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

Oneshot: Summer (Where Do We Begin?)

Background: Rafe and Gabriel are alive because I said so.

Content: The Wibberlys and friends celebrate the summer in Cambridge Falls. Fluff. Wholesome family bonding. Humor.

"Come on, Gabriel, pretty please!"

"No matter how many times you ask me, I'm still gonna say no."

"But I said please! I used my manners! That's gotta count for something!"

Gabriel put his hands on his hips and sighed heavily. "Emma, I am not going to hold Michael down so that you can stuff seaweed down the back of his shirt and pretend its a spider. Again. Just let it go, kid."

Emma scowled and pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. She was shin deep in the waters of Cambridge Falls' lake, where Gabriel had taken her and Michael and Wilamena to spend the afternoon. The water was cool and the sun was bright, and while there were families with kids way down the lakeside, the kids and Gabriel had found themselves a rocky outcropping to set their things atop for a bit of privacy. That meant they were free to do as they pleased. Of course, what Emma pleased to do was torture her older brother a bit, something that Gabriel probably should have taken into consideration before he went ahead with this outing.

"Come on," Gabriel said, seeing her grumpy expression. "I won't bully your brother with you, but I will help you rope him and Wilamena into playing a game with us."

Emma brightened up at that. "Wil brought a beach ball along so we can play with that. Oooh, or we could have a game of chicken. That might be fun."

"That's for you and the others to decide," Gabriel said. "Go grab them and see what they want to do."

Emma turned on heel and ran deeper into the lake, kicking off and beginning to swim with a big splash. Gabriel smiled as she paddled over to the deeper area where Wilamena was floating peacefully on her back and Michael was standing atop a large rock, examining a school of minnows swimming by. He was fully willing to admit that he loved moments like this, seeing the kids be, well, kids, rather than General Michael or Judge of the Dead Emma or Future Elf Queen Wilamena. They deserved this happiness, full of uninhibited giggling and remorseless fun. 

The fun would continue into the evening, he thought to himself as he waded into the water more, so that it came up to his waist. Tonight was the Summer Solstice and the annual celebration of it was being held in his village. Granny Peet had invited the Wibberlys to attend, and Gabriel was so excited to get to share one of his people's most fun traditions with his found family. Though he did plan to stay far away from any party games Emma and Dena (and even Lee for that matter) participated in. They were nothing if not competitive. (He hadn't been in town for the festivities last summer, due to the whole mess with the Books, but according to Dena's girlfriend Frieda, a fistfight broke out over cornhole.)

The others, of course, were already at his cabin, with Richard and Clare preparing deviled eggs for the potluck and Kate and Rafe enjoying a child-free hike for once in their lives. Gabriel had originally planned to spend the day there as well, but then he had gotten the idea to bring the kids down to the lake. That way, they could have fun and get some energy out, and he could spend quality time with them. And, crucially, they wouldn't raise hell and disrupt the cooking process.

A shriek, followed by peels of laughter, echoed across the water. Gabriel sighed - he took his eyes off them for a minute, goddamn it - and turned to see that Emma had caught up to her brother and Wilamena. And, being Emma, she had dunked the latter underwater. Now Wilamena had jumped on Emma's back and was trying to soak her, while Michael kept getting hit by the water the two girls were splashing around.