A Birth day

"I'll go with you, then," Andrew said. "I'll take the lunch up to Khaat's office while we're there."

Angus came back in just a few minutes.

"Edward is out," Angus said. "He's in Tuscany about a new wine blend that they've been working on. Simone doesn't think he'll be long, but she says that Sam is certainly welcome to stay there while he recovers--as I expected she and Edward would say. When you see him, Ru, do make sure to tell him that if he so much as puts toe out of line over there, I will personally break that toe clear off and shove it...well, elsewhere."

"Shove it where?" Marcus laughed.

"Pick the orifice of your choice," Angus said. Marcus and Anise couldn't help laughing.

"We probably shouldn't, should we?" Marcus asked Anise. Anise, who was still laughing just shook her head.

"No," she finally managed, still laughing, "but I'd volunteer for the job. Werewolf speed and all, you know."

"Now that sounds like a likely excuse," Marcus teased.

"Naughty," Anise told Marcus.

"Me? I didn't just volunteer for that job--not like someone else here who shall go unnamed," Marcus teased her right back.

Ruby looked as Angus returned from Edwards side of the duplex she listened to the banter and what Angus had said and nodded " don't worry I will stress he must be on his best behaviour or he'll stay with Jessie and Yu or even Jack in the barn" she said then heard Marcus with Anise and smiled as they seem to bounce off each other.

"wow ouch" she said and chuckled as did Jack who looked at Marcus and Ruby " okay now go see the boy" he said " sooner you go sooner he can get back hereunder your watchful eye" he added Ruby chuckled and nodded before picking up the bag and walking over to Marcus.

"See you when we get back" she said quickly moving to kiss Angus on his cheek and smile before she moved back to Marcus to port to St Mungo's. Aria took out a book and sat reading , once she knew the babies were done with their food she cleaned them up and placed them in the play pen not far from where she would sit.

"so what do you want to do?" she asked Anise.

(andrew's going, not marcus. I'll just substitute)

Andrew took Ruby's hand and apparated them to St. Mungos, and he took her to A&E to go see Sam. Andrew checked at the desk to see where Sam was.

"He's around the corner, in room 17," Andrew told Ruby. "That's this way." He took her around the corner to room 17. "You enjoy your visit, and I'll go take lunch upstairs and come straight back." He left to go to the elevator to go upstairs.

Anise looked at Aria. She hadn't really planned on anything.

"I don't know," she told Aria. "I haven't had much time for anything but school and dueling, and I haven't been able to even think about anything else. The only other thing I've been doing is reading up on how women's hair and makeup and nails are supposed to look. I mean, I've been warned about the reporters and photographers, and that makes me really nervous. I can't go with ugly hair and raggedy looking fingernails--especially if it gets out that I'm a werewolf. They'll be deliberately looking at my nails to see if I have nails or claws. Stupid, I know, but superstitious humans get focused on stupid things."

Angus went upstairs, took Elwood a mug of Eral Grey, and got Elwood's tray and took the tray back down to the kitchen. He cleaned up the kitchen from lunch so he could start to put together supper. It was going to take time. He made sheets and sheets of fresh pasta dough and then he took the pumpkin he had roasted yesterday, and he made it into a pumpkin and pinenut filling for ravioli. He made the ravioli and then set them to dry. When that was done, he made an Italian chopped salad, some garlic bread, and then, to keep it in the autumn supper theme, he created a caramel apple trifle for dessert.

Ruby nodded to Andrew and held onto him as they ported to St Mungo's once there she moved with Andrew to Sams room. Hearing him say he would deliver Khaats lunch she nodded and knocked on the door to the room Sam was in. Pushing it open she saw Sam in the bed and walke din " hey Sam" she said walking over and placing his bag next to him " I brought some things we thought you'd need" she said and sighed a she stood looking down at him.

Aria listened to Anise and chuckled " ah the idiots of muggles" she said and chuckled " well we could have a go at doing your hair if you want?" she suggested " try a few ideas you might have just to see how they look" she added seeing Angus come from Elwood's room and Jack sat watching the babies who were just playing happily in the pen with each other.

"Hi," Sam said quietly. He was loaded full of pain potion, and it was making him groggy. Not only that but still really did hurt. "Thanks. So,...how's Anise? The closest Robert would say is that he supposed she was alright. Git. Not telling me anything."

"That would be fine," Anise told Aria. "I have to look human for this. If I don't, they're going to say that I have an unfair advantage somehow because I'm a werewolf. Never mind that the competition is in broad daylight and not over a full moon anyway."

"So you know, your grandparents have gone ape-shite bananas buying everybody Beauxbaton's sweatshirts," Angus said.

"No. They are not," Anise didn't believe him.

"Oh yes they are. You're going to have a mammoth cheering section all in Beauxbaton's blue," Angus said.

"God, now I am nervous," she said. "What if I lose in the first round? I mean, I don't expect to win. But I'd just like to make it to the second round."

"Now, you listen," Angus said, coming over to her. He pulled up a footstool so he could sit and look in her eyes "you've been training hard, and you've had far more training than your competitors who have, more than likely, ever fought in a life and death situation. That experience does give you an edge. You've learned some good stance and footwork stuff, you're learning how to be fast, how to observe and use that to your advantage, how to use a wide variety of spells, and how to be pinpoint accurate. You have every right to not only participate but you have some clear advantages that have nothing to do with your werewolf traits that give you every chance to win."

"You really think I could?"

"I know you could," he said, absolutely certain. "But--so you know, you are already a champion in this family, regardless of winning or losing. Focus and do your best. That's all you need to do."

Ruby smiled at Sam and nodded as he asked about Anise " she's healing" she said softly " you can come home , but Angus wants me to stress you behave yourself" she added as she took out the things she had brought and placed them next to him. " there is a room for you at Edwards since you'll not be able to stay in your room till you heal." she added.

Aria smiled and nodded but then heard her talk of the competition and moved so Angus could talk to her "Agreed, we know you'll do your best and that's all that matters to us, not winning." Aria said to Angus words to Anise. " okay lets work on your hair " she said smiling to Anise.

"Yeah, Robert and Brian said Angus was around earlier. I don't remember that," Sam said. "Don't remember much about last night, to be honest. I went to the Hogs Head because a couple of the guys that used to work at the estate started going there for their pints after they got out of the nick. We had a few drinks and things got fuzzy. And then I woke up here. That's about all I know. Look, I know Angus didn't say I couldn't come back, but I'm not sure if I want to. I'm a grown man, and I need my own place, Ruby. Here's the thing, though. Robert isn't going to give me a lot of choices. At this point, he's said my choices are to go home or stay here. That's it."

Angus headed back to the kitchen to continue working on supper. He needed to be out of Anise's and Aria's hair, and he needed to be back in the kitchen. As he went back to cooking, Edward came over bringing a large canvas tote bag that held six bottles of wine.

"I brought you something new to try," Edward told Angus, going right to the worktable. He set the bag on the worktable and got out one of the bottles. It was a new kind of white wine being produced by the winery. It was named Caprice.

"Named for Gran?" Angus asked.

"Indeed," Edward said. "It's a trebbiano. We used a blend of trebbiano grapes, French butter pears, a couple different blends of apples and local herbs and flowers, our own honey from some brand new apiaries we've added to the estate, and its aged in acacia barrels. It's a dry wine, but it has so many fruit and honey and wood notes that even our customers that don't like dry wine liked this. Give it a try and tell me what you think."

"Is Simone good with it being named for Gran?"

"Certainly. Besides, I have a red wine in the works for her. It's a sangiovese, and along with the grapes, it has cherries, plums and figs, peppercorns, a number of herbs and spices, and it's aged in oak."

"So its a dry, fullbodied wine, but a lot like a chianti," Angus said.

"Yes. That's it precisely," Edward said. "It isn't going to be ready for tasting for another two or three weeks, but I'll get you some when its ready."

"Well, I'm doing roasted pumpkin ravioli tonight with a brown butter sauce. The new white wine will be perfect. You and Simone are welcome to come if you like."

"Personally, I'd love to, but Simone's son, Guy, is in London for the next three or four days on diplomatic business. He's rented a big fancy shmancy hotel suite for his visit, and he's got Simone talked into meeting him for supper at the top rated steakhouse in London. I could take it or leave it. I'd rather be here eating your ravioli, honestly, but I have been summarily told I will 'suck it up' as the saying goes, dress appropriately for a high end restaurant, and I'll look like I'm enjoying it. Those are my orders for the evening. Oh, and yes, I know about the possibility of Sam coming. That's fine, of course. If I need to have Evan come and stay with him while Simone and I are out of the evening, I will."

"We don't have a discharge date yet, so as far as I'm concerned, we can manage or he can stay at St. Mungos for the night," Angus shrugged, as Edward took a small spoon, took a tiny bite of Angus's pumpkin ravioli filling that was left over and he tasted it.

"God, now that is my definition of five star pumpkin ravioli. Save me a few, would you? Give Sam a little grace, Lad. You lost your shares of bar brawls too, though none quite that bad, I'll grant you. Clearly, when Sam decides to do something, the boy goes all in."

"Yes, he certainly does. And yes, I'll save you some. There will be plenty."

"Good. I'd better go. She bought me a new black suit, but its a damned off the rack thing. It's going to look like complete crap. They always do."

"Marcus, Edward needs a tailor," Angus laughed.

"Coming," Marcus said. "What are we tailoring?"

"Off the rack black suit."

"They don't make off the rack suits for men 6'5" that fit well," Marcus frowned.

"Precisely the problem," Edward said.

"Let's go fix it, then, shall we?" Marcus laughed, and the two of them went over to Edward's while Angus went back to his cooking.

Ruby sat gently on the bed next to Sam and listened to him talk and nodded " yeah he said the same to us, but he did agree that you could stay at Edwards until your healed " she took his hand in her own " if you feel you are ready to live on your own we can talk about it , all of us." she said softly to him " but there are plenty of places on the grounds that you could live in, if you wanted " she added " but I guess we'd understand if you didn't want to stay around the grounds and get your own apartment."

Aria smiled putting the finishing touches to Anises hair and stepped back " what do you think, its tucked up and out of the way, or we could have it tied back and partly braided?" she asked as she tucked some hair behind Anises ear.

"Before this all happened, back before we started buying furniture, Vic and I already put in our applications for apartments at the apartment building on the estate, and we put down deposits. We were told that we were both next on the list when the next apartments come up. And, he and I said that if one of us got in, we'd live together til the second apartment came up. I don't care if I'm sleeping on the floor. I just need my own place. We don't really need to discuss it. I'm a grown up now, Ruby. I don't need your permission to move out.

"Look, I don't dislike Angus, and he's always gonna feel like my dad. So I'm hoping some of this just dies down eventually. But Angus lost sight of what Anise is training for. She doesn't have to be a professional fighter for this competition. It's a competition for students. He went too far, and she got hurt really bad because he pushed her way too hard for what the tournament is. That's the way I see it, and I don't think I'm going to change my mind. And Anise is so loyal to him that she's not going to see it either. She'd rather ditch me than to see the truth of it. And, frankly, it just showed me I don't want any wife of mine being a fighter for a living anyway. So maybe she's not the right one for me after all. Maybe we're better off this way. I don't know."

"If I don't have to wear the dumb hat," Anise told Aria, "I'd choose the French twist. it would be up and out of my way. If I'm stuck with the hat, I'd rather wear the ponytail because the hat will fit better with it. I think have a choice of wearing the blue skirt and blazer or the dress with the short cape. Personally, I'd rather wear slacks, but I don't think we're going to get that choice. What if I get knocked down and my skirt flies up into the air? I can't promise I'm not going to literally show my butt to a whole stadium of people. It's so damned impractical just so we can 'look like ladies.'"

ruby looked at Sam and sighed knowing his words were true about him being an adult. " yes legally you are , but where was the adult that walked into the most nitrous place in Hogsmeade and got absolutely out of your mind drunk and ended up here, calling for his dad." she said softly as she stood up and walked to the end of his bed feeling hurt by his words. She heard him talk about the application for an apartment he and Victor had done. " if your minds made up and not going to change, so be it, Just know Robert will make you'll go threw all the training, just like every one else, that included myself, and I'm not one of the first stringers yet." she paused and lent on the end of the bed. "Angus is teaching her how to fight the safe and right way hes not pushing her in any way, she wanted to do what she is good at, and we support her just as we'll support you the same." she finished

Aria chuckled and nodded at Anises words about the hat " hum yeah good choice I could braid the pony tail so it won't get in your way?" she added showing her it with a braid " still look good and still have the hat on" Aria accioed Anises hat and placed it on her head to show what it would look like. then she chuckled at her last words of falling on her butt " na they will be watching your opponent fall on his or her ass" she said smiling to her " now quite worrying you'll do fine"