Sabretooth belongs to Marvel, the rest are mine.

Comment and constructive criticism welcome.

The sunshine was distracting him. Emma had him sitting out on the porch next to her while he read out loud as she cut up potatoes for their dinner. A grasshopper sprung up in front of them, catching his eye and inviting a chase, but she was determined to have him finish the chapter before he was allowed to play. Normally bugs annoyed the hell out of him but anything was better than reading about Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.

"Word." He asked in an exhausted tone and pointed with a claw to the book.

"Determined." Creed continued to plod along at a slow pace, reading the last few sentences to her, then marked the page with a bit of string.

"Can I go now?"

"You'll be a well educated man yet, Mr. Creed." Emma sighed and nodded to him. They had been married for only three seasons, not even a full year. While she was safe and he was happy, there was still the whole matter of love that had not been addressed between them and it made her wonder on an on-going basis whether she had made the wrong choice and given her virtue away to someone undeserving all for the sake of her reputation.

The brush rustled around the cabin as Victor moved quickly through it, scaring the birds and squirrels and generally getting a much needed burst of exercise. With the potatoes finished, Emma brought them inside and let them soak in water before bothering to start making the dinner her husband had not caught yet.

Instead she grabbed the unfinished book Creed had left behind on the porch bench and brought it with her out into the green grass of the yard. She sat in the sun and reread the last chapter to herself until a shadow cast over her.

"I've secured the perimeter from all furry and winged beasts."

It took her a moment to realise he was being playful, this was not one of his personality attributes. "You're my hero." Her face split into a laughing smile and invited him in for a kiss, which he accepted before laying down in the grass next to her. They lay out in the sun for a while longer, Emma propped up against a tree and reading while playing with Victor's hair, which had grown down his back, longer than even hers, and Victor napping peacefully using her stomach as his pillow. A growl startled him awake as the sun began to set.

"Heard a wild raccoon." He muttered when he couldn't find anything to cause the noise.

"You heard my stomach, which does not sound like a raccoon, thank you." Emma had put down the book a quarter of an hour earlier when the light from the sun had diminished enough to put strain on her eyes from reading.

"Sorry, I should feed ya soon, 'fore yer tummy gets rabies." He pressed the heel of his hand into his right eye socket and rubbed the sleep out of it.

"Have fun." She kissed the top of his head as she got up and headed inside the cabin to start the fire. Creed wasn't the only one learning, he had taught her how to properly prepare and maintain a fire, which made her feel slightly less useless out in the middle of nowhere. She put the potatoes on to boil, knowing that her husband was extraordinarily quick to snare small prey. The laundry was finished drying out on the line so while there was time to waste, she picked up the basket and headed back outside to collect the sheets and unmentionables waving in the breeze.

An hour passed slowly and Emma was forced to turn the would be mashed potatoes into a cool, lemony potato salad that sat in the ice box waiting for his return. Finally he crept out of the shadows of the setting sun and raised three dead rabbits by the ears.

"I thought you said the perimeter was secure." Emma greeted him and pointed to a orange and white cat who had curled up in the corner of their lawn for a nap as though it belonged. "Where were you?"

"Huntin'." Creed grunted. "Rabbits are sparse lately. Somethin's been eatin' them up." He plunked down on the edge of the porch and started skinning the creatures and handing them off for her to tie on to the waiting rotisserie sticks.

"Are we still safe here?" Her mouth was pressed against the back of his bare shoulder blade, looking for comfort.

"Course we're safe, probably nothin' more than a wild dog." He handed her the last one and she skewered it as he went inside to wash his hands in the kitchen basin.

"Maybe we should move?" The rabbits were placed delicately over the fire.

"Don't start that again." His threat was punctuated by a growl. Emma had been talking about wanting to move to another city, somewhere with indoor plumbing and heating at the very least, but Victor was adamant about remaining on his land, outhouse and all, and he was starting to feel bullied and under appreciated for the roof he put over her head every night.

"When we start having children, you'll change your tune." She poked the fire needlessly as she muttered. Creed made a face to her back and slumped into his new brown recliner and put his feet up. He was in love with his new chair and though the money could have been better spent on a new mattress or possibly a crib for the future, he had his heart and mind set on the recliner since well before she had come into his life.

"When we start havin' children, they're gonna appreciate this house and not be spoiled little brats like their mother."

"I am not spoiled!" She got up from in front of the cooking food and marched over to the chair, hands on hips.

Seeing his little rabbit all riled up made him smile, angering her further enough to start hitting him on the shoulder with a tea towel.