RayEmma Oneshots

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RayEmma Week 2022—Day 5: Fairytale

Six year old Emma skipped over to the large oak tree where Ray sat day after day. It was a blazing hot summer day, the children deciding to cancel today's game of tag in favor of staying in the shade or in the House.

Emma plopped down next to Ray in the shade of the tree, peering over his shoulder at the book he was reading. "Whatcha reading?" She asked in her typical bubbly, curious tone. Ray just scowled, scooting slightly away. "None of your business," he muttered, quietly.

Emma frowned. Ray wasn't always like this. He had always been a bit more closed off from the rest of their family, being the quiet one out of the group, but ever since a month or two ago he'd been a lot more grouchy and was always glued to some book. One time their older sister Michelle had tried to pry a book out of his hands after he had been reading for 4 hours straight, and he even punched her. Emma and Norman had asked him several times what was wrong, why he's been so agitated and upset these past months, but he always shrugs off their questions or changes the subject.

Emma leaned over toward him, glancing at the cover of the book. It seemed to be a collection of old fairy tales, like Cinderella and The Three Little Pigs, including her favorite, Little Red Riding Hood. "Oooh, that one's one of my favorites," Emma said with a sparkle in her eyes, pointing to an illustration of the wolf on the cover that she knew Ray wouldn't be able to see from his perspective anyways. Ray just let out a grumpy hum and hid his face further into the book.

Emma watched him for a bit, feeling saddened that one of her best friends has been feeling so down for so long. I hope he feels happy again...

Ray, predictably, spent the rest of the day reading under that tree, as the rest of their family cooled off in the shade together—all the rest except for Emma, who refused to leave his side that day. She hoped that Ray would feel compelled to talk to her, to do anything other than read with a scowl on his face, but he did nothing.

At dinner, she sat in her usual spot, next to Ray and across from Norman. "Emma," Norman said thoughtfully in between mouthfuls of food, "where were you today? The rest of us were playing hide-and-seek in the shady part of the forest." Setting down his fork, he gave her a mischievous smile. "Did you finally decide you got tired of losing to me?"

Emma shook her head, smiling. "I was spending quality time with Ray!"

"More like you were spending quality time harassing me, I could barely focus on my book," Ray mumbled, not looking up from his food.

"Hey, you still read like half of the book-!"

They continued going back and forth, while Norman silently watched their exchange. He didn't voice it, but he was also worried for Ray. He was even more grumpier than usual... and he found it curious that his scores seemed to rise considerably ever since he started acting this way. Strange...

After dinner, Emma was on dishes duty with Olivia. Usually the 6 year olds weren't chosen for dish duty, but Isabella wanted her just to see how it was done for when she would someday be the eldest among the children. Just thinking about one day being a dependable older sister the future younger children would look up to filled her with excitement for the future. As they finished up, Emma noticed that Ray had left the book of fairy tales on the dinner table. Approaching and flipping through the pages, she was struck with an idea, and sneakily took the book with her up to one of the craft rooms

...

The next day, Emma hid in a bush where she had a clear view of Ray's reading spot. Gilda sat down next to her with a questioning look. "Why are you spying on Ray?"