A Birth day

Ruby smiled and listened to Robert " yeah, best explain to her " she said and looked to Abby as she called to Jack she saw him laugh and nod " will do" Jack called from the door as he entered. Ruby chuckled at the naked cookie and nodded .

"well how about we dress them then" she said pulling back a cover to show all the colors of icing she had made and a few sugar additions of holly leaves and small red balls to be berries to go on the cookies. Aria looked at Abby and Angus and laughed " oh he did too" she said as Angus showed Abby the teeth. Ruby smiled as she placed the tray in the center of the table ready for when Abby joined them once she finished talking to Angus.

Abbey got excited when she saw all the different icings Ruby made along with all the sprinkles there were. She looked carefully at the work table.

"Aggie? No brushes?" she asked him. He smiled and motioned to her. She went to him, and he whispered in her ear.

"They don't know about painting cookies. You'll have to teach them," he said, and she shook her head as if they had a lot to learn. He took her into the pantry and gave her a big plastic container full of all sizes and shapes of artist brushes that he used for sugar work. She carried the container out and put it on the workbench while he took some mise en place bowls and filled the with water so they could rinse their brushes as they went. Then he lifted her up on a stool at the workbench. "Abbey wants to show you something new," he told them. She dipped a brush in white icing and picked up a cookie and started to paint it.

"See?" she asked. "We paints them. Not so messy!"

"Smaller brushes let you do finer detail work," Angus explained. "You can use a knife, as people usually do, or you can paint them like she's doing. Take your pick. Whatever you want is fine, right, Abs?" She nodded.

"Aggie, how do I make a tingle bell?" she asked.

"Oh, a jingle bell? Like this." Simplifying a design so she could do it herself, he took a brush, dipped it in yellow icing, and painted a simple little round circle and put a couple black dots towards the bottom of the circle. "How's that?" he asked. She nodded.

"You are still so good with her," Robert said. "Maybe someday you can do some of that with your own."

"maybe so," Angus smiled. "Right now, I have a tree to decorate, and so do you."

"I'll have to go see if Kate wants to come downstairs. If we were ever to decorate a tree without her, she'd have our heads," Robert said. "Thanks, All. I'll see you later." He left to go back to the main house.

Ruby heard Abby and looked to Angus as he led her to the kitchen then she followed watching as he lifted Abby up so she could show them. Both she and Aria stood and watched " oh that is a good idea" Ruby said and smiled picking up a brush and began to paint on the icing adding details once it was set. Soon she had her first cat done , it was an Orange cat with a white chin and some holly on its head.

Aria smiled and started to decorate her cat like a black and white cat with a red Santa hat on and she smiled as she finished it placing it with Abby's on the plate as she continued with her second an orange cat with stripes.

Angus found out quickly that Elwood believed there was a right way and a wrong way to decorate a tree. He was like a little boy again, and he was eager to decorate the tree. He stood and added what decorations he could by hand, but when he tired he had to sit and levitate the ornaments onto the tree. Andrew and Marcus helped, and Angus took leave of them to go try to make some lunch.

He found leftover chicken breasts, and he shredded them and got some pantry staples out and made some chicken salad and added some toasted pecans to it for some crunch. He used some croissants and toasted them and made some sandwiches. With the sandwiches, he made a creamy sweet potato soup that he added some warm spices and a little fresh ginger to. He served the soup in mugs so they could just sip on it.

"Got a light lunch if anyone's hungry," he said.

"Me!!" Abbey was excited. Angus served her a sandwich and a mug of soup. "Wazzit, Aggie?" she asked.

"Chicken salad, and I know you like that. And the soup is just exactly like pumpkin soup."

"I love punkin soup," she beamed.

"I know you do. You'll like this too," he said. He served lunch to the others, and Elwood, who normally jumped at Angus's food, pushed it aside to finish decorating the tree. It made Angus smile, though, because Elwood was truly very happy. The second the tree was finished, Elwood and Andrew and marcus all tied into their lunches too. Abbey watched the babies eating and Amari decided to chuck the sippy cup. The lid came off as it hit Caprice's high chair, making bright orange soup splatter everywhere.

"Naughty babies," Abbey scowled.

Ruby finished her last Cookie as she heard Angus say lunch was ready " oh great" she said taking the tray and now empty bowls to the counter out of the way so they could eat. Aria had fetched the toddlers and placed them into their high chairs . Ruby sat and started to eat her food when she heard Abby and chuckled before she stood up and cleaned up " its just because they are small, as they get bigger they will learn and with you as their big sis I'm sure they will. " she said softly as she took the bowl to the kitchen and refilled it for Abby. Returning she placed it down in front of Abby again and this time sat between them so she could stop any more objects flying.

Aria cleaned up the spilled Soup from the floor and then sat back down as she saw Ruby sit the other side of Caprice while she sat with Amari. " yes Abby they are but will learn the more we tell them its wrong to throw things, its how you learned when you were small too" Aria said with a smile.

"Did I throw food, Aggie?" she asked him.

"Only once or twice, as I recall," he said. "I simply took all your food from you when you threw it, and that made you mad. It didn't take you long to figure out that if you wanted to eat, you couldn't throw your food. Do you want seconds on anything today?"

"No. Sanks. Full. I ate too much," she sighed, contented.

"Then, how about I read you a story and you can just sit on the couch for awhile?" he suggested. She nodded. He got a storybook out of her bag, and he was surprised to find the book she brought was her favorite--a book he had read to her at least a million times. The book was so well used that the pages were ready to fall out of it. Still, he knew better than to think of replacing it. It was this copy she loved. He sat down on the sofa, and she laid down on the couch beside him with her head on his lap. She looked at the pictures while he read, but it didn't take her long to slip into a deep sleep. Angus attributed it to a full stomach, her favorite story, and the warmth of the fireplace. He managed to get up without waking her and he found her favorite blanket in her bag and covered her with it.

"She's really tired. She clearly isn't getting enough sleep," Angus said quietly as he collected the lunch dishes and took them to the kitchen. "Her nightmares must be repeating for her. maybe I'll suggest Robert give her just a wee bit of dreamless sleep potion tonight."

Ruby heard Abby and smiled as she saw Angus snuggle up with her and start reading the book , taking the girls she wiped clean their hands and faces and placed them into the pen both sat facing Angus as he read then lay down closing their eyes and sleeping. " shes not the only one" she said motioning to the now sleeping toddlers" but yeah somethings worrying her" Ruby said moving to pull the blanket over Abby's small shoulders.

Aria cleared the table and wiped it clean for supper while Ruby placed the girls in the play pen. she saw them yawn and curl up before Ruby covered them with a blanket and they fella sleep. " couldn't harm to try some" she said softly so not to wake the toddlers " if anything it will at best help her sleep" she added smiling.

"She's a seer, remember. She told me she's been dreaming of a red werewolf. That can only mean she's been dreaming of moira. Hopefully that will end now that she's been chased off for a bit. If it doesn't, maybe I can get her to tell me what else she sees," Angus said. "That's why I showed her those teeth, to try to prove to her that moira's lost some of her power."

"Tree's finished," Andrew said. "Why don't you light it, Elwood?"

"Do you think we should?" Elwood asked.

"Go for it," Angus said. Elwood snapped his fingers, and the tree lit up with a wonderful glow. "Elwood, I honestly have never seen a prettier tree. Precision does make a difference after all. Well done indeed. The kids are going to love it when they come home tonight."

"It is missing something important."

"What's that?"

"A proper popcorn and cranberry garland."

"Oh, you're right. I haven't thought of one of those in years. We have the popcorn but not the cranberries. I'll have to ask Nicky if there are any at the main house. If not, I'll have to pop into Diagon Alley for some. I'm guessing the kids haven't ever strung popcorn and cranberries. Rosaria used to cut thin orange and lime slices and dry them and string them with some cinnamon sticks. It smelled great."

"We could do a garland of both, then," Elwood said. "It would be quite festive indeed. If we wind one garland to the left and one to the right, they'll crisscross and be completely lovely."

"I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, I'm thinking of trying to use the leftover pot roast for supper. If I make a good mushroom soup with a beef stock base, I can do a variation on a shredded chicken sandwich and do it with beef instead. A lovely shredded beef sandwich, and maybe I can use some smoked gouda and make some great big paninis. I could maybe do some homemade crisps to go along, if maybe, Ru, you and Aria could do a salad or a soup and a dessert? What do you think?"

"Sounds like just the thing with some good dark beer on the side," Marcus said.

"We could do hot spiced cider for the kids," he said.

Aria listened to Angus and smiled at the thought of the garlands on the tree as it lit up " wow looks amazing but yeah the garlands will finish it perfectly" she said as she turned to hear Angus talk of a desert. " yeah we can do that" she said as she started to think about what desert she could make for supper.

Aria looked at the tree as it lit up and smiled seeing the lights and other things on it. " beautiful" she said then looked to Ruby as Angus asked about desert " we could make a shortcake, its light and easy to make" she said and Ruby nodded she agreed with Aria and moved to the kitchen to start it.

marcus sent a paper bird to Nicky, and Angus sent one to Rosaria. Rosaria replied and said she would happily send oranges and limes if she got to see the tree when it was finished. Nicky sent over a couple bags of fresh cranberries from the main house. Angus made a big bowl of fresh popcorn so it could have time to cool before anyone tried to string it. Then Angus measured out the mise en place to mix up a proper Christmas pudding. It wasn't Sunday, but sometimes exceptions were important. He set that aside for now and went on to make his mushroom soup so it had time to simmer.

"Aggie!" Abbey woke sharply. "Aggie!" Angus dropped his preparation of the soup and went to her. He sat down beside her, and she climbed up on his lap. He wrapped her in a strong hug and soothed her.

"You still dreaming of doggies, Abs?" he asked her.

"That red one," she told him softly.

"She can't hurt you, Abs. I won't let her hurt you," he said.

"Not me. You fighted her and she made you deaded."

"Oh. I see. Now, look here. That just isn't going to happen. marcus goes everywhere I go. marcus won't let that happen."

"Gan Gan said Papa Ed might help."

"Gan said that?"

"No, not Gan. Gan Gan."

"Who's Gan Gan?" Angus asked.

"She gots yellow hair."

"Abbey, is she a spirit, like Uncle Ree Ree?" marcus asked. Abbey nodded.

"Caprice. Caprice evidently told her that Edward would protect you too. Sounds like she's been dreaming you get into a fight with moira that you lose."

"I am not concerned about that for one moment," Angus said.

"But she is," marcus said.

"Abs, I am not going to lose a fight with the red doggie. You have my word. Can we try one of your cookies now?" She smiled and nodded. "Come pick one out for me, then. Maybe everyone wants one." She nodded.