May 13th
City Of Atlas;
United Kingdom Of Atlas
Downtown
12:49 PM

"Are you nervous, Glynda?" James squeezed his wife's hand as they waited for the results of the ultrasound. "It's okay, I'm sure it is."

"I have every reason to be nervous and you know it." Glynda shifted to kiss him softly. "I mean, what if something's gone wrong? James, you know that with me the chances of that are -"

He cut her off with a light peck to her forehead. "Nothing's going to go wrong. We're fine, our baby's fine. It's all going to be okay and, besides, soon enough I'm sure you'll be able to tell Emmett every flaw of his without him having any ability to start objecting to them."

"Miss Goodwitch? I've got some good news for you. Nothing is wrong and," Looking down at the report, Dr. Madison's gaze shifted to a smile of surprise. "You're carrying twins. Twin girls, actually. Currently, the development of both is normal although one is slightly bigger than the other - not that that is particularly unusual. I would say just continue whatever it is you're doing because it seems to working out well. Anyway, I'm sure you'll be alright and, assuming that, I'll see you back in a month."

Glynda and James's eyes went wide upon hearing that. Of all the things they had been expecting to hear, twins was towards the bottom of the list. Not only that, but it meant that Emmett had been right. Thoughts continued to race through Glynda's mind; concern about whether or not she and James would be able to be good parents came back. She tried to remind herself that they could discuss it later, but she couldn't shake the nervous feeling. As they left, he could feel that she was slightly unsteady. Wrapping an arm around her, she began to calm and smiled softly as they met Emmett just outside. He was leaning against his pale blue car with his leather jacket hanging haphazardly around his neck alongside a large, gold-plated necklace and his shoulder length white waves whipping about in the late spring wind.

"Alright, come on, are we going across the street to the Schnee Dust Company world headquarters now so I can do my thing?" Emmett winked at her before his expression changed to mock terror. "Or did I actually lose a bet for once and now have to be subjected to the horror of everything you hate about me as a penance akin to an exorcism? You know, exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus -"

"My question," Glynda said as she pulled out her crop and folded her arms across her chest. "Is how you knew that James and I were going to have twin girls."

"Oh, well what can I say: I'm a psychic." Emmett laughed. "Besides, it doesn't really matter because you would have won either way. You get to publicly humiliate me now, or, actually, watch me publicly humiliate myself."

"You just wanted an excuse to wear heels because you're still bitter about being shorter than everyone else on the team." James stated plainly as he wrapped an arm around his wife again.

"Well, I guess that my chance to wear heels is a benefit." Emmett said as he popped the trunk and pulled out a dress. Holding it up against himself, he smirked as he grabbed a pair of matching stilettos out as well. "Yeah, see, I'm going to look hot."

Emmett pulled off his shirt and began to the pull the dress on in its place. It was tight and a pale blue with thin, silvery cords going around his arms in lieu of actual sleeves. At about his knees, the dress cut off and his gray leggings began. As soon as the dress was on, he cast aside his boots and he sat slammed the trunk shut before sitting on the hood of the car with his stilettos in hand. Carefully undoing the straps, Emmett slipped the six-inch heels onto his feet and tightened them harshly around his ankle before standing up with difficulty. With as much sass as he could muster, Emmett moved over towards Glynda; excitement washed over him as he realized that in these heels his height matched hers.

"Sorry, but who's the short one now?" Emmett asked as he smirked and looked down at the heels again.

"We're the same height if we're both wearing heels, so you can't complain." Glynda told him as she pulled out her scroll. "Now step back so I can get a picture of you. You're never going to be able to pretend this didn't happen."

"I don't want to forget this shining beacon in my life." Emmett leaned against the car with one leg on the hood. "See, this is my 'sexy' pose."

"I'm sure Dean will appreciate this." James told Glynda as she continued to capture the moment.

"Hey, we've only been together for about a year, so don't go getting any ideas." Emmett flipped his hair and climbed on to the roof of the car. "And remember: I'm the king of Mantle, fight me bitches!"

"Atlas hasn't been known as Mantle or had kings in sixty some odd years," James reminded him even though he knew Emmett didn't care.

"I'm a Schnee by blood, though, and at this point that's similar to royalty." Emmett argued with mock passion. "I rule over all of Remnant!"

A small crowd had begun to cluster in the area as Emmett made his way to the steps of the Schnee Dust Company world headquarters, tripping and falling over more than once. Climbing the steps was harder than he had expected; Apparently heels do affect one's ability to walk. Turning around as he reached the top, Emmett turned on his microphone and the people were silent as he moved across the plateau just in front of the entrance of the building.

"Alright… so, in case you couldn't tell based on my white hair and gorgeous face, I'm Emmett Schnee. I'm twenty years old, and a huntsman slash combat TA. Anyways, I'm going to be here for the next two hours for your viewing entertainment and gawking as well as to answer whatever questions the reporters may have for me. And no, this is not a gag. Oh…and ladies...I know heels were originally worn by men such as myself but I think in modern times you all have the right idea with wearing these suckers. They may pinch my toes, but at the same time they make me feel tall for once. And bring out my sexy."

It took under a minute for the news media to surround him with their questions, camcorders, cameras, scrolls and video cameras. The crowd continued to pass by and take photographs or stare, their words getting louder. Not only that, but people were gathering to hear the multiple interviews that Emmett was entertaining. However, not everyone was interested or pleased by what was going on. Up in his office, Jacques Schnee glared out his window as he looked away from the files he was going through. More riots with White Fang involvement against the company. Stolen cargo and trains that crashed because of planted bombs. Possible new leads on missing people - Ashlynn for instance - and conformational reports on the ones who had turned up dead. The distraction from handling the budding situations was unhelpful and it was starting to get on his nerves. In stark contrast, however, Emmett was still enjoying himself halfway through his quote un quote interrogation.

"Mister Schnee, are you still in a relationship?" A young female reporter asked, flirtatiously flipping her hair.

"Yes, actually." Emmett responded to the surprise of the crowd. "He's a really great guy."

"Mister Schnee, do you have any words about your sister, Ashlynn's, disappearance? Currently it has been attributed to the White Fang as a statement against the SDC."

Emmett's face contorted in genuine pain, knowing full well that she could be dead. "I hope she gets found before it's too late for her."

"Mister Schnee, over the last few years you have been rather vocal about your distaste for your brother in law. Is there any particular reason for the animosity?"

"He's a dick," Emmett shrugged. "That's about as simple as it gets."

One young reporter stifled back a giggle. "Mister Schnee, has anyone ever told you how nice your pecs are?"

Emmett winked at the man who asked him that. "No, but thanks for noticing."

"Emmett!" Jacques walked out of the building in complete annoyance. "What are you doing?"

"Giving the people what they want!" Emmett declared as he stretched out his arms. "After all, I'm very attractive!"

"You're embarrassing the family," Jacques hissed at him. "Do you have any idea what this looks like?"

"I have a few guesses," Emmett responded, his sick grin growing. "And I'm sure I'll see all of them later tonight on the news."

Jacques glowered. "How long have you been out here doing this?"

An evil glint began to grow in Emmett's eye after a quick glance at the time. "About an hour and fifty five minutes. I've got five minutes left, so don't spoil this glorious moment for me."

"What do you mean, glorious moment?" Jacques demanded. "You look like you're trying too hard to be a drag queen, which is probably just about accurate."

"Actually," Emmett said as he turned towards the crowd. "Who wants me to become a competitive drag queen? I'll gladly add a year or two of that to my resume!"

The crowd went insane, cheering Emmett on as he stage dived off the steps and into the sea of people below. Cameras followed him - no more questions were asked but plenty of footage, on the other hand, was gained. The sheer spontaneous nature of the whole affair was pushing the envelope, Emmett knew, but at the same time he couldn't care less about what people were thinking about the situation. He could imagine that General Tanner would be annoyed when she found out about the whole affair - and she was his boss at Atlas Academy, considering she was the headmistress - but he didn't care. Sometimes, for him in particular, otherwise crazy and spontaneous activities were the most enjoyable. Either way, he decided, the heels were staying for purpose and the dress was as well, although more as a reminder than anything else.

"So…" Emmett said as he stood just outside of Glynda and James's apartment complex before leaving them alone. "Did I make good on my promise?"

James and Glynda both laughed at that while Emmett waited for an answer. "Yes," Glynda told him. "You managed to somehow assert to the city that you just do not give a fuck."

"Damn right I don't," Emmett smirked as he headed to the door and went back to his car.

The elevator doors opened almost right away and as soon as they closed Glynda was wrapping herself around James and pulling him into a slow, tender kiss. As the doors split open at the seventeenth floor, they split apart and hastily made way to their apartment. Finally alone, she let him take her into his arms while he let her close her eyes and relax for a few minutes. Gently, he began the process letting her hair out of its tight bun before grazing her cheek lightly - each touch full of more affection than the last. Finally, he softly kissed her and she let her head rest on his chest. Several minutes passed in silence in which they stayed tightly in each others arms. It was natural, but at the same time there was a slight tension that had still been palpable between them for weeks and it was all either of them could hope for everything to be alright. It was not as if the world was a particularly kind or appealing one - Ashlynn Schnee's disappearance was a good indication of that if anything was.

"Are you okay?" James finally asked. "Do you -"

"Twins, James." Glynda murmured softly as she took his hand and placed it on her noticeably protruding abdomen. "I… what if we're not ready? What if we screw up? And with everything going on in the world..."

"We'll figure it out, I know we will," James sighed. "I'm scared too Glynda - we'll both be barely twenty-one and…"

"Neither of us have any idea what we're doing..." She finished quietly.

"I've got you. Glynda, I love you and that's not going to change." His fingers trailed lightly through her hair while she relaxed.

"I love you too James," She promised, her voice quiet.

He sighed as he quietly admitted what he was most afraid of. "Glyns, princess, the truth is I'm still scared of hurting you… or the girls."

Glynda nuzzled his neck lovingly. "We're going to be okay."

He nodded. "I hope so..."