"Open up!" Ruby yelled as she knocked on the door to the log house once again, this time pounding even harder and faster, making Weiss question if the girl wasn't going to just crash through the door if no one came to let her in. "Come on, I'm excited to see my new niece!"
"Calm down you dolt!" Weiss demanded. "I'm sure they're busy finishing preparations, you know how Yang and Blake always wait until the last minute to get things set up with these sort of things." Weiss rolled her eyes and tapped her foot as she checked her watch, being careful not to spill the tray of horderves that Klein had prepared. "Honestly, how long have we been out here?"
"Only three minutes," Ruby beamed at her, sticking her tongue out. "And you told me that I need to calm down."
"They could have left the door unlocked at the very least," Weiss noted. "Don't you still have a key to get in?"
"Not on me…" Ruby replied sheepishly.
"You have one, but you didn't think to bring it with?!" Weiss scolded her.
"I didn't think that I'd need it!" Ruby shouted back at her.
"But you knew we were coming!" Weiss yelled.
"I knew we were coming, but in what scenario did I see us needing it?" Ruby questioned.
"This one?!" Weiss growled. She took a deep breath and composed herself, calming down. "I'm sorry. It's not a big deal. They'll come to the door eventually and we'll get in." Ruby smiled and nodded, closing the gap to her wife and kissing her on the lips while trying to sneak one of the items off of the platter. "Ruby…"
"Sorry," Ruby replied as the door swung open and revealed Blake, Yang, and a giggling Neela.
"You two are funny," Neela laughed as she stood at the edge of the doorway and stared up at them with beaming eyes.
"These are your aunts, Aunt Ruby has red hair, and Aunt Ice Queen has the white," Yang explained.
"Hey!" Weiss yelled in protest. She cleared her throat and looked down at Neela. "You may call me Aunt Weiss." Ruby knelt down with a large smile on her face, letting Blake see Crescent Rose on her back folded up.
"Are you having a good day today?" Ruby asked her.
"Yes… Aunt Ruby," Neela said, liking the sound of it as Ruby picked the girl up.
"Has a nice ring to it," Ruby laughed. She looked at Blake who was giving her a suspicious look. "What's up?"
"You brought Crescent Rose?" Blake interrogated Ruby under her breath. Ruby chuckled nervously.
"I thought that maybe Neela and I, could do some target practice in the backyard together?" Ruby inquired. Neela's head jerked violently towards Blake and she was surprised that the young girl hadn't given herself whiplash from it.
"That would be awesome!" Neela screamed. "Can we…" Neela paused for a moment. "Mom?" Blake's heart melted again and she nodded, biting her bottom lip as Neela leapt from Ruby's arms and tugged on her cape. "Let's go! My bow is in my room, I can show you!" Ruby laughed and knelt to the girl's height.
"I'll race you there," Ruby told her. Neela nodded, taking off running as Ruby waited for a long moment before bursting into rose petals and flying past Neela, nearly sweeping her off of her feet. Neela laughed and glanced around, Ruby reappearing in front of her door as Neela spotted her.
"Awesome!" Neela exclaimed as she jumped up and down. "How did you do that?!"
"It's part of her semblance," Yang explained as she rounded the corner.
"We're happy for the two of you," Weiss told them as Blake and her joined Yang.
"Thanks, we've never made a better decision," Yang explained. "Neela… is our everything." Yang looked past Ruby at the little girl who was staring up at them with a smile, waiting for them to finish so she could steal Ruby away again.
"Aunt Ruby…" Neela whined. "Come on!" Ruby and Yang both laughed and Ruby followed Neela into her room.
"Alright, show me," Ruby insisted as the girl dragged her away.
"Glad you two could make it," Blake said as she hugged Weiss and she handed the tray of food to Yang.
"We wouldn't have missed this," Weiss assured her. "We know what this means to you. I had to reschedule several meetings, I'll have you know." Yang laughed.
"We're grateful," Yang assured her.
"Mom! Aunt Ruby and me are going to go shoot stuff!" Neela shouted before they raced down the hall.
"It's 'I'!" Weiss called back. Blake gave her a look and sighed.
"Just be careful," Blake told them.
"Knock knock," Tai called as he opened the door and stepped in, Qrow and Winter close behind. "Look who I found!" Yang glanced around in confusion.
"You didn't find us," Qrow grumbled. "You saw us coming up the path and sprinted out to greet us."
"He's just saying that," Tai chuckled. "And he brought Harbinger for some reason." Qrow shrugged.
"I thought Neela might want to do some target practice with Uncle Qrow," Qrow said with a wink.
"I was wondering where you went, dad, and Ruby beat you to it," Yang said laughing. 'Qrow nodded and kissed Winter on the cheek before moving to the side of the house.
"I'll be in the back if you need me," he informed them.
"He's helpless," Winter sighed.
"They both are," Weiss added. Another round of hugs and everyone was greeted, Blake leading Weiss and Winter to the dining room as Tai and Yang stayed back at the door.
"How is everything going?" Tai asked his daughter.
"Great!" She told him with a smile. "She's adjusting well."
"I mean, she has been living with you guys for quite some time now," Tai badgered her.
"So?" Yang asked as Tai messed up her hair. She swung at him and he caught her fist.
"You three are meant for each other," Tai laughed.
"From the moment we rescued her I just wanted to be by her side and to let her know she was safe," Yang explained. Tai smiled at her.
"Yeah, I know that feeling," Tai noted. "Hey, have you guys seen any of the raccoons out here recently?"
"Raccoons?" Yang questioned. Tai looked at her shocked.
"You guys don't remember the raccoons? There was tons of them!" Tai reminded her.
"Nope," Yang replied. Tai sighed and moved towards the dining room.
"Quit making me feel old," he groaned. Another knock on the door and Yang paused, moving to answer it.
"Just not going to have any down time today, am I?" Yang muttered. "I got it!" She opened the door to meet Kali with Ghira looming over her, arms folded as he peered into the cabin. Kali hugged Yang.
"It's so good to see you!" Kali exclaimed turning back towards Ghira.
"So… where's Neela?" Ghira asked.
"Nice to see you too," Yang laughed. Ghira chuckled and lifted her in a hug, taking the air out of her lungs.
"Is that better?" He asked. She nodded before he put her down and she gasped for air.
"I'll go get her," Yang told them. She walked through the dining room and tapped Blake on the shoulder, informing her that her parents had arrived.
"Do it again!" Neela exclaimed as Yang opened the door.
"One more time," Ruby said with a wink and burst into rose petals, whisking across the yard. "So cool!"
"Is any actual practice getting done?" Yang asked. Ruby reappeared next to her sister and took a bow.
"Neela took a few shots, but then wanted to see my semblance again," Ruby laughed.
"Again!" Neela demanded.
"Not yet," Yang said. "Your Grandpa Ghira is here to see you."
"Okay!" Neela agreed as she set her bow down and sprinted past Yang into the house.
"No running in the house!" Blake yelled as she approached them.
"You must be Neela," Kali announced excitedly as she knelt. "I'm Grandma Kali! We've been excited all day about meeting you! You have beautiful eyes!" She stretched out her arms for a hug and Neela appreciated the compliment, but she hugged Kali cautiously, staring up at Ghira the entire time. "He's harmless."
"Hello, Neela," Ghira said. He smiled at her as she stared up at him for a long moment. "I like your braids."
"Really?!" Neela exclaimed. He bent down and picked her up, placing her on his shoulders.
"It suits you," Ghira informed her.
"Mom! Grandpa is really tall!" Neela called out.
"I know," Blake laughed. "Careful not to hit her head on the way in."
"I'll be careful," Ghira assured her, smiling as Neela ran her hands through his hair. Yang watched them come in and got Neela's attention as everyone greeted Kali and Ghira.
"How you doing, Little Bird?" Yang asked her. Neela smiled at her, her eyes shining brightly as she laughed.
"Good!" Neela exclaimed. Yang grinned back at her.
"Good," she replied. They all stood around talking to each other, Neela taking in her new family. Weiss stood in the back watching them as Ruby came up behind her.
"She doesn't bite you know," Ruby told her.
"I know!" Weiss barked. "I'm just trying to figure out what to say to her." Ruby sighed and shook her head.
"Hey Neela!" Ruby shouted. "Want to see Aunt Weiss' semblance?!" Neela threw her hands up.
"Yes!" She declared.
"See, easy," Ruby replied sticking her tongue out.
"Neela, come in for a moment, there's someone on my scroll for you!" Blake called for her.
"Just a second!" Neela yelled as she turned back to Weiss who had summoned a Beowulf that Neela had been playing with. "Don't go anywhere, I want to see that Giant Knight again! So awesome!" she raced inside and nearly into Blake who was just inside the doorway. "Who is it?!"
"Calm down. It's one of your godmothers. Velvet wanted to talk to you," Blake explained. Neela took the scroll from Blake and looked at the phone, Velvet's face on the screen as she waved to Neela who waved back.
"Hey, hope you're having a good day, Neela," Velvet told her. "Coco and I really wanted to be there to celebrate today, but we just couldn't swing it with this mission they've got us on in Atlas. We'll see you soon, okay?"
"Hun, who are you talking to?" Coco asked as she entered the room behind Velvet and spotted Neela on the screen. "Neela!" Coco scrambled and fit herself into the frame with Velvet, nearly knocking over the scroll. "Listen, honey, we are so, so, so sorry that we weren't able to show up today for your adoption party, but Velv and I are going to be there this weekend to make it up to you. You make sure that you save some cake for us and tell Mommy Yang and Mommy Blake that we'll be there first thing Saturday morning, okay?"
"I will Miss Coco," Neela responded.
"Good. Later sweetie," Coco said.
"Bye Neela!" Velvet declared before the call ended.
"It's time for dinner," Yang announced with Tai right behind her.
"Grab a seat before they're all taken!" Tai followed up.
"There are plenty of seats," Blake noted.
"Great. Now they're going to take their sweet time getting in here," Tai groaned shaking his head. Yang pat him on the shoulder.
"She'll learn eventually," Yang assured him.
"Excuse me, but Neela was returning to me in the backyard so I could show her more of my semblance," Weiss argued as the Beowulf dissipated behind her.
"It can wait until after dinner," Blake replied. Weiss folded her arms.
"Hmph," she griped as she entered the house and began fixing her plate. The table was rather make shift, a few fold out tables as well as the dining room table were placed together so that everyone could be seated in the dining room. Yang and Blake each sat on the opposite side of Neela who was on one of the ends, watching as her new family filled the room and shared conversation.
"You can't fool me, Tai, I know that this is Summer's recipe," Qrow said as he took another bite of his food and set his flask on the table.
"Are you saying I can't cook?" Tai asked, feigning shame.
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying, you damn near burned down the kitchen at Beacon in home ec class," Qrow pointed out.
"Language," Ghira growled glancing down at Neela.
"Right… sorry," Qrow said as he reached for his flask. Winter snatched it away.
"Not tonight," she told him. Qrow groaned.
"That's just not fair, am I not allowed to enjoy myself?" Qrow asked.
"Not in front of the impressionable child," Ruby remarked.
"Why not?" Qrow noted. "You turned out alright."
"That fire was an accident," Tai brought the conversation back around. "Faulty equipment."
"That's alright, I had to teach Ghira a thing or two about cooking when we started dating," Kali laughed. Ghira chuckled.
"I was pretty useless in the kitchen," he agreed.
"But it was the equipment!" Tai defended.
"Mom," Neela whispered loudly. Both Yang and Blake looked at her, noting each other and laughing.
"What is it, honey?" Blake asked.
"I wanna say something to everyone," Neela told them. "But everybody is talking…" Yang smiled at her.
"I'll take care of it," Yang assured her. Blake gave Yang a look and Yang winked at her, stretching her back before throwing her head back. "Yo everybody listen up, Neela has something to say!" They all stopped, turning to Neela who smiled nervously. Blake shook her head.
"It's alright, you can say what you want to now," Blake told her. Neela nodded and swallowed hard.
"Thanks for coming everybody," Neela stuttered put. "I wanted to say that you're all so cool…" Neela paused and thought over her words. "I…" She stopped all together and Yang looked at her, noticing a tear in her eye. She got up and moved to her daughter.
"Is everything okay?" Yang asked her quietly. Neela nodded wiping her eyes.
"I'm really happy that you're my family!" Neela shouted before she started crying. Yang and Blake wrapped their arms around her. "I'm really lucky!"
"And we're happy to have you, Neela," Weiss spoke up, drawing everyone's attention.
"You're amazing, Neela!" Ruby added.
"And we love you!" Kali chimed in.
"You're a Belladonna for sure," Ghira nodded.
"Technically a Xiao Long," Qrow chuckled. "Guess you're stuck with us."
"You're the best granddaughter I could have asked for," Tai notes joining in on the hug.
"We wouldn't have it any other way," Winter finished. The words comforted Neela, but she cried harder. What had she done to deserve this family? She was so happy and couldn't contain herself. This was her new family, and it was the best family ever.
"Thank you, Mommy Blake. Mommy Yang," Neela gasped.
"Thank you, Neela," Blake exclaimed, holding back her own tears.
"Thanks, Little Bird," Yang said holding her tighter. "We love you." The family all moved as one, taking turns giving hugs to the girl to make sure she felt their warmth and love. Neela wiped her tears away one last time as they all made conversation once more, laughing and eating as Neela sat back down.
"Can we take a picture after dinner?" Neela asked.
"Of course!" Blake stated with a smile.
"Bye!" Neela shouted, waving wildly as Qrow and Winter left. "I'll see you soon, Uncle Qrow!"
"You bet your ass!" Qrow called back, Winter grabbing his ear and pulling on it. "Butt! Butt! Ouch! Stop!" He turned into a bird and flew ahead of his wife. Neela laughed as she closed the door and looked up at Blake and Yang.
"They're funny," she told her mothers.
"He can be," Yang chuckled.
"What, Winter can't be funny?" Weiss huffed.
"Not usually," Yang muttered.
"Aunt Ruby, you forgot Cres… Crest… you forgot your weapon!" Neela exclaimed as she entered the room and headed for Neela.
"I'm not forgetting Crescent Rose if I'm not leaving, now am I?" Ruby asked her with a wink. Neela's eyes grew with excitement and she leapt up and down and looked at Yang.
"You're staying the night?!" Neela exclaimed excitedly as Ruby picked her up.
"Can't be helped. I've wanted a niece for so long to tell all of my adventures to and play with. Now that I've got one, I'm gonna spend all of the time that I can with her." Neela giggled, but noted Weiss was fully packed and standing closer to the door than Ruby.
"Are you leaving, Aunt Weiss?" Neela asked.
"Weiss has some really important business stuff that she has to go home for. I can blow off the council for a few days but Aunt Weiss…" Ruby began.
"It can wait," Weiss stayed confidently. Ruby looked at Weiss stunned as Neela nearly leapt out of her arms.
"Really?!" Neela asked. Weiss nodded.
"All they do at those meetings is blow hot air," Weiss explained. "They can do that without me for an extra day or two." Blake and Yang looked at each other before smirking at Weiss who took Neela from Ruby.
"Awesome!" Neela shouted, kissing Weiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Aunt Weiss!" Weiss blushed and cleared her throat.
"It's nothing," Weiss boasted. "I am the best Aunt you have, after all." Yang, Blake, and Ruby laughed. "What?!"
"Sure…" Ruby laughed.
"I am!" Weiss insisted, stamping her foot.
"So there we were, fighting against Roman Torchwick, who was in a giant mech!" Ruby thundered, marching across Neela's room with her arms held high. "'You're no match for me, little red!', he said, but he was no match for us! Weiss created an ice glyph and Yang slammed her fist against it, creating a smoke screen of sorts with the steam. Blake and I rushed in and attacked, doing some damage, but it wasn't enough! Was he going to beat us?!" Ruby acted out the moves, dancing methodically across Neela's room as Blake and Yang stood in the door and Neela sat on Weiss's lap, watching in wonder.
"What next?!" Neela pled.
"Blake and Yang did their centrifuge… uh… this attack where Blake spins around and pulls Yang on her ribbon. But that wasn't enough, and Mommy Yang took a bad hit from Roman. She was thrown away, but Roman didn't know that Yang's semblance lets her dish back damage at two times the strength. She rushed in a shattered the mech!" Ruby announced. She motioned with her hands, throwing them around and making crashing and explosion noises. "Before we could catch him, Neo showed up and flew away with him."
"That's not exactly the order it happened in," Weiss reminded her.
"Another!" Neela cheered before yawning. "Another."
"I think it's past your bedtime," Blake noted.
"It's alright, Neela. I can tell you more stories in the morning," Ruby assured her, leaning forward. "Like the time we took down a Nevermore in Forever Fall."
"I'm not…" Neela protested yawning again. "Even tired."
"I think otherwise," Yang said entering the room. Weiss let Neela climb off of her and into bed.
"Don't worry, we'll still be here in the morning," Weiss reminded her. Neela nodded and climbed under the covers, sighing happily as Blake joined Yang to tuck her in.
"Did you have a good day today?" Blake asked.
"The best day," Neela replied. Blake and Yang kissed her forehead and she giggled.
"I told you everyone would love you," Blake whispered.
"Night, Neela," Yang said.
"Night mommies," Neela answered starting to pass out. "I love you both."
"We love you too," Blake laughed silently. Weiss and Ruby snuck in past Bumbleby, kissing Neela's forehead and telling her they loved her and it was nice to meet her. She reciprocated their sentiments before rolling over and falling asleep. Team RWBY headed to the living room.
"What a day," Weiss said.
"She's perfect," Ruby noted. "Really, she is. You guys are so lucky!"
"Thanks, sis," Yang responded hugging her before letting Blake in for an embrace.
"It's easy to see you all belong together," Weiss added.
"It feels good," Blake said. "Really good." Yang yawned and laughed as she raised her hand and rubbed the back of her head.
"I think it's my bedtime too," Yang joked.
"So soon?" Ruby questioned. "The Yang I know would stay up all night."
"The Yang you know doesn't have a daughter that's up at the crack of dawn to spend time with her family," Blake pointed out. They laughed in unison, Yang and Blake saying their good nights before telling Ruby which room they'd be staying in. Ruby and Weiss headed to bed, Ruby falling asleep almost immediately as Weiss lay awake for a while, her head full of thoughts.
"Ruby," Weiss spoke softly. "Ruby, are you awake?" After no response Weiss crept closer, leaning over her wife. "Ruby?"
"Five more minutes," Ruby groaned.
"It's still the middle of the night, you dolt," Weiss groaned.
"Then good night," Ruby yawned.
"I can't sleep," Weiss explained.
"I'm sorry," Ruby breathed softly.
"I just…" Weiss thought out loud. "I want one."
"One what?" Ruby pried. It was met with silence. "You already have three summer homes in Atlas, do we really need a log cabin?"
"Not that," Weiss whimpered. Ruby woke up slowly, it wasn't like Weiss to act like this.
"What then?" Ruby questioned again.
"You know…" Weiss responded coyly. She held her breath and exhaled hard. "What has this whole day been about!?"
"Neela," Ruby replied. After a long moment she sat up suddenly. "What!?"
"Quiet, you imbecile!" Weiss demanded blushing.
"I never imagined that you'd want to adopt!?" Ruby reiterated. She ran a hand through her hair. "Wow. Okay. Uh… no… me too! We'll go to an orphanage when we get back to Atlas on Monday."
"What if we could have our own?" Weiss asked. Ruby stared through her.
"Now… now I'm not following…" Ruby stammered. "Who would be the surrogate father? Jaune? No… ew, no. Ren? Would Nora go for that? I mean, we would do it in vitro, obviously, I just…"
"A child that was solely ours," Weiss interrupted.
"How?" Ruby wondered.
"Aura is an extension of the soul, right? What if there was a way to use it to fertilize an egg?" Weiss noted. Ruby blinked hard.
"Weiss, I love you, but…" Ruby began.
"We met a Wizard and his lover that had magical powers and lived for centuries without being able to die, and you're about to tell me that this is impossible?" Weiss stated with an eye roll.
"No!" Ruby exclaimed. "Of course not." Ruby smiled and held Weiss's hands. "If anyone can do it, it's you." Weiss smiled back at her.
"Thank you," Weiss replied. Ruby nuzzled her shoulder and whispered in her ear.
"After all this baby talk, I'm in the mood," Ruby whispered.
"Not with our Faunus sister-in-law upstairs," Weiss shot her down.
"Awwwww!"
Hope you enjoyed this special chapter! I know I repeated several times last week, but thank you so much for reading this story! Next week, a shorter chapter back in 'present day' in Chapter 101 - STRQ memories!
A big thank you to Helihi, Cadhla182, Carlomontie, Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. All of their artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.
Until next week, stay classy!