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

Oneshot: In-Laws

Background: Rafe is alive.

Content: Kate x Rafe, Family, Fluff, Mild Angst, Some Humor. Five times Rafe got along with his in-laws and one time he definitely did not.

1.

Rafe hadn't expected to spend his afternoon dragging around an unconscious sorcerer, but really, he should have, considering he and Emma of all people had been left alone in the house together. The youngest Wibberly was many things, but boring was not one of them. 

She had been ignoring him all day, which left him on his own, sitting in a kitchen chair and flipping absentmindedly through a spellbook as easily as most did a magazine. Richard and Clare had been invited out to lunch with their old friend Hugo Algernon, and Kate had taken Michael to the library. It was only Rafe and Emma in the house, though the boy didn't expect the younger girl to interact much with him, and he seemed to be proven right. 

It was strange, living with Emma. She seemed to change her tune, how she felt about him, every day. Sometimes she scowled, seemed annoyed, borderline angry at him, which wasn't surprising. She had every reason to hate him. But he didn't think she did, not from the way she sometimes joked with him, was sarcastic and snarky and laughing as if they were friends. Not from the curiosity and willingness to be around him that she sometimes offered up. It was as if she was trying to reconcile the person he had been as the Dire Magnus with the person he was now, and when it all got too hard for her to think about, she avoided him.

He never knew what to expect, but he didn't mind. She was being more charitable to him than he could have ever hoped for, and for Kate, he would go through the slow, awkward process of getting along with her family. 

"Rafe!" A booming (or as booming as a twelve year old could bee) voice called. 

Rafe jumped. He had thought that Emma was in her bedroom. When did-

"I need your help," she said, sliding in front of him. There were a few leaves and twigs stuck in her hair and she held a frying pan of all things in her hand. Needless to say, Rafe was very, very confused by this whole situation.

"Emma," he said slowly, "what the hell did you do?"

"It isn't my fault," she protested. He raised an eyebrow skeptically and she sighed, "okay, okay, so it looks weird. But I swear there's an explanation."

"Then let's hear it," Rafe prompted.

"So I was outside just hanging out in the bushes when I saw this super shady dude doing this hand wavey magic type stuff, like he was surveying the protective spells on the house. Obviously this was suspicious as hell, so I followed him, and saw him flipping through a spellbook and I didn't want him trying to break in or hurt us, because I'm not stupid, I know my family has enemies. So I crept up behind him and conked him over the head with the pan. Only now there's an unconscious guy in the bushes and I don't know what to do with him, and I wanna do something before Mom and Dad get home," Emma said hurriedly.

Rafe blinked once. Twice. He looked at the frying pan again. Only Emma would get into a situation like this. Finally, he asked, "why were you in the bushes with a frying pan?"

"I was hiding in the bushes waiting for Michael to get home so I could scare him and chase him with the frying pan," Emma answered.

"But why a frying pan?"

"Because Kate's with him and she wouldn't approve of me chasing him with a knife," Emma said as if it was obvious.

Rafe pinched the bridge of his nose, "right. Of course. Silly me. Okay, lead the way, let's see who this man is and why he's here."