Dance of Magic - The Books of Beginning [1]

29. Parents

They day after the magic lesson, to the great surprise of everyone, Dr. Pym returned. For a moment, the Wibberlys thought that meant his quest had gone wrong. But then they had seen his triumphant smile and heard a knock on the door.

"Is that...." Emma trailed off, unable to get the rest of the words from her mouth.

Dr. Pym nodded, "it is. I found them."

From there it was a flurry of activity. Michael yanked the door open as Wilamena fretted and tried to smooth Emma's messy hair. Emma batted her hand away in a cat-like manner, to everyone's amusement.

It was chaos as Richard and Clare entered the manor. Richard found himself embracing Michael, Clare and Emma both shouting as they each tried to figure out what had happened to the other. Kate, ever the peacemaker, began the difficult task of trying to calm her family. The others simply stood back to let the Wibberlys have their moment.

"Oh my gosh, what happened to you all?" Richard asked, sounding panicked, "Dr. Pym said there was an attack at the house and a bunch more danger and now you all are somehow in Russia-"

"We'll tell you once you tell us how you escaped and got here!" Emma replied.

Father and daughter both began talking, with Michael chiming in, all their voices blending together in a chaotic way that no one could understand, not even them. Kate sighed. It was clear she would have to get her family under control before any explanations were exchanged.

She looked up at her mom, and saw that Clare had spotted Wilamena, Gabriel, and Rafe standing alongside Dr. Pym. Now her eye was twitching in a way Kate knew meant she was mad.

"I have something I would like to be explained first," Clare said through gritted teeth, eyes narrowing. Her husband and youngest children stopped talking and turned to look at the others as well.

"Oh yeah," Michael said with a smile, going to Wilamena's side, "mom, dad, you all remember the amazing princess Wilamena, right?"

"She's Michael's girlfriend, in case you didn't know," Emma laughed.

Wilamena shot her a glare, "excuse me, we have not made it official yet and until we do, kindly stop spreading rumors."

"So will it be made official?" Emma asked, amusement glittering in her brown eyes.

Michael looked about ready to whack his sister with something. Richard noticed this and gently interrupted, "Yes, of course we remember Wilamena! You've told us plenty about her. Princess, nice to see you again, I hope you've been well."

Wilamena smiled at Richard's awkward politeness, "I've been well. It's been delightful reuniting with my friends. Thank you for asking."

Clare rolled her eyes, "I wasn't talking about Wilamena."

"We're you talking about Gabriel, then?" Michael asked, "I know ghosts can be a little weird at first."

"They know that, dummy! They've already met Dr. Pym's ghost. And they know Gabriel!" Emma exclaimed.

"We do," Richard agreed with a smile, "and it's lovely to see you again, Gabriel."

"I'm glad you two are alright," Gabriel responded, nodding to the Wibberly parents.

"Thank you," Richard said.

"Oh for heavens sakes," Clare shouted, "I'm wondering what the hell he is doing here?!" She pointed at Rafe, who hung his head in shame, remembering all the pain he had caused to Richard and Clare.

"Kate brought him back to life," Wilamena offered.

"And he's helping us defeat the bad guys. We're allies," Michael added.