Bright rays of sunlight shone through the windows of the kitchen as Jaune flipped his pancakes with a smile. He shuffled his frying pan a bit before setting it back down on the burner, turning to his assistant chef for the morning.
He watched as she stretched to push the syrup closer to the middle of their table before stepping back and admiring her work, three plates set out with knives and forks. Jaune grinned at her confident little nod of approval to herself. "Looks like you've got everything handled, huh? Maybe I should have stayed in bed." He quipped.
His daughter turned, purple eyes wide as she made a sound of protest, "But then who'd make me pancakes?" she asked him innocently, caught between pouting and smiling at him.
"Oh, that mean you didn't pay any attention before? We even mixed the batter together, Lia, I'm disappointed!" his tone was light, and he grinned down at her to make sure she knew he was only teasing.
Not to be outdone, however, Liana's face took on an accusing frown reminiscent of her mothers and she stomped over to him, crossing her arms as she craned her neck to make eye contact with him, "Because you're my daddy and that means it's your job to make me pancakes." she told him matter of factly.
Jaune just chuckled, reaching down and lifting her up to rest at his waist with one arm. "Right," he agreed easily, "I must have missed that part of my parenting classes."
Liana laughed, "You had to take classes to be a daddy? That's silly."
He used his free hand to poke her cheek, making her laugh again, "Know what else is silly? Trying to eat pancake batter, but you gave that your best shot, now didn't you?" the five year old giggled, saying nothing in reply.
He shuffled the frying pan idly, watching as Liana stared at the pancakes for a long moment before turning back to face him.
"Why doesn't mama help with the pancakes?" Jaune grinned at the question, unable to resist throwing a jab.
"Well," he began with a sage tone, leaning down to whisper conspiratorially to his daughter, "If we let mama try to cook, she'll probably just burn the house down by accident." He winked at her, and it all brought about another fit of giggles.
Playing up the teasing, Jaune began to hum lightly, before opening his mouth to sing in a high voice, "Daddy's cookin' pancakes in the mornin', while mama's in the bedroom snorin'" Liana's giggling increased, the young girl practically shaking with mirth as he set her back down on her feet.
There was a cleared throat from behind him, "Mama can hear your singin' over her snoring, who'd have thought?" Yang raised an accusing eyebrow at him, hands on her hips. Her attempt at intimidation was ruined by the fact she was still holding on to the blanket from their bed, keeping it wrapped around her shoulders.
That, and the moment she revealed herself, Liana broke into a sprint towards her, leaping up into her mother's arms with a gleeful laugh.
"Oof!" Yang blew out, wrapping her arms around Liana as she caught her, bringing the blanket around the two of them with it.
Liana beamed up at her, "Morning mama!" she chirped.
"Hello little Lia," Yang greeted with a smile, "you haven't been listening to all these terrible things your papa has been saying about me, have you?" Liana looked up at her for a moment, then to Jaune, before turning back to her and shaking her head vigorously, "No mama, papa is just being silly!"
Yang grinned at that, carding her fingers through her daughter's hair as she carried her further back into the kitchen. She breathed out a soft laugh at the quiet "Betrayal!" Jaune uttered, miming being stabbed in the back to her as she approached.
She stepped up beside him at the stove, patting him on the cheek before planting a soft kiss there, "Now don't be a baby, dear, all's fair in love and war." Yang winked at him cheekily as she said it. Jaune rolled his eyes, pouting.
Liana turned back to her father, noticing his frown before she unknowingly emulated her mother, reaching out to pat him on the cheek, "It's okay papa, I still love you, even if you are really silly sometimes." She said, "Being silly is fun!"
This brought a smile back to Jaune's face, "Well, as long as you love me, I guess I'll be alright." He said, leaning down to kiss Liana's forehead, before he tickled her sides, making her squirm in Yang's arms and giggle, "Just don't forget how much fun being silly is, we wouldn't want you to be a stick in the mud!" he teased, grinning at her breathless laughter even as Yang pulled her out of his reach.
"That wasn't very nice," Yang mock reprimanded, setting Lia down to her feet once the girl had caught her breath, "Lia is plenty of fun even without being silly, just like me" she said, proudly bringing a thumb up to point at herself.
"Yea!" Liana piped up, cutely imitating Yang's action, trying to strike a proud and confident pose, but coming out with an adorable one instead. "I'm fun like mama! I'm gonna be just like her when I grow up!"
Jaune laughed, ruffling Liana's hair, ruining her pose and making her huff as she pulled away to try and fix the damage he had done, much like her mother would. "Let's not be hasty, last thing we need is two Yangs running around" he joked.
Biting her lip for a moment before settling into a small smile, Yang tilted her head, "Well, if two of us doesn't work for you, how about three?"
Jaune's eyebrowed raised, "I hope you're not expecting me to grow my hair long an-" his joke trailed off as he saw Yang slowly bring a hand up to brush her fingers against her stomach. He looked back up to the soft smile on her face, realization sinking in. He stepped over to her quietly, one hand coming up to brush her stomach himself, looking her in the eyes.
"Really?" he whispered, getting a huff, nod, and a wider smile from Yang in response.
The next thing her got from her was a yelp as he let out a loud whoop and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her off her feet in a hug, spinning around and laughing. Yang joined in on his laughter after her moment's surprise, patting his shoulders a few times to get him to put her back down.
Once she was back down to her feet, she didn't even have time to make a quip before Jaune had kissed her, both hands cupping her face, thumbs caressing her cheeks. He released her after a few moments, a wide smile on his face. "This is amazing!" he exclaimed.
"What's amazing?" Liana asked from beside them, looking half amused and half confused by her parent's antics.
Yang laughed at her daughter's expression before kneeling to look her eye to eye. "You know how some kids, like your friend An, have siblings? Brothers and sisters? Like all your aunties are to me and Jaune?" Liana nodded her understanding, still unsure of where the conversation was going.
"Well," Yang continued, with a glance back at Jaune, "In a little while, eight or nine months from now, you're going to have a little sibling of your own, Lia." Liana's eyes went wide, flickering between her parents. "Really? I'm gonna be a big sister?" Yang nodded, smiling widely.
Liana jumped into her mother's arms, wrapping both of her own around Yang's middle. "I'm gonna be the best sister in the whole world!" she exclaimed. Yang laughed, wrapping her arms around Liana, and picking her up off the ground as Jaune's arms encircled the both of them. He planted a kiss on the top of her head.
"Think she'll still be this excited when she realizes she'll have to share us with the baby?" he whispered, amused. Yang giggled.
"I managed to survive Ruby, and you survived seven sisters. I think she'll manage." She replied, before adding, "Eventually."
A/N: Welp!