

"Oh, thanks," Angus said, taking the lemonade. "No, I was just wondering if we'll ever be able to teach Abbey how to swim in human form." That made Robert laugh.

"That isn't likely to be any time soon. The labrador's love of water just entirely too strong in her," Robert said. "Still, if the important thing is for her to be safe, she's safe enough in lab form, actually. I do want her to learn, but she'll have to develop some control over the metamorph stuff first. Not meaning to change this subject, but where did Jonathan hit you with that spell?"

"In the ribs--on the opposite side," Angus said. Robert reached over and touched Angus's rib cage.

"Bruised but not broken. You've certainly had bruised ribs before. Painful but not anything to be concerned about." He laid a hand on Angus's bad shoulder.
"The bone's healed. Good, and the soft tissue damage is a good deal better. Its not quite where I want it yet, but it is hugely better. If you can work at my pacing, I'll have Andrew start working with you on some rehabilitation for it--if you don't overdo it."

"Sounds good to me," Angus said.

"We'll try to start it maybe tomorrow when you get home," Robert told him.

Ruby laughed as Caprice splashed gleefully in the water " I think she's a swimmer, she's loving it " she said and climbed out to dry off and sit with Angus. She heard Robert and Angus and smiled "that's a good step," she said happy to know Angus was almost back to normal and at the final stage with his shoulder. Jessie climbed out of the pool again and flopped down on a sun lounger beside her and chuckled.

" Im exhausted, guess I'm not as young as I was," he said and Ruby chuckled at him. He lay in the sun and smiled "Now I could get used to this" he sighed as he glanced at the boys and girls splashing and playing in the pool together. Ruby picked up a lemonade and sipped it slowly.

"Humm, this is refreshing," she said placing it next to her.

"It's amazing what he can do when he follows instructions," Robert teased Angus gently.

"Well, you know, I didn't always attack my own shoulder," Angus said.

"Granted," Robert laughed. "It will be good to have you back at work again, though. We have definitely missed you. We're managing but it isn't the same as having you back in charge. So, I take it that Rosaria is satisfied with your cooking?"

"Yes, she was," Angus laughed. "I knew that I would have to cook because she wouldn't be able to just take my word for it."

"So what's this idea about a family gathering at the estate?" Robert asked. Angus told him the ideas that had been spun around for a week long gathering with all kinds of events for kids and adults both, and Robert loved the idea.

"Why don't you plan it for maybe the middle of the summer, like mid July, and we'll do the training before that, perhaps in mid June so that anyone who is going can be back in time."

"That's a good idea, but what about sleeping arrangements for everyone?"

"The apartments are completed, so Zoe will be moving into one of the apartments. That will leave a room in the main house. If we need to add some wizarding tents to the yard, we can do that. We'll work that out. Don't worry. You keep working with the others and get it planned, and I'll give the accommodations some serious thought. Fair enough?"

"Sounds good to me," Angus said. He saw Carlo coming out with a big platter of steaks and potatoes to put on the grill, and Rosaria began setting the outdoor dining table. "Carlo can grill some amazing steaks," Angus told him.

"Good because I'm getting hungry," Robert said.