Chapter 6: Big News

Present: The Loft

Another lazy day in The Loft. Shade and Grant were sitting at the dinner table, planning the decorations for their wedding, while Marcus and Kole were playing video games on the couch and Kole's character just got killed.

"Fucking hell!" yelled Kole slamming his controller on the coffee table they were using as a foot rest.

"See. There's no way you can beat me. Semblance or not." Taunted Marcus

"Whatever. I'm going to get some munchies." He said flipping off Marcus and wandered into the kitchen.

"Hey, get me something too?"

"No way, those snack cakes are mine."

The Slacker retrieved two bottles of beer from the refrigerator and opened the cupboards looking for his stash of snack cakes. "No! Where are you, you yellow, delicious, spongey bastards?" he cried looking for his box of beloved snack cakes. Off in the distance he heard the crinkle of a plastic wrapper being opened, and only assumed that someone had stolen his sugary treasures. He followed the sound to the dining table and saw Shade talking with Grant with a couple empty wrappers on the table and a half-eaten snack cake in her hand "Shade! What the fuck?"

"What?" asked Shade, stuffing her face with the other half of the spongey cake.

"You're eating my junk food!" Yelled Kole

"So? I'm hungry."

"So? Those are mine! I bought those with the hard earned Lien that I stole!"

"Hey, Kole. Relax. I'll buy you a new box later, okay?" Offered Grant

"Shut the fuck up bitch, the grown-ups are talking." Warned Kole "I mean what the hell, Shade?"

"Calm down, Kole." said Grant

"I said shut it, bitch!" Kole said pointing at the Huntsman

"Don't talk to him like that, asshole. And so what if I ate your precious candy." Yelled Shade, her tail standing on end.

"Geeze sis. I knew you were getting fat, but I didn't realize it was from stealing my food." Laughed the gunslinger

Shade jumped out of her chair and got up in Kole's face "Call me fat one more time and I'll-"

"You'll what, tubby? Kick my ass?"

"Do you want to fight, asshole?" screamed Shade lifting her chair over her head, ready to use it as a bludgeon.

"Bring it bitch!" yelled Kole gripping Desperado

The siblings stood in front of each other, growling and waiting for the other to throw the first punch. The tension between them was broken only by their littlest teammate rushing over to warn them for using foul vocabulary in front of her.

"Language!" yelled Katherine, but her usual punches to the arm was stopped mid-swing by both of the Fridulfs grabbing her wrists, without taking their eyes off the other. Katherine stood scared at first, the two would argue often, but that was because they were just family. This time, something was off about them. Like there was actual tension between them. The siblings released their teammate and continued to glare at each other. "Marcus? Grant? A little help here?" squeaked Katherine, realizing she made a huge mistake trying to intervene.

"I would…but I'm too scared" admitted Grant.

"Yeah, no way Kate." said Marcus trying to keep himself out of the conflict.

"Okay you two. Break it up." Said Katherine with trepidation, trying to free herself from the sibling's vice-like grip

"Yeah Shade, come on. We still have a lot of work to do." Offered Grant trying to pull the chair out of the Faunus' hands

"Yeah, because unlike somebody, I actually work around here." Declared the leader as she took her seat.

"Oh fuck you! You, fat ass, bitch!" yelled Kole

"That's it!" She screamed throwing a punch into the slackers face. Her Aura burning like a torch.

Everyone in the room stood in shock. Sure, shade threated to kick Kole's ass a lot, but she never did. this was the first time in her life that she consciously struck her brother. Kole stood in place as he blinked away seeing stars from the hit. He placed his hand to his face, he wasn't bleeding, but his right eye was sore as hell. Anger filled his core, every urge in his body wanted to draw out Desperado and 'unleash the beast' within, but he struggled to be in control.

"I've had it with you, you fucking bitch!" he yelled storming out of The Loft, slamming the door behind him.

Everyone struggled to comprehend what just happened: Kole and Shade had just physically fought for the first time. Sure they argued a lot before, but they were family. They never really hit one another.

"I'll go after him." said Katherine following the Huntsman

"Geeze Shade. I know being lazy and rude is his thing, but damn. That was fucked up." Said Marcus

"Oh fuck you, Marcus!" cried Shade, folding her hands over head, crying to herself quietly.

Grant placed his arm over Shade's back and tried to comfort his fiancé. "It's okay babe, what's wrong?" asked Grant, putting his arms over the Faunus,

"I don't know!" she said, her sobbing intensifying

"It's okay Shade."

"No…it's not!"

"What do you mean?"

"I-it's hard to explain."

"What's so hard to explain? We all get emotional every now and then."

"Grant…I-I'm… I'm."

"What? Cat got your tongue?" he laughed not remembering Shade's strong dislike for cats.

"Grant! Shut it. I'm trying to tell you that…I'm pregnant!"

The Loft stood silent and Shade took that silence as a sign of disapproval from her fiancé. Grant thought hard to think of what to say, but he was speechless. He wanted to express his joy over the announcement but he couldn't make the words. The silence was broken by Marcus' uncouth reaction

"Holy Shit!" Proclaimed Marcus

Shade bolted up from her chair and glared towards Marcus. "Don't you even think of telling Kole. You, gossipy son of a bitch or I swear I will chop off your dick and feed it to a horde of Beowolves!" yelled Shade boiling with anger.

"Woah Calm down, baby. I won't!" assured the scared gambler.

"Mood swings. Well that explains a lot." Said Grant, breaking his silence.

"I'm so sorry baby." Cried Shade, kissing Grants cheek.

"What's to be sorry about. I'm going to be a father."

"Yeah… A father." She said still worried about what the others would think.

Meanwhile, Katherine continued to follow Kole as he walked aimlessly around their apartment block. The siblings always fought and made up before, but this time she was unsure if they were going to this time. Not even a bottle of alcohol could help this time.

"What the fuck is her problem?" he said out loud

"I don't know. Maybe when you've calmed down a bit, you and Shade can talk it out."

"Fat chance!"

"Come on Grumpy, what is it going to take for you to calm down and say you're sorry?" Katherine pouted, placing her hands on her hips

"I don't know!" he said sitting down on the curb of the street, lighting a cigarette

"You know your acting like a child, right?"

"Am not."

"Do you need to get some more junk food?"

"No." he said exhaling the smoke from his lungs.

"Do you need to go get in a bar fight?

"Yeah."

"Okay Grumpy, let's go get in a bar fight." She said pulling the pouting Huntsman to his feet.

"Thanks babe, you rock!"

"I know." She said with a smile

The couple walked over to the Broken Wheel and, the Slacker's face lit up with joy. Outside in the parking lot he could see the parking lot filled with the same motorcycles from last month. His day was turning right around. He drew out his pistol, cocked a round into the chamber and burst through the saloon doors.

"Alright, you greasy sons of bitches. Round two!" He yelled hitting a biker with the brass knuckle handguard of Desperado. At first the other bikers remembered the last time they fought him, but a few of them were up for the rematch.

"What's wrong, boy. Your mongrel daddy ain't here to back you up?"

"Nope, just you ugly bitches, me, and this here shot of whiskey." He said knocking back a shot glass of amber colored liquid on the table before him.

"Kill this whelp!"

An hour later, the couple returned to The Loft, with Katherine carrying a battered and bruised Kole over her shoulders. He had a small cut on his forehead, that his Aura was slowly healing, his nostrils were filled with blood stained wads of tissue, and his knuckles were bruised and swollen. He looked as though he had taken the beaten of his life, but was still grinning as though he won.

"Oh geeze!" sighed Shade taking the slacker in her arms and throwing him on the couch. How drunk is he this time?"

"He actually only had one shot of whiskey. He just needed to blow off some steam." Proclaimed Katherine putting his gun belt on the hook next to the other weapons.

"That was an awesome fight!" he said leaning his head back on the couch cushions.

"Did you win? Grant and I had a bet?" asked Marcus handing his friend a beer.

"I don't know and I don't care." He said raising the cold bottle to his bruised face.

"Grant and I are going to talk to a baker about our wedding cake. We'll be back later."

"Later." Said Kole, paying no attention to the others around him

"Oh and dumbass…" Shade said wanting to tell her brother one of her secrets "I'm sorry about earlier."

"Yeah, whatever. I forgot all about it."

"Cool." Right when Shade and Grant left the Loft, a series of gentle knocks came to the door.

"It's open!" yelled Marcus.

"Yo! What's up bitches?" asked a woman in black and red.

"Addy! Your back." said Katherine jumping from her seat on the couch to hug her friend

"Yeah that last mission was easier than we thought. I swear the bandits around here are absolute wusses.

"Tell me about it. Bitches can't even shoot straight." Laughed Kole, patting his scarred shoulder from the sniper.

"Hey, I got some news for you, but I don't know if I can tell my team quite yet.

"Ooh, a secret? What is it?" asked an eager Marcus

"I'm pregnant!"

"Oh my gosh! Congratulations!" shrieked an excited Katherine hugging her friend tightly.

"A reoccurring theme in this chapter." Mumbled Marcus.

"What?"

"Nothing. Please tell me it's not mine!" proclaimed Marcus

"Shut the fuck up Marcus." Sighed Adeline, shaking her head at Marcus

"Sorry, that's just my normal reaction whenever a chick says they're knocked-up"

"Whatever."

"Richard's a lucky guy, I guess." Kole said lighting a cigarette. Katherine glared at Kole with her pale eyes and ripped the cigarette from his lips. "What the hell, babe?"

"She's pregnant, you jerk! You can't smoke in front of her. It's bad for the baby."

"Oh god, don't tell me your gonna go and baby proof our apartments? She's not due for another nine months."

"Thanks Kate." Adeline said rubbing her stomach. "Can You three keep a secret?

"Sure."

"And I mean a secret, secret! Tell anyone and I'm gonna kill you bitches."

"Okay, okay. What is it?" asked Marcus

"It's not Richard's"

"Addy! I can't believe you!" screamed Katherine "Why would you be unfaithful to that poor, sweet Faunus. You should be ashamed of yourself

"Kate, I mean Richard can't have kids. He's firing blanks."

"Damn. Well that sucks." Said Kole.

"Yeah. You tell anybody and I'm gonna shove my shotty up your ass and unload a shit ton of buckshot."

"We won't." Marcus said zipping his mouth shut

"So how are you pregnant then?" asked Katherine

"I made a withdrawal from the local sperm bank."

"You did?" asked Katherine

"Oh shit!" said Marcus and Kole as they looked to each other with blank expressions

"What's wrong with you two?"

"We made a couple deposits at that bank to help pay off our debts a while back."

"Son of a bitch!" screamed Adeline looking down at her stomach

"What?" yelled Katherine

"Addy do you remember who the doctors said was the donor?" demanded Marcus

"I think the nurse said Donor KV-63."

"Oh thank god!" Yelled Marcus as he wiped his brow. "Lucky me, right? I am not the father!"

Kole silently reached into his pocket for his pack of smokes. "Fuck!" he said under his breath

"What did I just tell you?" Katherine said trying to rip the pack of cigarettes from his shaking hands. She could see that this news about Adeline's pregnancy was making him nervous for some reason. "What's wrong Grumpy?" Kate teased resting her head on his shoulder.

"I-I uh…I'm KV-63." He whispered just loud enough for Katherine to barely hear.

"What?" Whispered Katherine

"I said… That I'm…the father!" he said loud enough that everyone could hear them.

Everyone in the room snapped their heads towards Kole. Who looked like he was on the brink of tears. He struggled to open his pack of smokes and his hands trembled so much, he dropped his lighter.

"Dude!" shouted Marcus covering his mouth in disbelief. He darted his eyes back and forth from Adeline, to Katherine, back to Adeline, and then to Kole. "We need to get ahold of one of those trashy reality t.v. shows. We could make a fortune right now."

Katherine's eyes flashed with rage. "Of all the stupid things you have done. I am going to kill you!" she said jumping off the couch and slapped her boyfriend with such force that he flew across the room.

"You gotta be shitting me!" yelled Adeline, running out of The Loft, slamming the door on the way.

"Addy?" whispered Katherine. She didn't know who to confront first. Her new best friend, or the moron. "I'll deal with you later!" she said following her friend out the door

Katherine ran out the door, to follow her friend. In team OKRA's apartment, she was Cerise, just as she was closing their door. "Hey Cerise, is Addy inside?"

"Yeah, she just ran in crying and locked herself in her and Richard's room."

"Can I talk to her?"

"Good luck. I've never seen her this upset. Is everything okay?

"I'll tell you later."

The little Huntress went through the apartment and knocked gently on Adeline's door. "Addy its me."

"Go away Kate."

"Addy I just want to talk to you. Please?"

The sound of a deadbolt rotating clanked and the door slowly creaked open an inch. "I'm so sorry Kate." she said wiping her eyes with a tissue. Her mascara beginning to run and her red eyes, redder than normal.

"What do you have to be sorry for? You're going to be a mother. I can't express how happy I am for you."

"Aren't you mad at me. I mean shit, your boyfriend is the father of my child for god's sake. You should be half way through your war-path by now."

"I'm mad at him. Not you. Just because he's the father doesn't mean he's going to be the baby's daddy. You and Richard are going to be amazing parents."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, You're strong, loving and caring. And Richard is wise, protective and funny. The two of you are going to be the best parents in Remnant.

"I guess."

"Come on Addy, just have a little faith and everything will be okay." Katherine said giving Adeline a hug

When the girls ran out of the room, Kole and Marcus sat in the silence, thinking about what just happened. The awkward silence was broken by Kole, staggering to his feet and walking to the door.

"Where are you going bro?" asked Marcus

"To get a drink."

"Ok bro. just one drink."

The two went back down to the Broken Wheel, where the bartender was sweeping up the last of the broken glass on the floor.

"No! no, no, no, no! Marcus, you get that son of a bitch out of here!" the bartender said raising his broom like a club.

"Hey I paid for the damages didn't I?" reassured Kole.

"Yeah, but you're not going to tear up my bar a second time in the same day! Now get out, Kole!"

"Chill Ambrose, we just came for a drink. Dipshit here is gonna be a daddy." Said Marcus

"Ya finally knocked up that Vacuo chick, eh?"

"Not exactly." Frowned Marcus

"Well fuck." He said reaching back behind the bar. "Here, this one is on the house. Looks like you're gonna need it."

Ambrose set a bottle of whiskey and two glasses before the Huntsmen. Marcus took the initiative to pour them a glass.

"Well here's to fatherhood, I guess." Marcus said clinking his glass with Kole's.

"Can this day get any worse?" Kole said knocking back the whole glass of amber liquor.

"I guess Grant should be here too."

"Why is that?"

"Shade threatened to chop off something very near and dear to me, but I can't keep a secret from you bro. He's also going to be a father."

"Oh God!" he said grabbing the whole bottle.

"You should be happy bro, you're going to be an uncle and a father."

"You're not helping bro."

"Relax, bro. things are really looking up for us. We are swimming in Lien, your sister is getting married, I'm no longer a bachelor, our little dysfunctional family is growing, and tomorrow you and Shade are going to kick fucking ass. Everything is going to be good forever."

Authors Note: well guys and gals of the internet, this is where things get weird. I'm starting to bring things to a more real-life type of thing. Don't worry there is still going to be Grimm slaying, wild parties, and foul language. I just thought that it would be interesting to try this. PM me about your thoughts on the story and where you think the story should go?