Reading "how you know inside me" first is recommended.
the lessons i learned
Taiyang fondly watches the girls, alongside Qrow, squashed on a too-small sofa looking at old photos and memories from the doorway. Ruby and Yang are his daughters – his everything – but Weiss and Blake are his too, have been since the end of his girl's first year at Beacon Academy, since the end of the war. Penny is a welcome addition to their family that was for far too long so small. It has grown so much since then.
His body still aches for Summer, always yearns for Raven even now. She'd apologized, to him and Qrow and Summer's grave, but not to Ruby, not to Yang. It wasn't too late, just not enough. There'd always be a Raven-shaped spot in his and Qrow's soul as well, same as there would always be a Summer-shaped one, but there was no room in him for someone that didn't have room for his daughters. Not even for his soulmate.
There was a hollow space in his soul, but Taiyang wasn't empty, not with Qrow and his daughters. They were everything he had.
Penny points out Ruby's resemblance to Summer and her similarity with Qrow.
Qrow's hand on his shoulder is welcome, but unnecessary. Taiyang knows, just as he knows that Yang's face is just like Raven's. His soulmates aren't with him any longer, but his daughters are their mirror image.
(Yang may have Raven's face, but everything else she got from Summer – her smile, her bravery, her sense of humor.)
As Penny and Ruby shuffle out with excitement at the Beowulve's howls and Weiss and Blake take their turn with the photos, Yang comes to him.
"Hey, Dad? Nora, Pyrrha, and Velvet are coming to stay a while tomorrow. Ren too. That okay?"
He smiles. For so long, this house built to fit a family of seven (three soulmates, three daughters, and Qrow) has just been him, Zwei, and occasionally Qrow. He'll have to dig out some old bedding for them but there is always room for more.
Summer is gone and Raven isn't there, but Taiyang has family enough. He couldn't ask for more.
The other shorts will probably take a little longer to post.