Time's Tragedies- The Books Of Beginning [2]

64. Tired Souls And Custom Weaponry

Rafe and the four adolescents he cared for more than anything in the world - tied only with his beloved wife - were sprawled around the living room, half at work, half exhausted. Rafe was sitting stiffly in an armchair, scrawling down everything the children could need to know about old New York City when planning the retrieval of the last piece of the scroll of souls. Abby and Jake were both laying on the carpeted floor, the boy with a book on famous magical scholars and scientists throughout history, the girl toying with a rubix cube. Lili was curled up in the other armchair, also with a book, hers a fantasy novel. And Eternity was on her back, across the couch, folding a piece of paper into a fortune teller, the kind children would make in elementary school while ignoring their lessons on fractions. 

"Question," Eternity cut through the lazy silence, "did I tell you guys that I fashioned myself a weapon just in case we gotta fight?"

"No, you didn't," Rafe said.

"Well, with what our favorite detective duo found themselves doing two days ago," Eternity smirked. The pair in question rolled their eyes, knowing that while they were grounded (for two more days, for a total of four), Eternity would continue teasing them. "I figured it would be a smart idea."

"As the person who snuck out of the house to fight monsters, I can't protest," Jake joked, "so, what weapon did you get?"

"A knife or dagger?" Abby guessed.

"Nope," Eternity smirked, popping the p.

Lili heaved a heavy sigh and slammed her book down, "this is gonna be unnecessarily dramatic, isn't it?"

"Sweetheart, you know me so well," Eternity said, before skipping off to go fetch her mysterious weapon from upstairs. Lili just rolled her eyes.

"Sweetheart?" Rafe questioned, "I thought she called you mi amor?" 

"That's her nickname for me," Lili confirmed, "she just calls me sweetheart or darling or honey whenever she wants to annoy me."

"Are we sure it's meant to annoy and not to flirt?" Abby asked.

Jake scoffed, "don't be stupid, it's clearly their way of acting like an old married couple. Right Lili?"

Lili sighed heavily, "why are we even talking about this?"

"Younger siblings have a right to know about their elder sister's love life," Abby chirped happily.

"My non-existent love life?" Lili snorted, "yeah right."

Abby and Jake exchanged looks. Both individuals were intelligent and observant, and far from blind to the tension and affection that permeated every interaction between their sister and Eternity. Rather than being overprotective of Lili, they wanted to see her happy, especially with Eternity, who they liked very much. It was just that the two teenagers were so damn stubborn and oblivious, that it was driving Abby and Jake insane. If they weren't fighting a war with Robert Lloyd, they would have been hitting those two fools over the head with matchmaking schemes. It was what little brothers and sisters did, after all.

As for Rafe, well, he also understood the unspoken, powerful thing coiled tightly between his eldest daughter and her best friend, whom he welcomed into his home and loved with fatherly affection. It was the same deepening, tightening bond that once wove between himself and Kate during their time together in 1899. The bond that had changed from tension to open affection once they acknowledged it, which Lili and Eternity seemed to be having a hard time doing. Still, Rafe believed that the two of them should figure things out on their own time, so he did not intervene. Even when they were acting absolutely ridiculous.