"Who's my pretty lady? What's wrong with you, all frowny-faced?" Qrow asked his tiny niece. Yang looked as though she'd been crying or angry with something. Taiyang was slowly coming out of his depression, but with two small kids in the house he couldn't come out fast enough. Qrow stuck around as much as he could when missions and jobs would permit.
"Uncle Qrow, why isn't Dad awake yet?" The tiny girl with the bright yellow hair asked him. He heard this nearly every day now. Tai was still not over Summer's death, which was to be expected.
"Your dad's still going through the ringer. You know this makes two women that left and never returned. He's probably feeling like a strikeout." Yang chortled at her uncle's halfway joke.
"Do girls ever leave you, Nuncle?"
"All the time, sweetie, but that would make for an inappropriate story for your itty bitty ears." Yang made a face at him, clearly unhappy with his aversion of the question. "Maybe when you're older I'll tell you some of my lady stories." He grinned as she perked up, looking at her small half-sister seated on the couch playing with a Grimm plush toy. "Just don't go telling Little Red here, she's way too young!"
"YOU SO GWOSS, UNCLE KWOW!" The tiny Ruby complained, throwing her toy Grimm at her Nuncle. She was still a bit too young to understand what was going on with Taiyang, but she understood Qrow well enough for a toddler. Her broken speech was too much for her uncle, who scooped her up in one arm. He tickled her little belly with one hand, Ruby swatting at him like he were a mosquito.
"You two are my favorite people in all of Remnant... And that's saying a lot because I know pretty much everyone!" He told his nieces, tousling Yang's bushy blonde hair with his free hand. A game of 'Big Bad Beowolf' ensued, Qrow being the Wolf and the kids being the bravest Huntresses in all of Remnant.
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The stench of the cheap liquor assaulted Qrow's nose as he walked into Tai's bedroom. Being perpetually drunk was one thing, but doing so with dime store products was even worse.
At least Qrow's buzz was brought about by top-shelf alcohol.
Tai was not in the bed, meaning this would be even worse than Qrow had figured. He stepped over the liquor bottles sprawled across the bedroom floor, making his way to Tai's tiny personal bathroom.
Bingo, Bingo, Bingo! There was his teammate, passed out in the bathtub. He'd probably been there all night and day, the pathetic thing.
Qrow turned a knob, icy cold water shooting forth from the showerhead and assaulting his ridiculous surrogate brother.
Tai shrieked to life in a split second, noticing the shape he was in before ever noticing Qrow.
"Is the bathtub more comfortable than your bed, or do you just enjoy the ambient lighting?" Qrow spat sarcastically. Taiyang groaned at the words.
"Are the girls alright?" Tai stumbled over his words, still slightly hung over.
"Nice to see you still care about something besides yourself. And yes, I wore them out with a game of 'Big Bad Beowolf' and put them to bed." He exhaled sharply. "Tai, you need to snap out of this."
"I don't want to talk about it." The blond man dismissed. Qrow wasn't having that.
"What you want doesn't matter anymore! Those two girls are all you have left, and I'll be damned if you're gonna leave them to raise themselves. Raven left and Summer died. I know you loved them, but it's over now! You have your daughters to think about now."
"It's not that simple, Qrow!"
"You have to do it, though! They've already both lost a mother, do you want them to grow up with no father, too‽" Tai looked up at Qrow, tears falling from his blue eyes.
"I love them to the moon and back..." Tai spoke, his voice cracking from the crying.
"Then you need to stop fucking around and be their father! I can't be here forever to be Nuncle Qrow when you decide to tune out, so it's time to come back to your life!"
"I'll try..."
"NO! Damn it, there is no 'try'! You have to do this! For them!" Tai stood finally, stretching out his tired body and stepping out of the bathtub.
"I'll do it, Qrow!"
"Look, I know there will be hard days, but you have to keep your head up. Everything you do is for those two girls. You can't be some cocky punk anymore, dude."
"I know. Take all the liquor, if there's any left. I know you won't drink it because it isn't 'top shelf hooch' but do something with it. A fire sounds like a good idea. It is Autumn outside." Tai laughed.
So they cleaned up the bathroom and bedroom, gathered up any leftover alcohol and some trash, and they built themselves a tiny fire. Qrow sipped from his flask while Tai nursed a mug of coffee.
"Hey, you're awake!" A little voice called, and Yang stood in the doorway. She ran to her dad and hugged him tightly. "You smell like a foot!" She complained, holding her nose.
"I smell better than your Nuncle here." Tai jabbed, running a hand through Yang's golden locks. He was certainly glad she favored him more than Raven. It made things less difficult... plus a little Raven would be trouble for everyone in Remnant.
Tai and Qrow played with the tiny human for a few moments longer before sending her back to bed. "She's gonna give someone hell one day..." Tai mused. Qrow smirked at the words. "Yeah, we can blame the Branwen in her for that."
"Hey," Qrow scoffed between swigs from his flask, "Nobody told you to fuck my sister, Tai!"
"Um, she did, and there was no denying Raven. If I'd said 'no' she'd have taken me when I passed out." Tai joked.
"Yeah, whatever, Ladykiller." The two of them laughed. "Hey, maybe you could get one of those therapy dogs. I'm sure the girls would love a little pup to run around with, and it could help you ease your stress."
Taiyang thought for a moment about that. "I think I might look into that..." The girls would certainly be happy to get a dog, and it would teach them responsibility and whatnot. Yep, that would be a suitable investment.
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((A/N: Writing any of Team RWBY as kids is always fun.))