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Seasons passed.
Nebel turned two.
Garnet turned one and a half.
Ruby and Weiss both gave birth. Weiss gave birth to a beautiful little girl with snow white hair who had her eyes named Pearle. Ruby gave birth to twins. A boy and a girl named Citrone and Cherry. The boy looked like me. He looked an awful lot like me. You could see it in Nebel but Citrone looked so much like me that it shocked me. It even made me second guess myself. I hoped he wouldn't take after me too much because boy oh boy was I a suffering stumbling block.
Cherry had a mix of features with pure black hair and silver eyes. She had my nose and chin. She had Ruby's cheeks and brow.
And it was an absolute mess at home every night. Nebel was talking in full sentences and Garnet was a little too. She was getting there. They were both walking and toddling and that was a handful on top of the three whole new babies. The twins were older by six months than Pearle was. It was hard to manage all the babies.
"Arms full," Ruby insisted. "Arms full of babies."
"You don't think this is a few too many babies?" I wondered. I affected my voice so that I sounded on the verge of tears by making it so my voice almost cracked. "This is so many babies."
"It's a lot of babies," Weiss agreed. "One more than what we were expecting."
We were each holding a baby and I was cradling my second son while Nebel toddled around my feet by the sofa.
Our youngest Pearle rested in Ruby's arms easily. She slung her along and opened her breast to feed the baby. Pearle was a gentle soul. At least to my knowledge. Maybe her mothers thought differently about it but I thought she was a sweetums.
"So many kids. And you? Ruby? You still want one more?" I protested.
"Well… I always wanted four…" She whined. "Weiss…"
"Don't look at me. I went one over how many I always wanted. I thought I'd always want one. Now I gave birth to two and there are five total." Weiss was cradling Cherry gently in a tired embrace. We were all exhausted. We were all up every single night because when one baby woke up they would usually wake the others and the toddlers up.
"Six?" I hazarded. "Six?" I wondered. "Six!"
"Okay, okay. I still want another one. I want to give birth to my four."
"A nightmare. When?" I demanded.
"I don't know. Another few months maybe. Then I want to start trying again. We've gotten pretty lucky in terms of trying. It could take longer than it did the last few times to make one stick."
"Seriously don't look at me. I'm done. I'm out. I'm going to be on the pill for the rest of my life. Easily," Weiss mumbled. She gently rocked Cherry who was sleeping restfully. Garnet crawled up onto Weiss's lap and sat there. She had a toy train in her hand.
"I see it. I see you," Weiss told the toddler. "What's up? What is it?" Weiss wondered.
"Have you ever ridden a train?" Cherry asked like it was a critical question. It was necessary to her future plans that she knew whether Weiss had ridden a train.
"Yes I have. Mommy Ruby has too," Weiss told the toddling toddler.
"I have as well," I murmured my own answer to the question.
"I wasn't asking you," Garnet informed me. Rude. But fair.
"Be nice to your daddy, Garnet," Ruby scolded gently. I threw my head back and laughed when Garnet shot Ruby a puzzled look. She had no idea. She was just a mere toddler.
Garnet gave me a confused look as well when I laughed.
"Wha's funny?" She demanded.
"You. You little scamp," I told her softly.
"No I'm not," Garnet whined. She came up to me and beat me with a tiny fist on the leg. I laughed all the harder and I scooped her up beside my second oldest son and rocked them both.
"No. You're serious business," I agreed. "That's what's so funny. Give daddy a kiss, won't you?" She did and I set her back on the ground.
"Neb?" Garnet moved right along.
"No." Nebel denied.
"Hey… Neb…"
"No. I'm having fun with my cars. I don't want to play trains with you."
"Pwease?" Garnet pleaded. "Pretty pwease. Won't you play with me."
"Only if we play cars. I don't want to play trains. You always make accidents. Wrecks aren't as fun."
"Pwease?"
"No. I don't want to." He made the mistake of looking at his little sister. He looked away quickly but she sharked him.
"Pwease. Neb."
"No…" but he sounded weaker that time. He lost some staying power. "I… fine. But no accidents."
"But what's the point if they don't expwode?"
"You always throw them," Nebel accused. "No throwing them. I'll play with you but you have to not throw them."
"But that's the whole point!"
"Don't throw your toys at your brother, Garnet," I cut in.
"I don't throw them at him! They go where they go. That's not ma fault."
"Don't throw them at the walls either. I saw you stepping and crushing some cars the other day. I won't buy you more if you break them on purpose. Why don't you play nice and drive them around? Why do they have to explode?"
"Expwosions are fun…"
"Not that fun," I disagreed.
"Have you ever expwoded?" Cherry wondered up at me.
"Once or twice," I answered. More like once or twice a week at school. Kids that didn't know dust had to learn somehow.
"And it wasn't fun?" Garnet asked doubtfully.
"I hope you never have to learn this yourself but exploding is never fun for the person being exploded," I informed her.
"Oh." Garnet sat down like I'd rocked her little world. "But… does it have to be? Does it have to be that way? Can't you just fly off and enjoy it?"
"Usually there's fire or lightning involved. So… not really."
"It's fun to make other things explode though," Ruby mumbled. I shot her a look. "What? It is? It's a lot of fun."
"Ruby…" Weiss trailed. "We're not giving the toddlers dust. We're not letting them play with our weapons despite how fun it could be. I'm putting my foot down."
"What's dust?" Nebel asked in an almost elegant fashion.
"Dust is energy in crystal or powdered form," Weiss answered.
"What's energy?"
Weiss came up short and Nebel's second question. She looked at me.
"Energy is the ability to do work," I answered in her stead. "It's what let's you move one object from one place to another."
"What are objects?" Nebel pressed on.
"An object is a person or thing," I tried. I tried sounding patient. I'm not sure that it came across because Nebel stopped asking questions and started exploding trains with his sister. They tossed the toys into the air and made them crash with sound effects as they did. Nebel had fun with her even though he might deny it. He liked playing with his little sister. And she always won him over to play with her. It couldn't be a coincidence.
I rocked the babe in my arms until he started crying for food. I traded infants with Weiss who started feeding the baby I handed her. Citrone went easily into Weiss's arms and I took precious little Cherry from her. Weiss pulled her nipple out and started feeding the crying baby. That was all babies did. Cry and eat and cry and eat and sleep like the dead. Like Pearle was now over in Ruby's arms and Cherry was in mine. They weren't like toddlers who had energy and went off and wandered. And where did Nebel and Garnet go? They were right here! Oh man, I lost my eldest son and daughter. Where did they…? Oh. Behind the sofa. I heard a toy train hit a wall hard enough that it probably left a ding behind. I just exchanged a tired look with Weiss. 'You do it.' Her eyes said. I set Cherry down and walked around the couch to the two guilty scamps.
"No throwing your toys at the walls. I mean it," I firmly reprimanded.
"It was Neb!"
"It wasn't me," Nebel said exhaustedly.
"Well whichever of you it was, knock it off. Don't scratch the paint on the walls. We paid a lot of money for it to be like this. We would like it if it stayed like this."
"Yes dad," Nebel agreed.
"Fine!" Garnet threw her arms up in a Ruby like manner. "No more."
"No more. Daddy is tired," I leveled with her. I sighed. I didn't want to be the 'daddy is tired' parent. But I was seriously fuckin' tired. "He doesn't want to come over and spoil your fun. He just has to."
"Yes dad," Nebel hummed. I think he got it. But he was a mostly obedient little sucker.
"No more throwing at the walls," Garnet agreed.
"Don't throw them at the ceiling either. Or the floor super hard," I amended.
"Ugh!" Garnet rolled onto her back. She kicked her feet in protest as I chained her down. "Lets go drop them," Garnet gathered up an arms full of cars and trains and waddled to the staircase. She slowly and unsteadily climbed the steps.
Her first words had been momma and she'd been a scamp ever since that day. I let them go. I heard their plan to drop cars from the second story to the first. I didn't mind it too much. I wasn't sure how anybody could get hurt from them doing that.
Nebel shot me a look like 'is that really okay?'
"Cloud," Weiss hummed from the couch. "Ixnay."
"Garnet. Don't go flinging cars to the first floor."
"Ugh." She collapsed on the staircase and dropped all her cars and trains. She just laid there morally defeated. A car rolled over to my foot and Nebel picked it up. He drove it in a figure eight around my legs with little sputtering noises. I stepped over and past him carefully to Garnet.
"Not every game has to be destructive or hazardous to be fun. When I was a little scamp I played train cars like Nebel or I would go outside and fight imaginary Grimm and play huntsman. Why don't you try that."
"Mommy Ruby says we need adult superposition."
"Supervision," I corrected. "And I'll go outside with you. Just stay where I can see you with the patio. Nebel, do you want to come too?"
"I have a favorite sword," Nebel claimed. He got up from the floor. "It's around the side of the house near the grown ups room. Can I go get it and bring it back to play with?"
"Sure," I answered. "Just so long as you come back around to where I can see you from the patio."
"Nebel gets to run off but I don't?" Garnet harumphed.
"He's coming right back. And Nebel is the trustworthy sort. You are rambunctious," I poked her nose. She flinched away from me in a Ruby like manner. "I'm worried if I let you go you won't come back. What will I do then?"
She huffed again. "Fine. I'll find a better sword than Nebel's anyways."
"See that you do," I agreed. I saw no reason that she couldn't. She glanced me over like she thought I was being facetious. "What? Why does his sword have to be better than yours?" I wondered.
"Because he is allowed to go further and see more than me. It's not fair. I'll be lucky to find something straight and even sword like," she threw her arms up again. "We'll find one together. Weiss do you mind holding onto Cherry?" I asked.
"What if I do mind?" Weiss wondered. She held out an arm though and I walked around and handed her the baby.
Cut me some slack Weiss. I was going to look after two of our toddlers at once and one of them was a total scamp.
I walked out and Nebel raced off in the direction he had indicated his 'sword' was at.
"So where do we start looking?" Garnet wondered.
"First we wait for your brother," I reprimanded lightly. "And then… I'm not really sure…"
"I thought you went to school," she accused. She accused me like that was a class we sometimes had to take at Beacon. Find a stick sword one-oh-one. I stared down at her and her energy. Nebel came back with a slightly curved stick with the bark peeled back to make a blade and a handle. It was aspen at a glance. I wasn't a tree guy.
Nebel gave it a few swings and he shouted as he did. "Yaw! Heh! Yah! I'm ready daddy."
"Help your sister find a decent sword then. Then you fight hordes of Grimm coming to overwhelm the house."
I gave them a suicide mission. For a real hunter that sort of mission meant certain death. Eventually you'd get tired and overwhelmed. I was no exception. Limit Break didn't save me from exhaustion though it could take the edge off. I still got tired and enough little fish would bring me down.
"Come on. I'll show you where I found mine," Nebel took off at a sprint and Garnet ran right after him. I followed slowly with my hands in my pockets and I still managed to almost match their pace. They went into the windbreaker in one corner of the property. A small woodland to block wind coming in from the West.
"Right here. Beneath this tree," Nebel proclaimed. "See any you like."
Garnet picker up a branch that looked straight but once she held it in the air it was gnarly and twisted. She tossed it into the windbreaker… deeper inside the network of trees.
"No," Garnet grunted. "These are all twisted. They aren't any good for a sword."
"Well if you find one that's mostly straight I can shave it off with my folder until it's a little straighter. Take off the dead ends, that sort of thing," I informed them and I patted my side where the folder hung.
"The willows!" Nebel realized. "Come on Garbet. To the creek!"
They raced off again and I sauntered after them. They came across a small gurgling creek with willow bushes growing straight branches into the air.
"One of these. Just point out your favorite to dad and he can cut them off and you'll have a fantastic sword," Nebel pointed at the straight branches of the willow bushes. Were they trees or bushes. I suppose it didn't matter really. I could easily cut off one of the branches and shave the bark off to make a straight sword for Garnet.
"Is that really okay? They are living plants," Cherry wondered.
"It should be fine," I agreed. "It's just one branch. They can spare one branch. Pick your favorite."
Garnet bunny hopped the little creek to walk around one of the willow bushes. She then paced over to the next one in the green field. The field was fed by the creek and was fairly green. It looked healthy and untampered but it was still a part of our acreage. I pulled my Atlas folder out with the serrated edge of it at the ready and waited on her word. I ran my finger down the edge of the blade out of bored contentment as I did.
Garnet walked from one willow tree to the next and to the next. Her lips were pursed in thought and she had a hand on her cheek in a Weiss-ism. I saw so much of her mothers in her that it was staggering. It made me flinch a little. It made me derelict in my duties to the planet. Would it really be so wrong to leave Salem to someone else if it meant I could spend a little more time with my daughter?
"Dad? Can I pick one out too?" Nebel asked.
"What's wrong with your sword?' I wondered.
"The willow will be better. Besides you use multiple swords," he explained. And I found myself struggling to argue with him so I gave him a curt nod. He was fast about picking out a branch. "This one." He declared.
I bent and cut it with the serrated blade. I handed the mostly straight branch over to him. It had a slight curve near the base but was otherwise straight. He cut into the bark and peeled it off with his fingernails until he had white wood leading up to a bark handle. He gave it a few swings along with his old sword in a low-high-low pattern.
"Daddy! I want this one!" Garnet called me over from some fifty feet. I jumped the creek and walked over to her.
"Which one?"
"That one right there! It's perfect."
"Here?" I asked as I grabbed a stalk and bent with the knife. She gave me a little shy nod.
I started cutting. I withdrew with the branch and handed it over to her. It was longer than either of Nebel's. I started pacing back in the direction of the house and I bobbed my head in a come hither gesture. They followed.
"Hey Neb, how did you do that with your bark."
"The bark peels right off," Nebel answered. "So you can get a sword look going if you cut the bark around the handle and peel off the flimsy stuff from the rest of the sword."
"Neb's so smart."
"Not really…" Nebel flushed.
"I'm going to give it a try," Garnet decided.
She worked her fingernails under the bark and peeled.
We made it back to the house and left strips of willow bark behind us in our wake as we did. I sat at the patio and watched the little boy and girl play and cut down Grimm. I watched Nebel call to his sister for a raid and she rushed with several sound effects and swings.
I grimaced. Maybe I was encouraging hunting in them through this. But it was just a game. It didn't have to be anything more. It didn't have to be anything more than I was allowing it to be.
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-WG