Chapter 8:

In Which Qrow Learns That Even More Confusing Emotions Exist

When he got a good look at the kid, he could barely see any of himself. Only in her nose, the fact that her eyes were more narrow than he would expect from Summer's kid, even as a baby. Mostly, she was a spitting image of her mother, down to the impossibly dark red hair.

He had helped make a person, granted he hadn't helped much at all. The extent of his involvement was even less than most fathers. A few moments of interaction with her mother(on that particular occasion) and ignorance of her existence for a good long while.

"How old is she?" he asked Summer.

"16 months," Summer told him. "She's just over two years younger than Yang."

"I can't believe people bought it that Tai, with how upset he was over Raven, fathered this one so soon after," Qrow told her honestly.

"Hey, Summer is very attractive. It wouldn't be the first time a man coped that way!" Tai defended.

"Tai thought it up. I wanted to tell people he wasn't her father, but refuse to tell them who was. He argued it would be confusing for Yang, who calls me 'mom', and we're already raising them together," Summer clarified.

Qrow was just playing with the baby's hair when a shelf near the crib broke away from the wall and fell. He caught it, but the sound of him slamming everything into the wall startled the kids awake. Ruby looked up at Qrow, startled and frightened, and immediately started screaming and thrashing.

Tai seemed to be running on auto when he scooped her up against his shoulder and started comforting her. It wasn't like Qrow would have been able to grab her with his arms full of stuffed animals and books, but it still brought him back to the reality of the situation. For all intents and purposes, Tai was his kid's dad.

Qrow pulled the other support for the shelf off the wall and put it in the closet. When he turned around, Yang was sitting up in her bed, her hair wild around her and her eyes full of sleep. Ruby was settled against Tai's shoulder.

"Mom?" Yang called.

Summer's attention was focused on her immediately. "Yes?" she asked.

"Who's the man?" Yang asked.

"That's your Uncle Qrow," Summer told her.

Yang seemed confused. "Oh." She went back to sleep. Qrow couldn't help but to chuckle.

"Raven was the same way as a kid. We could have a full on ambush, and she'd just get through it grumpily and go back to sleep as soon as her bedroll was on the ground. We didn't even have to have a tent over our heads," he told them.

Tai looked uncomfortable, angry even, at the mention of her mother's name. Summer laughed. "That sounds like Yang, alright."

Tai settled Ruby back into the crib, and the adults went back to the kitchen for some coffee and conversation around the dining table.

"We could tell her, you know," Summer said, after they had gone through the requisite reminiscing and relaying of latest adventures. Well, his latest adventures, Summer and Tai told him about parenting life and teaching, Summer not having been on a battlefield in two years and Tai only being able to go out Hunting when the school was on break.

Qrow was immediately shaking his head. "Tai's right. It's too confusing for her and Yang. I'll be around when I can regardless, Oz put me at Signal today, wants to keep me close, but there's no telling how long it will last, and I'm sure he'll still be sending me out constantly. She already has to worry about losing a parent in you when you return to Ozpin's circle. She doesn't need to worry about losing her dad, too."

"Not to mention that Qrow's missions can last years, Summer," Tai interjected. "I don't mind. Our kids need us. I can be here for both of them."

Tai had grown in his resolve since Qrow last saw him.

"Besides, you saw what just happened, Summer. She's liable to get hurt anytime I'm alone with her. This is for the best."

Once again, Qrow knew that even if it was true it didn't mean he had to feel good about it.

He ended up falling asleep on the couch that night, and when he woke the next morning there were two silver eyes locked on him. Her gaze was so steady, even for a toddler, that he immediately felt intimidated. Then the moment was gone and she was running off with a giggle, so fast he had trouble believing she was so young.

He stayed the rest of the day. Summer and Tai used his presence as an opportunity to interview the new babysitters, choosing one before midday and then heading out, Summer to take a look at the job board and Taiyang to go check on his classroom at Signal, sheepishly admitting he hadn't been back once the entire break.

Qrow chased after Yang and Ruby and broke up a tug-o-war over a stuffed dog they named Zwei, a long eared, odd looking thing that was worn enough that it took him a moment to realize it was something he had picked up for Yang after a mission once. He served the lunch Summer had left for them, sang the only lullaby he knew four times, and played tea party twice.

As if his semblance wasn't enough to get the two into trouble easily, Ruby was also clumsy. She tripped over air, slipped in mud, was attracted to stairs, and when he finally got them to take a nap, he spent the entire time obsessively slipping her limbs back through the bars of her crib.

By noon, he wanted to cover her in pillows, spray them in a flame retardant, and cover the entire ensemble with some sturdy steel armor.

Yang was fiercely independent, happy to play alone when Ruby and her didn't agree, not that he understood how two kids so small got into disagreements. He couldn't even understand half the things they said. Ruby was pretty limited to Zwei, Ice Cream, Milk, Hungry, Ouchie, mama, and dad. Yang was much more conversational, but she was wary of Qrow. When Yang woke from nap and Ruby stayed asleep, he took Yang outside and helped her "practice her landing strategy" by throwing her up in the air a couple of feet and then catching her on the way down.

Ruby woke up around half past two, and when Qrow took Yang with him upstairs she was still yelling "Again, Uncle Qrow, again!"

Ruby got some of the same treatment, though gentler. When the older, rickety chair Qrow was sitting on the porch watching them from lost a leg, he moved to the grass at the foot of the stairs.

He had to improvise a dinner. Having never cooked a day in his life, he ordered a meal from the nearest delivery. While waiting outside for the driver, there was an incident involving a small Grimm, and he had to improvise using a cleaver from the kitchen. He set it aside with a mental note to pay Summer and Tai back for it.

Tai and Summer arrived not long after the driver. Qrow relayed the day to them and thanked the foresight that told him to order for them as well. Summer told him she rarely used the cleaver, anyway.

"I'll pick up another one eventually," she said with a shrug.

Tai was behind on new lesson plans, the headmaster having asked him to change a few things in the curriculum to accommodate Qrow's changes to the linked course. Tai taught hand-to-hand and strategy. Qrow was to be in charge of weaponry and practical battle skills.

"We aren't even in school anymore, and you're still stranding me with extra homework," Tai joked.

Qrow just smirked. The girls were falling asleep in their seats after all that food, and Qrow joined Summer in putting them to bed. Summer told them the story of the four maidens. Ruby and Yang were out like lights.

As Summer closed the door, he could hear Ruby's tiny voice call out "Goo-nai mama. Goo-nai Unca Qoh."

Summer must have seen his face fall. Anybody else would have just thought he was tired or something, but Summer knew. "I still say we can tell her," she told Qrow.

"It'll be fine, Summer. Look, I gotta head to Signal. There's a blacksmith instructor on his way in, and he was supposed to send his requirements for a forge ahead of him. I have got to make that happen."

Summer had nodded. "I can come by tomorrow and help out," she offered.

"I'd appreciate it, but somehow Ruby and fire sound like a dangerous combination," he had a smile on his face as he looked up at the window to the nursery.

Summer nodded. "See ya later," she told him.