Life, Death, and Time - A Books Of Beginning Collection

Oneshot: Kate's Guide To Parenting Crazy Children

Background: I have no clue when this takes place, I guess sometime before The Fire Chronicle, except the Wibberly siblings aren't at the orphanage, they're with Gabriel.

Content: Family/Found-Family. Fluff. Wholesomeness. Hurt/Comfort. Humor. Also known as Kate and Gabriel have all the braincells, and Michael and Emma are chaotic. 

"Emma, I swear, if you don't hand it over, right now, I will push you off the side of the freaking mountain!" 

Emma snorted, "with what, your noodle arms?"

Michael growled, "Give. It. Back. Now."

"Oh, I guess I'll just... NEVER SURRENDER!" Emma stuck her tongue out childishly, running away from her brother, who chased after her, but was unable to gain the same sort of speed that she easily did, due to the fact that he was far less gifted in the athletics department. 

Their well-meaning but absolutely exasperated friend and protector, Gabriel, heaved a sigh. He had gone outside to ask the children if they were hungry yet, or if they wanted to play a bit more and then wait to have dinner later. However, he hadn't gotten the chance to ask, because Michael and Emma had found themselves in yet another argument. Really, didn't they ever get tired?

"What are they fighting about this time?"

Kate, the eldest of the Wibberlys, and also the most responsible, by far, had come out of the cabin to Gabriel's side, not at all surprised to see Michael chasing a gleefully mischievous Emma. She rolled her eyes, but was not actually that annoyed. It was nice to see her little siblings acting like the children that they were so often denied the chance to be. Really, it was only her, and now Gabriel, who ever gave them the chance to act that way, to be themselves without fear of punishment and withheld privileges doled out by greedy orphanage directors. That being said, their constant quarreling got old fast, especially since their different interests and priorities caused them to squabble over just about everything.

"Emma took Michael's badge from King Robbie," Gabriel answered, "after Michael was being a bit pretentious and lecturing while holding it up."

Kate groaned, "great. I swear, those two are going to be the first middle schoolers to somehow get arrested for two many stupid arguments."

"They are very lucky that we live in the woods," Gabriel agreed wryly, "otherwise, we'd have to keep bailing them out of trouble."

"I dunno, I think the bears and the birds might want to file a few complaints," Kate joked. 

The warrior and the time traveler exchanged smiles. They hadn't expected it, but they actually had a lot in common - they were both protectors of their loved ones, who were brave and responsible and would do anything to help those in need. They both cared deeply for Michael and Emma, even when the two were at their worst. And, they both were absolutely fed up with the non-stop arguments, something which they themselves had never really engaged in. 

Gabriel had been an only child, and later was training to be a warrior throughout his adolescent years. While he certainly got into some fights and some trouble alongside the other children of his generation, he was never around someone to the degree that Michael and Emma were around each other, and his warrior training took up quite a bit of his time and built his discipline. Kate, on the other hand, had been raising her siblings for over a decade, and as such had never had the time to get into petty quarrels with them, not when it was up to her to be the patient role model and loving maternal figure. Fortunately, despite not ever joining in on the arguments, Kate had witnessed her siblings fighting enough to know how to calm their ire, at least, most of the time, and Gabriel was quickly learning too, mostly out of necessity due to the sheer volume of the squabbles.