If Salem had to describe Patch in a word, it would be idyllic. Summer's home even more so. It was out of the way, quiet, and hidden by the forest but close to town. It reminded Salem of the house she inhabited before Ozma's return, albeit with a more charming and happy atmosphere.

Whatever happened to that place? Salem felt like she should have kept it up for something but never had the time. Something to look into while she was here. It shouldn't be too far, if she remembered right.

She and Summer walked up to the house, bags in hand. Summer's bag had the food and her gear. Salem's bag had a few new clothes (tailored from her old ones) and some old mementos she wanted to keep. Or rather, ones she couldn't leave behind for the Grimm to break.

"I'm home!" Summer called out as she opened the door.

A loud set of thumping sounds made their way down the stairs from the hallway as fast as they could, and then manifested as two girls appeared.

"Mom!" "Mama!"

Summer crouched down and spread her arms wide for the red and yellow blurs to crash into her loving embrace.

"Oh I missed you girls. Have you two gotten bigger since I left, or did Dad let you into the cookie jar?"

"We ate our greens!" the yellow one, Yang, said. The red one, Ruby, nodded with her.

"Is that so?" Summer said with playful disbelief. "And how many cookies did your dad promise to get you to do that?"

Ruby started to raise her hand, but Yang pushed it down. "Dad didn't give us cookies. We did it by ourselves!"

Summer put her arms on her hips. "So if I open that cookie jar, will it still be as full as I left it?"

Yang clammed up and started to sweat under Summer's gaze. Ruby, on the other hand, piped up, "Five cookies, mama!"

"Five!" Summer gasped a bit dramatically, causing the girl to giggle. "That's one more than you'll be soon! Well you're going to have to eat a lot of greens tonight to make up for that." That got a small wail of despair from the girls. "Ah ah ah, you two know the rules. Food first, then cookies."

"Okay," they chorused.

"Veggies help you grow bigger," Salem blurted out. The scene before her was hauntingly familiar from a time and family long gone, and so she slipped into her role without thinking. It was only after she did so that she noticed the sets of silver and lilac eyes trained upon her. An instinctual part of her quailed in fear and she shuffled behind Summer's cloak before she could stop herself. Curse her childish mind!

"Halloween is in October, you know," Yang said, eying Salem's outfit. Her body was a bit tense, as if she knew something was wrong. Good. Someone has to be afraid of her in this house. However, the sister was blissfully ignorant, by how she was hopping with glee.

"She's a witch!" Ruby said happily. "Do magic! Do magic!"

Salem did not pout at the dreadful reminder. "I can't do magic." Yet.

Ruby stopped hopping and stared at Salem with big, watery eyes that shone like the moon. Bright, innocent, and slowly fracturing from disappointment. The fragments of which were crushing Salem's soul and dignity a bit. Just a bit.

Salem looked away. "I can't do magic right now," she amended. "I'm tired from traveling." That mollified the girl for now. With luck, she'd forget to ask again later.

"Girls, this is Salem," Summer said. "I found her alone on my mission. She's going to be staying with us for a while."

"What?" Yang asked in shock, her eyes darting from Summer' face to Salem's and back. "Like, for the night?"

"No, a lot longer than that, Yang. I'll need to talk with Dad when he gets home, but for now, she'll be using the guest room. Why don't you go show her where it is?"

"Okay," Yang grumbled. She looked at Salem and jerked her head towards the stairs. "It's this way." She bounded ahead, keeping a healthy distance between them.

Salem followed her up the stairs, slowly plodding up the steps with heavy bags in hand. Once she was at the top, Salem saw Yang enter the door at the very end of the hall. Nudging the door open, Salem took a look around the room. It was rather basic and simply furnished, a chest of drawers and a large bed. It clearly hadn't been used in a while, from the motes of dust in the air and piles of boxes and laundry creeping out of the closet. Really it felt more like an extra room that just so happened to have a bed, than a place for even relatives to sleep. Perhaps the couch downstairs was comfier, judging by the usage it had seen.

Salem placed her bags by the bed, and then turned to Yang, who tensed up at the sudden attention. "Is there something you want? Speak up. You look like you've seen a Grimm."

And her followers thought she had no sense of humor.

"Aren't you one?" Yang blurted out. "I-I mean, you look like a Grimm. What are you, some kinda Grimm Faunus?"

Salem opened her mouth to explain herself, but then some newfound mischievous idea popped into her head. An idea that would have been torn to shreds before, but now survived and even thrived in her new, youthful headspace.

Besides, it wasn't the first time a young girl asked her that question.

Salem chuckled, setting Yang even further on edge. "Didn't your mother ever tell you 'you are what you eat'?"

Yang's eyes bugged out. "You eat Faunus?!"

It occured to Salem that she may have forgotten that children do not understand sarcasm. Much less when mixed with grim humor. "Wait, that's not…" she started but it was too late.

"Mom! Mom! Mom!" Yang ran out the door screaming.

Salem could hear the commotion downstairs, and then the sound of heavy steps coming back up. Salem sighed and mentally braced herself for the coming lecture as she methodically unpacked her bags. She didn't turn her head when Summer spoke up.

"Salem, why did you tell Yang that you're a Grimm cannibal?"

"I didn't," Salem said with a scoff. "She asked if I was a Grimm Faunus, and I merely tried to imply that I ate Grimm to achieve my appearance. It's not my fault she misunderstood."

"And why would you do that? We both know that's not true."

"Because…" the rest of the word came out in a grumble.

"Because why?"

Because it was petty. Because the girl was scared. Because it asserted her dominance.

All of them were her usual reasons for terrifying others into submission. Except that was when she was the Queen of the Grimm. As a child, the reasoning sounded rather childish, as ironic as that was. Salem didn't want to lose what little dignity she had rebuilt.

Summer sighed when Salem kept silent. "I hoped you wouldn't cause trouble so soon, but I suppose that was asking for a lot."

"What are you going to do? Send me to my room?"

"Nope. I'm taking away cookie privileges for tonight."

Salem turned to peer at the woman. Summer's arms were crossed and her manner was set in the "I'm the boss" method of discipline that Salem was familiar with. Her silver eyes were firm and unmoving.

"Cookies? Really? You think that'll teach me a lesson?" Salem asked, eyebrow raised

The corners of Summer's frown smirked upwards a bit. "You're already acting like a child so I need to punish you like a proper mother."

Salem flinched before she could stop herself. "That is not what I meant!"

"You'll also need to apologize to Yang."

"What for?"

Summer stared pointedly at her. "For lying and trying to scare her for no reason."

Salem threw her arms in the air. "How is that my fault? She started it!"

"Yang didn't know better and you do, so it's your responsibility to be the more mature one."

Summer was right, and Salem knew it, but damn if she didn't want to scream and shout and defy her orders. Her Grimm nature wanted to lay waste to Summer and the house for daring to command her around. Everything would burn-

No, no, Salem was in control here, not Grimm. Salem wanted to be here and that was final. If she had to apologize to a child, so be it. Looking back, perhaps Salem may have been a bit too petty and cruel. But it wasn't like she would be some goody-goody on day one. She had been a Queen of Darkness for centuries, and old habits were hard to break.

There was definitely going to be some growing pains going into this 'loving family' thing, but Salem had put up with worse.

Anything but the loneliness.

"Fine," Salem conceded, "I'll apologize if you convince her I'm not a cannibal first."

Summer gave a pleased smile. "Thank you."

A weird feeling bloomed in Salem's chest. "Don't mention it."

"Is there anything you need?" Summer asked as she moved to the door.

Salem could list off several things, like her magic, but suddenly didn't feel like being snarky. "Where's the shower? And do you have any books?"

Taiyang couldn't keep the smile off his face as he approached the house. Summer had texted him that she was back from her mission and had a surprise for him. The clock could not move fast enough to let him out of Signal, and when the bell rang, he was out the door before his students were.

All the way home, he speculated at what the surprise might be. Was it a special dinner? Did she get a dog like Yang wanted? Maybe tickets to that concert he wanted to see? Or was it a special nighttime surprise?

Unfortunately, it was not the last one as he could see Yang and Ruby through the window, and he tried not to be too disappointed by that.

Maybe he could get Qrow to watch the kids next weekend? The man did owe him several favors.

Tai pushed those thoughts aside as he opened the door. "I'm home!"

"Dad!" "Daddy!"

Ah, those sounds will never get old. "How are my big girls doing?" Tai asked as he scooped them up in his arms. "I heard that Mom came home with a surprise this time. Do you two know what it is?"

The reactions he got were not what he expected. Ruby's eyes glimmered with saccharine-joy, bouncing as she nodded like a bobble-head toy. Yang, on the other hand, was unusually muted, disturbed even. Her eyes shifted to the stairs and back to him in that unsubtle way kids do, like a little monster was hiding around the corner.

He trusted Summer, but this was concerning. Did she bring home a cursed doll or something? Yang had a harder time dealing with scary things than Ruby did. "I don't suppose you can tell me about it, huh?" he half-whispered.

Yang hesitated, and Ruby spoke up first. "Mama said she'd give us an extra cookie to keep it secret!"

"Really?" Taiyang asked in mock surprise. "What if I gave you my cookie to tell me?"

"Hey, now, no counter-bribing with my cookie money!" Summer called out from the kitchen. She stepped out a moment later with a smile on her face and a towel in hand.

Taiyang smirked. "If you want me to stop asking questions, you need to give me some sugar too."

Summer laughed. "Oh no, what a terrible cost to pay for silence." But she approached and brought him in for a kiss.

"Mom! Dad! Gross!" Yang gagged out, struggling to get away from her 'gross parents'.

"Yeah, eww!" Ruby mimicked, but her giggles said she enjoyed Yang's reaction more.

Summer pulled away. "Yang, Ruby, help set the table. Tai, can you help with the food?"

Tai set the kids down and they continued putting out plates. Five? Was Qrow going to join them? No, he should still be away in Mistral for now. Tai followed Summer into the kitchen, and as soon as the door closed behind him, he asked, "Summer, what's the surprise?"

Summer let out a nervous laugh. "Promise you won't get mad?"

"The fact that you have to say that tells me I will." Taiyang took a deep breath. "What happened? Did Yang break something?"

"Nooooo… Um… I kinda did." Summer held up her hands, as if Tai would explode in rage, which he wasn't going to. "But I'm fixing it! I'm going to fix everything by adopting her!"

It took Taiyang a few tries to fully process her words, and so he came to one confusing conclusion. "Did you orphan a kid?" he hissed out, not wanting to let Yang or Ruby hear. Summer was the kindest person he knew. The thought of her doing such a thing was as compatible as oil and water.

"No!" Summer said, eyes wide. "You know I wouldn't do that, and that's not what I meant."

"Summer, you're not making any sense." Nothing about this was adding up. He wished she would just tear off the band-aid already.

"I was trying to save the world, and then my plan didn't work out, and then I ended up bringing her home to stay with us…" Summer rattled off.

Tai tilted his head. "Bring who home?" Was that what made Yang scared?

Summer winced. "Well…"

At that moment, someone walked in, and an unfamiliar voice spoke up. "Ruby told me dinner was ready. What is that smell?"

Taiyang turned around, and then looked down. Everything made sense now, and it also didn't.

"Is there something on my face?" the Grimm child asked him.

Taiyang turned back to Summer with a gobsmacked look, pointing at the girl. "Is that…"

Summer only replied with a shaky smile and a shrug. "Surprise? We're adopting Salem? Please don't tell anyone yet?"

"And don't bother trying to attack me," Salem added grumpily. "It won't work." She pointed at the pot. "Is that ready? I shall take it to the table." With her bare hands, Salem lifted the hot pot off the stove and carried it out through the door.

Taiyang could only watch in silent disbelief, and when Salem left, he looked to Summer and let out a quiet, "What?"

Summer clapped her hands together. "I'll explain when the kids are asleep, so please keep quiet for now?"

Dinner was a pleasant affair, Summer thought.

Tai ate and responded robotically, only really giving a response when Salem spoke up or did anything. He was probably still processing all this, and Summer couldn't blame him.

Yang was more animated, talking about the things Summer missed while she was gone, with Ruby's occasional help at filling in the details. She still gave wary looks towards Salem from time to time, or at least when Salem ate her meat. She really got heated when it came to the vegetables.

"Yang, you need to eat your greens," Summer chided.

"But they look weird!" Yang complained. "And green stuff is usually toxic in games and movies!"

"Then you don't get any cookies. Besides, you don't see Salem having any issue." Summer pointed a fork at the mentioned girl.

Yang looked over to see Salem take a bite out of a big piece of broccoli and chew for a moment before swallowing it all with a cheeky smirk.

"You think if I ask nicely, I can have your cookies?" Salem asked before taking another bite, all without breaking eye contact.

"What? She can't do that!" Yang's head snapped towards Summer.

Summer wasn't going to go back on not giving Salem cookies, but that didn't stop the look of contemplation on her face. "I don't know, Yang. You should probably eat your greens before I start to consider it."

Yang was shocked, but it did the trick. She slowly gulped down the food while making faces, washing it all down with water to remove the taste. "Ha! There! I did it."

Salem, who had already finished her plate, went back for seconds on the greens. "Well aren't you a big girl?" she mocked.

Summer mentally sighed. "Salem, it's not nice to tease."

Salem rolled her eyes when she thought Summer wasn't looking. Or it was intentional, it was difficult to tell.

When dinner was over, Summer sent Ruby and Yang up to take baths and get ready for bed.

Salem, however, claimed she could stay up as late as she wanted to and tried to watch TV. She was asleep on the couch less than twenty minutes later from a stuffed belly.

With everyone else occupied, Summer brought Tai down to the basement for privacy. There she explained it all. Her original mission, the results, the truth of Salem, and her decision. When she was done, Tai had an ever-shifting expression of pain, anger, and betrayal. She tried to move in to hug him, but he held up a hand to stop her.

"Summer, when we got married, you said you'd never leave me behind like Raven did." Tai glared at her. "Was that a lie?"

Summer couldn't stop the flinch. "Tai, I wanted to save the world. I wanted to stop Salem so that Ruby and Yang would grow up safe. I thought that with her gone, there'd be less missions to run and Grimm to fight."

"You could have died!" Taiyang nearly yelled, but in the basement it sounded like a roar. "It's not just Ruby and Yang who need you, Summer. If you died, I… I don't…" He choked up with tears and buried his head in his hands.

To say that Summer felt like an ass in that moment would be quite the understatement. She really should have thought about his feelings, of course, but that was before she found out about the immortality fact. Neutralizing Salem was a miracle in of itself, but he was right in how close to death she was. If she had left him alone in the world, then there was not a small chance that their children would lose both their parents in quick succession.

Summer slowly came up and embraced him. "I'm sorry, Tai. I should have at least told you or Qrow what I was doing, but I thought you would stop me from even trying and I didn't want to hear that. I won't be mad if you don't forgive me for this, but please know that I only did it with the best intentions for us."

They stayed like that for some time, not letting go until all the crying stopped. When the tears ran dry, Tai pulled away and took a shuddering breath to steady himself.

"So, Salem's really immortal? Not even the Silver Eyes worked?"

Summer nodded. "Yep, yep."

"Did Ozpin know about this?"

"Supposedly. I want to ask him about it later, but I can understand why Raven was frustrated with him now." Summer grimaced

"Yeah, how do we beat something we can't kill?" Tai sighed. "I know you've had a lot of crazy ideas in the past, Summer, but this one definitely takes the cake."

"Will you help me?" Summer gave him a hopeful look. "I'd do it alone if I had to, but I'd rather you be on board with this."

Tai raised an eyebrow. "You don't find raising a millenia-old woman as a daughter strange at all?"

Summer put up a finger and thumb an inch apart. "A little, but I can see that at the center of it all, she is a lonely girl, and this may be good for her. And if you saw what I did, you know I wouldn't have been able to leave her behind like that."

"Raven always said your kindness would get you killed," Tai said with a shake of his head.

Summer crossed her arms with a huff. "Well Raven's not here, so she can suck it!"

Tai chuckled, and then sighed. "We need to figure out how to explain this to Qrow. And to the neighbors. And how to raise her inconspicuously. What a mess."

"No one ever said parenting was easy," Summer joked. "Besides, look at the bright side. You won't need to give her The Talk when she gets older."

"Would I even need to scare off any boys that are interested in her later on?" Tai joked back.

Summer smacked his shoulder. "Don't be mean. Come on, it's late and we need to tuck in our little Grimm Princess."

A/N: Hey guys, sorry it took so long to get this out. Work's been a pain as of late which leaves me little time to sit down and focus on stories. Hopefully things will let up soon enough but I won't hold my breath.

I've started the next chapter, but it may take a bit to flesh out and straighten up. As I've said, Slice of Life is not my forte.

I do have my own ideas for future events, but I'm open to hearing some ideas from you guys.

Thanks for being patient and I'll try to have the next chapter out soon as I can.