A Birth day

Ruby glanced up when Angus spoke she smiled seeing Elwood at the top of the stairs , quickly she laid another place at the head of the table for Elwood and smiled as Angus brought out the stew , she too helped give out bowls to the others " I had a taste earlier and , its yummy" she said smiling as she heard the babies in the play pen, Aria picked up both girls and walked over with them setting them down in their high chairs.

Now sat down Aria helped fed the babies blowing on the stew so it would not burn them and handing then bread so they could chew on it. Both smiled as Elwood got the boys and girls names correct. Caprice took the spoon and copied Aria blowing best she could over the stew then eating it herself. While Amari wanted Ruby's help which she was happy to give.

" I believe desert is Lemon & violet drizzle cake with home made custard." she said smiling to them all. as she too ate her stew wiping the last out of the bowl using some bread and smiled seeing Caprice finished her bowl too. " seems she liked the stew too" she said and showed her empty bowl to Angus with a chuckle.

"You must have baked at some point," Angus said. "Well, then, people can have their choice. I made homemade ice cream and a fresh strawberry topping."

"Two desserts? Is that usual?" Elwood asked.

"No, but it does happen," Angus said.

"With Angus's training as an executive chef, we sometimes get a chance to taste a lot of truly wonderful things," Marcus told Elwood.

"Well, this supper couldn't be any better," Elwood said. "I don't even remember when I've had any kind of stew, and a chicken stew? This is the best meal I've ever had. The food, the company, this comfortable house, the wonderful clothes, you've made an old man very very happy tonight."

"Then that makes every one of us very happy," Angus said.

Elwood had almost an entire bowl of stew, and he ate a whole piece of bread. By then, he was getting quite full. Angus was elated that Elwood had managed to eat that well. A man as thin as Elwood was didn't generally eat full servings but he had done far better than Angus had expected.

"Might I get you another helping?" Angus asked Elwood.

"Oh, no, no thank you, my boy," Elwood sighed. "I am as stuffed as a toad. I'm not sure where I put it. I don't know when I have eaten that much. A word from the wise--do not let a pukwudgie do your cooking. It is not a good thing. This is far, far better."

"I won't hire a pukwudgie any time soon, then," Angus laughed.

Ruby chuckled and smiled to Angus " that's okay my cake can wait till tomorrow " she said " it will keep" she added " and the custard once in a jug can also be kept" she smiled " you desert sounds perfect" she added as she picked up the empty bow;s from the babies and Aria and took them to the kitchen before returning with spoons and bowls of homemade ice cream and a fresh strawberry topping. She placed then down in front of every one including Elwood " you don't have to if you don't want to , we tell the boys and girls eat what you can" she said smiling to him then went to help the babies eat , which was more like decorate themselves with the ice cream but they were happy.

Joseph moved quickly until he began to feel tired now done he placed the rapier back on the rack and headed back to the tower to shower and change so he could sleep.

Elwood wasn't about to turn down homemade ice cream. He couldn't remember when they had had any sort of dessert. It just wasn't something that Pearl had ever wanted, nor was it something the pukwudgie had known anything about. So Elwood didn't get any. But tonight, he had a sundae in front of him, and he wasn't going to miss it, no matter how full he was.

He ate every little spoonful, savoring every little drop of ice cream, every drop of topping, every piece of strawberry. Then, as was their habit, Angus passed around mugs of coffee.

"Coffee? Real coffee?" Elwood asked, picking up his mug to simply smell it and enjoy the warm nutty aroma. "My god, I had forgotten how good coffee smells. You have coffee every night?"

"We have coffee and tea brewed almost around the clock," Angus said, "so if you want something, by all means, just ask." Elwood sat and drank his coffee and just listened to the conversation. Then he noticed Finn.

"And you have a dog," Elwood said. "He's a border collie, isn't he?"

"He is," Angus said. "He's a professional baby herder."

"Borders will herd every bloody thing that moves," Elwood laughed. "Terrible guard dogs, but good at gathering things up."

"Finn sleeps in the nursery, but I don't honestly think he's really guarding them," Angus replied.

"We don't need a guard dog with Dad around. He's a pretty darned fierce protector as it is," Anise said.

"He must be," Elwood said. "Believe me, people tried to put a stop to Pearl over and over for the last 80 years. Your dad was the only one who could begin to get even close to her, let alone to finish the fight."

"I was only one man in a large, efficient team," Angus said. "We're all part of that team here, and the kids are in training to become fighters."

"Then I look forward to hearing many good stories," Elwood said, yawning. Andrew and Angus both knew that Elwood, for the first time in a very long time, had a full stomach, and it weas making him very sleepy.

"Elwood, you have plenty of time to visit," Andrew suggested quietly. "How about I help you up to your room. Tomorrow is another day."

"I don't want to go yet," Elwood said, wistfully. "I've spent so long alone, and this is so wonderful...but you're right of course."

"We'll be here in the morning," Angus said. "And so will you."

"Oh very well," Elwood said. "Thank you all for a wonderful evening."

"There will be many many more," Angus reassured him. Andrew took Elwood upstairs.

"He is as happy tonight as he was miserable a couple nights ago when we found him," Marcus said. "Even if this was all the time he had, it was worth every moment to put some joy back in his life."

"I agree completely," Angus said.

Ruby finished her desert just as the babies finished theirs she picke dup the empty bowls and returned with a touch damp cloth to wipe down their hands and faces she chukled as Elwood and Angus spoke of Finn "Oh that he does" she said chuckling then heard him mention the coffee " oh we have a few coffee aficionados around here" she said and looked to Aria with a smile.

"hey, not my fault I can't operate in the morning without one" she said and smiled to Elwood " I'm not a morning person with out a cup first" she said chuckling but saw Elwood yawn once he was finished. Both smiled and nodded as they saw Andrew take Elwood back up to his room.

"I'll make sure he has fresh cool water by his bed when we go up later" Ruby said as she picked up the rest of the bowls and took them to the kitchen to wash again in the washer. " that was really good Angus " she said smiling to him " I'm glad we didn't have the cake I think it might have been too heavy for Elwood." she added tossing a piece of left over cake to Finn who ate it and licked his lips .

"Did you notice? Elwood misses nothing," Angus told her. "For all his illness, his mind is as sharp as a tack."

"I bet you that once he settles in, he will play a mean, mean chess game," Marcus said.

"I hope so. Edward would give him a run for his money if that's the case."

"I think he and Edward will get on like best mates," Marcus said. "Now, not that I"m intending to change subjects, but would you mind terribly if Minos handled security tonight? I haven't been to bed for three damned nights in a row, and I'm getting very tired."

"By all means. Go get some sleep tonight," Angus said. "You really should take a couple days off. Go spend some time with Ezra. rest up. Spend some time with your kids or something."

"I don't need a holiday. I just need a night's sleep. I'll be back tomorrow."

"We'll be fine," Angus said. "Take the time you need. You were supposed to be off at breakfast, but you didnt go. So go now. Minos and his people can handle things overnight. Aria needs some sleep too, I'm quite sure."

"If you're sure you have it under control, I'll go home and order some supper for my kids. I know they haven't eaten yet."

"Wait. Ru, give Marcus enough chicken stew and bread for his kids and some of the ice cream and strawberry topping, would you? I know there's plenty."

"You don't need to..."

"We always make more than enough. You know that. Your kids will eat chicken stew, won't they?"

"If I let them do it, they'd eat the furniture, I'm sure," Marcus said. "They're entirely hollow, that lot."

"Then we'll be happy to feed them for you," Angus said. "As soon as we get it packaged up, you go feed them and get some sleep."

Ruby chuckled and nodded her head " oh I noticed" she said as she listened to Marcus and Angus talking " oh I wonder if he'd beat Robert or was it Edward who plays?" she asked chuckling to herself. Looking up when Angus spoke to her again she smiled and nodded " of course" she said and took out a large Tupper wear tub, spooning the stew into it she made sure it was enough for Marcus whole family before she put the lid on and sealed it before wrapping several bread rolls and fresh sliced bread in clear wrap. the desert she added to a separate Tupper wear tub and again sealed it before placing it into a bag and carrying it out to Marcus " here you go" she said smiling as she handed it to him.

Aria stood up and looked at Marcus " you get some rest I'll be here for a while anyway" she said gently and kissed his cheek. " it won't be late" she added an I'll do the checks before I leave , twice just to calm your mind" she said smiling.

"They both play," Marcus said. "Robert is almost undefeated here. I say almost because Kate can defeat him on a pretty regular basis. Other than that, rarely does someone beat him. Edward is pretty good at it, and, actually, so is Michael. I think Michael and Robert were in a chess club at Hogwarts, but don't quote me. I think, if we get bored when the weather gets cold, we should do a chess tournament and see who would win."

"Oh, my money would go to Kate, hands down. People think Robert is the brains of the operation, and I suppose he is but only because Kate doesn't challenge him. I think if they ever did real IQ testing, she would best Robert by just a few points," Angus said.

"Definitely," Marcus said. "Still, it would be fun. I think just about everyone here has a small competitive streak. I think the kids would enjoy maybe a cornhole tournament this fall or something."

"I don't know. Maybe a Halloween party instead," Angus said.

"That's a good idea," Marcus said. "Alright, I'm taking my food and running. Thanks for supper. I'll see you in the morning." Marcus picked up the food packages and headed home.

"I'm going to go shower and then I'll be back," Angus said to Ruby as the kids all headed downstairs. "Can we try to minimize the fussing the babies do tonight? Maybe let them go to sleep downstairs and try to take them up to bed without waking them? I'd like Elwood to not be disturbed his first night here if we can manage that." He headed upstairs to shower.

Ruby chuckled hearing both played chess really well. " I know I wouldn't last one round with them" she said and smiled she nodded to Marcus as he thanked her for the food then said he was headed out " see you tomorrow Marcus" she said " and sleep well" she added as she smiled and finished wiping down the table clean for the next day.

Hearing Angus Ruby nodded " we'll le them do that then put them down" she said " take your time there's no rush." she said smiling as she pored a cup of tea for herself and sat down with her creatures book to read while the babies were playing happily along with Aria who watched the babies as she did a word search while watching the babies out the corner of her eye.

Angus showered, and when he came back down, he started work on a new sketch. He hadn't done any sketching of his own for quite a long time, and Cris had given him some inspiration.

"I need to order some art supplies," Angus told them. "I need a few things. I'm running low on some things because I've loaned the out to people over the years, and just never bothered to replace them. I need some more chalks, and a lot more colors than I have. And I need some different kinds of easels so that I can do a variety of techniques. If I were halfways intelligent, I'd talk to Kate and see if she has a better source for supplies than I do. I don't spend enough time sketching and drawing, and I rather miss it, but if I'm going to take it up again, I have to replace my supplies.

"Oh, and not to change subjects," Angus told Ruby, "but if Anise and Ginger want to make their own cookbooks, there are recipe notebooks. we should get them each one with some dividers so they can start adding whatever recipes they like. I bet if you talked to Flourish and Blotts the next time you go to London, they could show you several nice ones you might be able to pick from for them, if you don't mind looking for something for each of them. I thought maybe we could start setting back some initial supplies for each of them, rather like a first kitchen box, as a surprise for each of them. Just a few things that would get the started in fixing some simple meals when they get their own places. What do you think?"