Arcangel087- Thank you and yes Ramon = Roman

Judy- JUDY OMG HI. It's been forever my dedicated troll. I was worried about you.

Willow hated how Jacques would enter her room, never knocking. Curling her tongue roughly against the roof of her mouth as she poured herself a drink.

"No, thank you, Wife. I'd prefer to wait until the afternoon."

Rolling her eyes as she shot her head back. Then waited.

His nails tapped against her bookshelf, "still buying new books."

"I like to read."

His lips quirked, "You also like talking about what you read at the most awkward times."

She wrinkled her nose at him, "It wasn't awkward, I was...comfortable. You used to be able to keep up."

Finger tracing down a spine of the book, "I guess I don't have the time anymore to dally around in theory."

Sighing, "You could have relied on me, Jacques. We went through the same Ph.D. program I have-"

He raised his hand, and her mouth fell shut. Pouring herself another drink to swallow the forming knot.

"I rely on you to raise our children. It would not be fair to expect more from you, my dear."

After draining her glass, "I assume you have concerns about one of our children."

"This Ramon, if you are no longer wishing to teach our daughter to fight, we could hire an instructor who comes recommended."

"It's not about wishing, I barely managed to become a registered huntress. Winter has so much more talent than I could hope to match. You should have seen Winter took to Ramon's instruction like a fish to water."

Jacque's eyebrow twitched, "Does she even need combat training."

She closed her eyes, "Don't you remember when I was kidnapped? If I was a better fighter, I could've protected my dignity."

She didn't expect to feel the warmth of her husband's hand against her cheek. "Willow, those brutes choices do not reflect on you." her cheek suddenly felt cold at his withdrawal as he cleared his throat, "I reached out to Pharos. The school tried to keep Mr. Wick longer than the year he taught. Seemed strange that the lady I reached out to only would communicate through email."

Willow nodded, "When I called, she wrote back that she lost her voice. I also spoke to the bounty board. Ramon has only picked up a few hunts which makes sense since he just moved here."

Jacque, "You or Klein will be with Winter the whole time?"

Waving her hand, "Of course, and one of us will escort him from the gate to the training hall and back."

"At no time will he be left to his own devices in our home."

She nodded in agreement, "He'll be here soon. Would you like to meet him?"

Glancing at his watch, "Unfortunately no, I have a conference call with Headmaster Ozpin."

Willow, "We are getting close to the Vital Festival again."

He nodded, "It's a good time for the SDC. Now I best be off."

Shortly after Jacque left her room, she met Ramon at the gate. Leading him to the training room where Winter was warming up. Then, her daughter went to pick her blunted sword.

"Not today." Ramon gestured to himself, "As you can see, I am unarmed, so you will be as well." Willow watched her daughter roll and redirect his strikes, sometimes adding to his momentum to throw him against the wall. Willow could feel herself puff up. She taught her daughter how to divert attacks.

"Now strike me, Miss Schnee."

Winter didn't hesitate. Her foot hooked his knee, pulling him off balance. Or tried. His elbow dug into her thigh, Winter yelped, flailing a fist against his throat, which he lazily knocked aside.

"Do you know how to raise your Aura?" Winter gave a curt nod, her face flush. Ramon struck again, and this time her bright blue Aura flashed. He frowned, "You always keep your Aura up Wi- Miss Schnee. From the moment you wake to the moment you fall asleep. You never know when you'll be attacked."

Willow pressed her hand to her chest. He wasn't wrong. Still, she hated that her baby always needed to be alert.

At the end of the session, Willow walked Ramon out. He smiled brightly at her in a way his green eyes twinkled. "Your daughter is quick to anger, but she is a determined girl."

Willow clasped her hand behind her back, "Same time next week?"

"She should have a bit more guidance than once a week." He flushed, "But of course, combat training is likely the least of her education."

She tilted her head, "Then how about twice a week. I'll see what Winter thinks as well."

He bowed his head before leaving the gate.

XXX

Roman barely restrained his frustration. He might have been a bit too rough with Winter. The girl took it well though, her Aura remained vigilant. He had to admit that she blossomed into a fine little brawler in two months. He pushed the exhausted girl to her limits today. "I believe that is it for today."

Winter collapsed onto the floor.

He looked up to Willow, who politely covered her smile with her hand. There was a tiny version of her in her lap.

He strolled over, and Willow handed him his new cane. Weiss looked at him expectantly. Then, holding his palm open to her. "I'm Ramon Wick. Who might this delightful little lady be?"

"I'm not little!" her cheeks puffed out adorably. Willow poked them so they deflated. Weiss pouted and dutifully placed her hands in his, "I'm Weiss!" another poke from her mother, "Weiss Schnee."

He lightly gripped her hand. He knew technically he was supposed to kiss her knuckle...but that seemed gross. "Wonderful to meet you Miss Schnee."

Her nose turned up, "the pleasure is yours, of course."

Releasing her hand, a gentle warm chuckle rolled through his chest. Willow gave him a look that he couldn't quite place, but it made him force away a blush. "I have yet to be given a tour of the manor."

Willow made anxious glances to the door. Roman figured she'd probably gone too long without a drink. Still, she was a lady and too polite to deny him a standard request. Maybe if they passed a minibar, he could convince her to try out a cocktail he'd been practicing. If he got her a little drunk, she could get chatty or not pay attention to him, and he could skulk around. His plotting was interrupted by a 10-year-old grabbing his hand.

"Mr. Wick! I can give you a tour."

Preventing his frown from forming, "Wonderful!"

Willow visibly relaxed, and the ever-present Klein came forward. Roman could not fault the prudence of the family. He was a strange man in their home. While he had yet to reveal his ill-intentioned hand, he also had yet to prove his loyalty. Weiss ran towards the door, waiting for him expectantly. Strolling after her and feeling Klein behind him. She first took him to the garden. He'd never seen so many varieties of hyacinths. He took in a gentle inhale.

"They were grandfather's favorite. There are a few pictures of Winter with them braided into her hair." Weiss self consciously tugged into her own braid. Roman looked to Klein, who merely gritted his teeth then cleared his throat.

Weiss, "Ooo sorry. Um Mr. Wick do you have a favorite flower?"

Roman shrugged, "I've always been partial to roses."

Weiss beam and ran to a different part of the garden, pointing at some bushes.

Roman, "They are still little rosebuds not in bloom yet."

Weiss threw up her hands excitedly, "But they will!"

Roman couldn't help but ruffle the little girl's hair. She then grabbed his sleeve to tug him back into the manor. He'd walked by the main stairway with curved balconies. She puffed up her chest, "The large suite of arms were designed by Nicholas Schnee, my grandfather." She maked an expansive gesture to the mosaic floor below, "You see the snowflake pattern is our emblem because Nicholas's mother my grandmother great-"

Klein, "Great Grandmother."

Weiss blushed, "My great mother proposed to her husband during a snowstorm. Nicolas was also born during a snowstorm. They agreed that snow was lucky for the family." Weiss bit her lip as she had probably forgotten something in the spiel.

Klein, "What about your birth Miss Schnee?"

"Oh! I was born in late spring, and it snowed three feet the day I was born."

"Two feet Miss Schnee."

"Three sounds more dramatic." She pouted.

Roman chuckled, and an odd painting caught the corner of his eye, behind the stairwell. It was a crookedly painted cat. Using his cane to point, "What is this? It's...adorable." Internally he grimaced. He shouldn't be calling a painting in the Schnee mansion adorable.

Weiss tilted her head, "Oh Whitley painted that. You'll find things we made over the years all over."

Roman blinked.

Klein, "Willow hangs them up. Weiss, why don't you show us the way to the library?" Then, she bolted off, Klein continued softly "Winter made little clay figure when she was 3. Frightfully ugly."

Roman, "Let me guess its been 10 years, and Jacques still hasn't noticed."

Klein's eyes shifted color as he laughed. Then, before gesturing, Roman to follow Weiss to the library. It was large, incredible, and Roman found himself holding in his breath he drank it in. "Brothers, what I wouldn't do to spend a few days here and just read."

Weiss, "You'd find it quite boring. It's mostly just old books about banks and financial laws."

Klein, "Mrs Schnee tends to retire her older Economics books here. So every few years we have to go through and clear them out."

Weiss placed her fists on her hips, "Which you got in trouble for that when Mother was looking for one."

Klein, "I get in trouble for that pretty regularly."

Roman remembers her education, "She stills keeps up with the economy?"

Weiss raises her nose high, "You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat their money." She bit her lip, "Um right?"

Klein, "That is what Mrs. Schnee says."

Roman leaned on his cane. Next, he had to determine if Willow knew more about the SDC than he initially assumed.

Weiss, "She's too ill most of the time to talk about it anymore." her fists balled around her thumbs, and tears threatened her eyes. Roman guessed the tours would come to a rapid end. He knelt in front of Weiss, his fingers gently lifted her chin.

"Punch me." he tapped his chest.

Without hesitation, she cocked her arm back, and before he could stop her to adjust her thumb. She hit him as hard as she could, and she gasped. Weiss Schnee broke her thumb. They stared at her hand that quickly swelled. "Mr Wick, what did I do wrong?"

Gently taking her other unbroken hand, "You can't grip your thumb. You'll break it on impact if you do."

Weiss nodded, tears now falling down her cheeks. "I...noticed. Klien lets end the tour and get my hand treated."

Roman nodded numbly, "I'm going, please get that looked to."

Weiss smiled brightly, "When I'm feeling better, you have to teach me."

A couple weeks later, Weiss showed up with a fully healed hand and an activated Aura. A five-year-old Whitley next to her with an adorable mean look on his face.

Roman gave a pathetic look to Willow, "Am I teaching the whole brood now?"

"If it's too much trouble of course not." Will tilted her head back, releasing a charming laugh. Roman couldn't remember a reason to refuse.