Prologue
Crippled. Disabled. Handicapped. Being born without something most others have would be considered a tragedy by most. They haven't lost anything though, so why pity them? The one's we should pity should be the people who have the ability to do something, but can't because they're held back by themselves. At least that's how Summer Rose viewed it.
Summer Rose had always seen everyone as an equal no matter who they were. She had never viewed people who were different as lesser, or sought to single them out and make their lives a living hell. No. Instead, she did the opposite and included them, interacted with them, and eventually dedicated her life to them as a physiologist. She was always the life of the room and brought a smile to everyone's face no matter who they were. Her life was perfect in a way. She had a house and a dog and her dream job. Everything was perfect...
Hey Sums... I'm gonna be straightforward with you. The little bundle of joy before you is named Yang. Yang Xiao Long to be exact. She's about 6 months old and needs a mother since I can't be that for her. I tried, but I'm just not cut out to be a mother, but I know you've always wanted a kid. Take good care of my sunny little dragon please.
- Raven Branwen
That was the note attached to the basket that was found outside of Summer's front door one brisk December night. Quiet whining and whimpers shook Summer from her thoughts as she bent down to pull back a blanket in the basket to reveal a baby with golden locks and lilac eyes. She stared at the child for awhile before the baby woke up and started to stare back at her before it started laughing. The warm, melodic sound instantly brought a face eating grin to Summer's face as she picked the child up out of the blanket and turned around to head back inside, looking down at the small bundle of life in her arms.
"Hello Yang. Welcome to your new home."
Two Year Skip
"Uncle Qrowwwwwwww! When can mommy come out and play with me! She's been in there a long time!" A rowdy little golden haired girl whines while hanging off the arm of a man with blackish silver hair and big bags under his eyes. The girl continues to pour up at him waiting for a response as the man looks at the kid and lets out a sigh before glancing towards the kid and raising an eyebrow.
"Shouldn't be too much longer Yang. I don't think Mommy will be able to play for awhile though, but you'll be able to see her soon." Qrow responds as he glances back towards the door where things had finally quieted down from the previous sounds of screams from pain, anxiety fueled thoughts running through his head.
"Well I wanna see her NOW!" An annoyed and fed up three year old yang declared before releasing her Uncle's arm and dashing towards the door excitedly, barreling under the staff in the room who left out confused yells as she did.
"Yang! Get back here!" Qrow shouted as he dashed after the girl, surprised at how quick she was as she remained just out of his reach before she pushed past the door to Summer's room. He quickly followed, apologizing to the startled and now annoyed staff who were waiting for him to get his niece under control.
"Mommy! Whatcha holding there?" Yang asked Summer, having climbed onto the bed and was now looking at a little bundle of blankets she was holding in her arms with newfound curiosity. Ignoring her uncle telling her to get off the bed she reaches a hand over to the bundle of blankets and tugged at it gently, the bundle falling apart a little to reveal what laid hidden inside.
"Yang I said get down from th-" Qrow began while he glared at Yang, stomping towards the bed before he stopped, his eyes widening as he looked at what was hidden inside the bundle. He couldn't believe his eyes, and neither could Yang who had a similar expression as her Uncle did at the moment until they realized Summer was chuckling at them.
"Summer! You're okay!" Qrow exclaimed, completely disregarding what had been inside the bundle as he rushed forward towards Summer, tears in the corners of his eyes as he grabbed her free hand and squeezed it tightly between his own hands. Summer gave a small nod to Qrow, smiling at him before looking towards Yang who was still looking at the bundle with awe and curiosity. With a chuckle Summer brought the bundle a little closer to Yang while she gently pulled her hand away from Qrow who reluctantly let it go to watch the interaction between the mother and her daughter.
"Hey my little sunny dragon. I want you to meet someone who I hope you'll help mommy take care of and protect. She's gonna need anyone she can get to help her as she grows. So say hi to her Yang." Summer said happily, a tear streaming down her cheek as she fully revealed a small girl's face to both Yang and Qrow. A rosey little face was revealed to the pair along with a small pair of twitching wolf ears on top of her head.
Yang looked at Summer as she spoke before frowning as a tear fell down her face which made her crawl towards her and rub her small hand across her cheek before smiling brightly. "Mommy no cry! Yang is here! And I always help mommy!" Yang told Summer with a huge smile before turning back to look at the small, sleeping girl in the blankets. She crawled back towards her before she timidly reached out with a hand to place her hand on the girl's cheek which caused the girl to wake up slightly as she looked up at Yang in a daze with her silver eyes before yawning and dozing back to sleep, leaning against the older girl's hand.
"She likes me! And she's small! And cute! And she has fuzzy ears! I like her mommy! I'll protect her!" Yang squealed excitedly, causing the smaller girl to jolt fully awake from the loud noises before tears started streaming down her face. Yang quickly retracted her hand, worrying she had done something wrong as she frantically looked at Summer, tears forming in her eyes. "I-I hurt her mommy? I-I didn't mean to!" Yang cries out as tears start to fall down her face.
"No, no, no sweetie! You didn't hurt her at all! You were just a little loud and startled her! Don't worry, I'll calm her down, why don't you and uncle Qrow go get the doctor for me? Can you do that for mommy sweet pea?" Summer reassures the small, upset child who calms down as Summer continues to talk before nodding with a sniffle before holding her arms up for Qrow to pick her up. Qrow however, being the clueless drunk he was had no idea what to do until Summer told him. After pretending like he knew what Yang had wanted he picked the girl up and they made their way out to go find the doctor.
Summer let out a sigh of relief at how well that had gone before feeling the small Faunus in her arms stir a bit causing her to return her attention to the little one. Her gaze was met by the little one in her arms, stunning silver eyes gazing up at her making her heart melt a bit before she used her free hand to lightly rub one of the girl's ears gently. The girl's expression went from drowsy to utter happiness in less than a second as Summer rubbed her ear, chuckling at the sight but also growing increasingly worried. While the sight before her was heartwarming it was also troublesome since the girl wasn't making any noise whatsoever. She was almost certain that a baby should be making noises and lots of it, but the baby in her arms remained silent even when she had been upset and crying which is why she had sent Yang and Qrow off to find the doctor whom walked through the door as her face began to scrunch up with worry.
"You needed me Miss Rose?" The doctor asks Summer with some concern in his voice as he looks at the small Faunus who was still silently enjoying the ear rubs she was receiving.
"Yes. Shouldn't she be making noises or crying? She started crying earlier when she woke up, but she didn't make any noise, just tears?" Summer asked the doctor while stopping her ministrations to the small girl's ear which must have upset the girl because she reached out with her hand towards the retreating hand and tugged on it gently, a frown on her face. The doctor watched the interaction with curiosity and surprise before returning his attention to Summer.
"Well yes she should. It's unusual for a baby not to make ANY noise whatsoever unless..." the doctor trailed off while shifting his gaze to the Faunus child whose ear was twitching furiously as she continued to tug on her mother's finger, trying to get her to rub her ear again.
"Unless what? What's wrong with my daughter?!" Summer asked as her fear grew, thinking something was wrong with her daughter. She began to hyperventilate until she felt a hand on her shoulder giving her a reassuring squeeze. She looked up to see Qrow with a small smile and Yang sucking her thumb as she clung to her uncle's shoulder.
"It's gonna be okay Sums. Whatever is wrong with her, if there is anything wrong, we'll work through together. As a family." Qrow said confidently as he gave Summer's shoulder a squeeze again before he gave Yang a little shake, grinning at her. "Right Yang?" He asked her with a huge grin as she lit up, pulling her thumb out of her mouth to look at Summer. "Yah! A family!" Yang repeated, smiling brightly at Summer from Qrow's shoulder. Tears started streaming down Summer's face as she nodded at both of them before turning back to face her little Faunus with a new sense of determination as she leaned in and pressed a kiss between the girl's pair of ears, making the girl smile up at her. She then looked up with Qrow's hand still resting on her shoulder.
"... It's possible that she's mute due to a birth defect, but that seems unlikely seeing how we would have been able to detect a defect like that during an ultrasound visit." The doctor finally explained, confusion written across his face as he went over to a computer to pull up the ultrasound images until he heard someone clearing their throat.
"Uhhhhh... I didn't know I was pregnant with her until I went into labor 10 hours ago, so there aren't any ultrasound pictures..." Summer guiltily explained to the doctor who just nodded as she explained as Qrow sat down with Yang in a chair on the side of the hospital bed as she began to doze off since it was way past her bedtime.
"Well Miss Rose... I still highly doubt she has any defect at least physically because any defect that would happen around that area would also effect her breathing and she wouldn't be as healthy or be able to breath this easily if she did. I'm thinking she might have a mental handicap of some sort if anything. It's also possible that she's just a quiet baby and is perfectly fine. Honestly there is no way to tell right now until she grows a bit and can start learning to speak and such." The doctor explained to both Summer and Qrow before taking his leave for the mismatched family to talk.
"Well I guess all we can do it wait it out Sums. I mean, the kid doesn't seem like she's suffering or anything." Qrow said as he rubbed the small girl's ear making the girl smile widely.
"Yah I guess your right Qrow. I just want her to be happy and healthy." Summer said as she smiled at the sight before her. Qrow holding one of his nieces over his shoulder who was passed out while rubbing the ear of the other with his free hand all with a big smile on his face.
"Oh yah, what's the squirt's name?" Qrow asked curiously as he removed his hand from the girl's ear since she had fallen asleep.
"Ruby. Ruby Rose." Summer said proudly, extremely happy with the name she chose for the small, sleeping Faunus now nestled between her arm and her chest. "And I can't wait to see what she becomes."
Heyo! This is my first story EVER! So any feedback that's constructive is very appreciated! I'll try to update at least once a week if enough of you guys want me to continue this!
EDIT : Sooooo, This is an RWBY AU where Ruby will be a Faunus and mute. Additionally, Taiyang isn't part of Ruby and Yang's lives and isn't their father. Also, it is possible to go 9 months without knowing your pregnant especially if you didn't plan the pregnancy or have never had a kid before. Let's just say Summer is a little clueless and attributed any pregnancy symptoms to other causes such as food poisoning and such.