InsaneJournal

Emma Kemp (and_in_between) wrote in nevermore_logs, @ 2017-08-19 18:11:00

Current mood:

thoughtful

Who: Peter and Emma Kemp
What:Just chatting
When: Friday evning
Where: Their house
Warnings/Notes: Nah



"Have you considered it?"

The words took her by surprise and lowered the book she'd been reading ever so slightly so she could see her cousin Peter. They had been enjoying their own stories in companionable silence, and Peter had gone and broken it with a question which came completely out of context. "I'm sorry, what?" he asked gently.

"Sorry, I forgot we're not reading the same book at the same time," he chuckled, putting it aside. "The character in my book is going on a date and- Have you considered it?"

The question wasn't entirely unexpected, aside from the moment it had been asked. Her husband was in hospice care and no longer recognised her at all when she visited him. Essentially, Emma had been on her own for nearly a year now. Though Emma had expected the question to come from one of her own kids. "I...don't know yet," she answered honestly.

"Lil told me William made you promise you wouldn't be alone after he went into care," Peter mentioned, and Emma rolled her eyes.

"I didn't tell Liliana that, so I have a feeling William told her. Those two were conspiring," she said shaking her head.

"They want you to be happy."

"I'm not unhappy." That was true, at least. She had her children and now she had Peter's company as well. Was she lonely sometimes in the middle of the night? Of course she was. But her life wasn't empty. She had taking care of William, and working, and gardening and her children all to keep her well enough distracted. She was just getting over leukemia, for goodness sake.

Peter picked his book up again, though Emma was fairly sure he was only pretending to read because he continued speaking. "You deserve to be more than just 'not unhappy', Emma," he quipped.

"Well have you thought about it?" Emma shot back, narrowing her eyes a little. "I could set you up with one of my co-workers! Man or woman?"

Peter fumbled the book then, and it dropped to the wooden floor with a bang. "W-what?"

"Oh how the tables have turned!" Emma cried out, turned to face him fully. She could see his ears were turning a deep crimson. "You. You should let me set you up on a date!"

"I- I-" Peter could clearly find no argument, since he had been telling Emma to do the very same thing. "I don't- Fine. Fine, I'll go on a date if you will."

"You don't have anyone to set me up with," Emma said, feeling victorious. Peter shattered that a second later, however.

"I hear they have these newfangled websites for that," he said with a smirk. "And companies too. Singles nights. All sorts of options for the single and ready to mingle."

"You're a terror," she said, though she didn't mean it. "Alright then, it's a deal. You never answered though, Peter. Am I setting you up with a male or a female?"

Peter rose from his chair then, skittering away from what would probably be a follow up conversation like a weasel as he called out, "man!" over his shoulder.

Emma smiled knowingly and picked up her book. She'd go on some date or to a singles night or something once to get Peter off her back. But she was going to find someone amazing for her dear cousin to be with. He had been kept out of the world for so long and he deserved so much more than hunkering down in her house, doing puzzles in the basement all damn night long.

Who did puzzles anyway, it was 2017?

With a shake of her head, she went back to reading.