And we're back with another chapter. Hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. Sorry for the two-day late update. Just had my wisdom teeth removed so I was completely out of it and unable to publish this.
Currently people seem to be indifferent to pairings and those who do seem to want Amber as the pairing. The only problem with that is the age difference. In the show, it seems that Amber is around Cinders age so pairing an adult guardian with her at least to me feels really weird, but I can see where you are all coming from. Now that suggestion for Glynda however… that would be… interesting…
Eh we'll see what happens. I might put up a poll to get a general consensious.
Reviews:
MEleeSmasher: Yeah sorry about that but I could only get Ruby as Mason's daughter if Summer died. But I agree we have all been spoiled by ptabs Remnant of a Rose stories. Which I highly recommend if anyone hasn't read them yet
Artyom-Dreizehn: Thanks for the vote of confidence and here's your fluffy chapter! I completely agree with the points you're making about the ages of characters and we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Guest: Thanks glad you are enjoying the story. I definitely agree that there aren't enough fluffy family stories in the destiny community but that is to be expected from a technically post-apocalyptic space shooter. As for Ruby going back to her own parents you will just have to read and find out.
- She will meet her half-sister eventually I won't say when but she will.
Anyway, onto the story.
Chapter 4: First Steps
-1 month later Cinder age: 6 Ruby age: 1-
"Come on sweetie! Come to papa!" Mason smiled and waved towards himself with gusto as Ruby slowly crawled towards him.
"NO!" Cinder tackled Mason out of the way before sitting up with open arms "Don't listen to him Ruby! Come to your big sis!"
Mason quickly recovered from being tackled and quickly scooped up Ruby and held her up in the air. "Naw, you want to hang out with your dad don't you."
"Hey! No fair!" Cinder was jumping up trying to get ahold of Ruby. "You can't hold her like that!"
"Oh but I am!" Mason smiled devilishly.
Cinder crossed her arms and made a pouty face. "I wanna play with Ruby too Dad. You can't just hog her all to yourself."
"And why not?" Mason feigned an innocent look. "I am her father, am I not?"
"Because I am her sister and I wanna play with her too!" Cinder stomped her foot. "Chocolate!"
"Yes Cinder?" Neir materialized out of the air.
"Distract dad!" Cinder said as she snagged Ruby from her adoptive father's grasp and made a run for it.
"HEY!" Mason shouted as he made to chase Cinder.
Neir made a noise that sounded like a sigh before he materialized a pile of gear in front of Mason, who proceeded to trip and fall over.
"TRAITOR!" Mason shouted indignantly from the pile of gear.
Mason quickly scrambled to chase his daughters in an attempt to regain possession of his youngest child. "Come back here!"
Meanwhile Cinder was running down the hall, Ruby held tightly against her chest.
"Come on Ruby, we got to run from Dad before he takes you away from me!" Cinder panted.
Ruby just giggled as her arms flailed around in excitement.
Cinder ran with Ruby from quickly ducking into a closet filled to the brim with clothes, sheets, and other household items.
"Shhhh." Cinder held a finger to her lips. "Quiet. He'll never find us here."
Ruby giggled again, playing with the loose strands of Cinder's black hair.
The two girls sat in the closet as they listened to their dad run around the house.
"Where did those two run off to?" Mason said scratching his head. "Neir will you-"
"No."
"Awe why not?" Mason whined.
"Because you are playing with your kids. Stop trying to use me to cheat. You're a hunter. You should have no trouble finding them." Neir retorted.
"Ugh. Fine. Can you at least tell me what part of the-"
"No."
"Party pooper…" Mason grumbled.
"Alright. Well if I was a six-year-old hiding from her dad where would I hide." Mason said as he put his hands on his hips and scanned the living room.
"Hmmm…" Mason cupped his chin. "Bet they went and hid under my bed again."
Mason ran down the all towards his room, before stopping in front of the closet. He could have sworn he heard a giggle come from in there. Slowly a smile wormed its way onto his face.
"Oh no? Where ever could they have gone!" Mason said loudly.
Another giggle came from the closet.
"I guess I'll just have to check the bedroom!" Mason continued.
Mason waited a moment, then throwing open the closet door Mason grabbed his daughters.
"EEEEEP!" Cinder screamed as Mason hauled her out of the closet, Ruby resting on a pile of coats.
"GOTCHA!" Mason yelled as he held Cinder above his head and began to tickle her. "You can't hide from your old man!"
"AHAHA! Stop! It tickles!" Cinder laughed as she struggled to free herself from the tickling hands of her dad. "AHAHA!"
A minute later Mason released his daughter and picked up Ruby. "Now how about we get you two fed. It is lunchtime so anything in particular you want?"
"Oooh can I have that sandwich you made a few days ago?" Cinder asked.
"Which one?"
"The one with the Jelly and brown stuff!"
"Sure, I can make you a peanut butter and jelly." Mason said as he sat Ruby down in the living room to play with her toys. "Wanna help?"
"Sure!" Cinder jumped and ran into the kitchen before peeking her head around the door. "Can we make cookies after too?"
"Well we're out of oatmeal so we can't make your favorite but we can make a new kind for you to try." Mason smiled as he made his way into the kitchen.
"Ooo what kind?" Cinder ran to the counter.
"There called chocolate chip cookies. Most consider them to be the best cookie ever created." Mason quickly grabbed the ingredients to make a PB&J and set to work.
"Impossible!" Cinder exclaimed. "Oatmeal cookies are the best! I don't believe you!"
"Then you'll just have to try them and find out" Mason said as he quickly finished making Cinder's sandwich. "Here's your sandwich."
"Yay!" Cinder smiled. "Thanks dad!"
"No problem kid." Mason ruffled Cinder's hair.
Ten minutes later after Cinder had finished eating her sandwich and Mason had finished feeding Ruby her baby food, Mason and Cinder went to start baking the cookies.
"Alright Cinder. What do you think we need for Chocolate Chip Cookies?" Mason said.
"Uh Chocolate?"
"Bingo!" Mason grabbed a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips from the cupboard. "Anything else?"
"Uh well we always use eggs in the oatmeal cookies so eggs?"
"Yup!" Mason grabbed 2 eggs from the fridge and set them on the counter.
"You also always have that white powder stuff too so that, uh… flower! That's it!" Cinder said.
"Good!" Mason took down a bag of flower and set it next to the eggs. "Any more ideas?"
"Uh…" Cinder closed her eyes thinking. "Sugar?"
"Yup, but what kind, Brown or White?"
"Brown?" Cinder questioned.
"Wrong we need both!" Mason smiled picking the packets of sugar from the cupboard.
"Hey! I was right then! We still need the brown sugar." Cinder complained.
"But you didn't get it completely right so therefore you were wrong!" Mason teased.
"No I was right!"
"Wrong!"
"Right!"
"Right!" Mason smiled.
"Wrong" Cinder said before looking confused. "Hey! No fair you tricked me!"
"Me?" Mason looked hurt. "I would never!"
"Liar!" Cinder grumbled.
Mason ruffled her hair again. "Maybe, maybe not! Any more things we need?"
"The Cookie Bowl!" Cinder said excitedly.
"I meant ingredients."
"Oh… I don't know then."
"Well you got quite a bit, but we still need butter, salt, water, baking soda, and vanilla." Mason said as he took each ingredient from where it was stored.
"Vanilla? What's that?" Cinder asked as she looked at the small bottle labeled Pure Vanilla Extract.
"I'll show you." Mason poured a small amount into the cap of the bottle and gave it to Cinder. "Smell it."
Cinder gently took the cap, careful not to spill any of the vanilla, and took a deep sniff. Her eyes widened and she gasped. "IT SMELLS SO GOOD!"
"I know right." Mason laughed. "Just don't-"
Mason's words died in his throat as Cinder took a straight shot of pure vanilla extract.
"oh no…" Mason mumbled.
Cinder's face went from pure joy to confusion to one of absolute disgust with hints of betrayal sprinkled here and there.
Cinder gagged and coughed trying to get the extremely bitter taste out of her mouth. After a moment, she ran to the sink and started to chug water straight from the tap, water glasses be dammed.
"WHY!" Cinder yelled in between gulps of water. "HOW CAN IT SMELL SO GOOD, BUT TASTE SO GROSS?"
Mason was barely holding back is laughter. "I tried to warn you but you drank it before I could tell you not too."
"AND YOU PUT THAT IN COOKIES!" Cinder yelled.
"Hey, we put it in your oatmeal cookies too."
Cinder looked absolutely betrayed. "WHY?"
"Stop yelling, and because it makes the cookies smell nice."
Mason let Cinder regain her composure before they started making the cookies in earnest. Mason set the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius for anyone not in America) before turning to Cinder.
"Ok, so what goes in first?" Mason asked.
"The flower?"
"Nope." Mason poured the flower into the steel bowl. "Any other ideas?"
"Um… I don't know." Cinder said.
"First we put the butter and sugar in together." Mason mixed the ingredients together "Then we beat the eggs in one at a time." Mason grabbed the eggs.
"Oh! Can I crack them?" Cinder asked.
"Sure." Mason handed her the two eggs. "Remember how?"
"Yup! You tap them on the side like this!" Cinder tapped the eggs on the rim of the bowl before she peeled the two halves of the shell apart.
"Good. Next we add a little bit of vanilla to the batter."
"Blech!" Cinder made a sour face and the mention of vanilla.
"Then we add some water to another bowl and mix in the baking soda and pour it in." Mason said as he completed the step.
"Then the we pour in the flower, right?" Cinder asked.
"Yup." Mason said as he poured the flour into the bowl. "And now we mix it."
Mason grabbed a spatula and stirred the ingredients together until it looked like a light brown paste.
Mason handed Cinder the spatula when he finished mixing. "Here lick it."
Cinder eyed the batter covered utensil with suspicion clearly not trusting it after the recent betrayal of Vanilla. Slowly she scrapped a bit off with her finger and stuck it in her mouth.
She smiled happily. "Mmmmm" before long the spatula was completely clean.
Mason laughed. "Good huh."
"Uh hu!" Cinder nodded in agreement. "Can I have more?"
"Nope." Mason said as he took a glob on his finger and ate it.
"Pleaasssseeee?" Cinder begged lightly tugging on Masons shirt.
"Nope." Mason repeated as he went and grabbed a cookie pan. As he turned around he found Cinder with a gob of cookie dough in her hands happily munching on the battery goodness.
"Hey!" Mason said quickly.
Cinder knowing, she had been caught red handed showed the rest of the dough into her tiny mouth before smiling innocently. "What is it Dad?"
"You little…" Mason narrowed his eyes at her.
Cinder swallowed the cookie dough and smiled again.
"Guess you don't want any cookies then." Mason said.
"Nonono!" Cinder let out a long slur of apologies. "PleasenoIwantcookiesI'msorryIwontdoitagainIpromiseI'msorry!"
"Heh alright. Apology accepted." Mason poked her forehead. Now come on we still got to put the chocolate chips in."
Mason put little globs of dough on the cookie pan until he was out of dough. As he did this Cinder sprinkled the chocolate chips on top. When they finished, Mason turned and put the pan into the oven and set the timer for ten minutes.
"And now we wait." Mason said.
Five minutes later the smell of cookies began to permeate throughout the house.
"Mmmm." Mason grinned. "I love the smell of cookies in the oven."
Cinder was too busy staring into the oven to notice what he had said.
A moment later the door to the kitchen was pushed open with an audible creak.
"Psst! Cinder!" Mason poked his daughters shoulder getting her attention. "Look."
There in the doorway stood little baby Ruby. Her black hair hung parted to the side, sliver eyes gleaming with curiosity. Slowly she let go of the door jamb and took a few tentative steps forward. Steadying herself whenever she began to wobble.
Mason quickly sat on the floor arms wide. "Look at my big girl! Taking her first steps and walking all on her own! Come to papa sweetheart!"
"No! Come to your sister Ruby! Dad's just jealous that you're coming to me and not him. Isn't that right!" Cinder said, sitting in front of Mason waving towards herself.
"Hey! She was coming towards me!" Mason picked Cinder up and set her off to the side. "Come on Ruby you can do this! Daddy is right here."
Ruby kept slowly walking. Mason closed his eyes and smiled at her as she walked towards him. A few minutes passed but he didn't feel the presence of his youngest daughter. He opened his eyes and instead found Cinder hanging her head. He could practically feel the depressive aura she was emitting. Mason quickly looked around for Ruby. He turned around and found her staring intently into the oven.
Mason could feel his heart break and soon found him hanging his head much like Cinder upon realizing that Ruby had no interest in taking her first steps towards them, but instead had walked right past them to the oven.
"S-s-s" Ruby started to make a noise.
Cinder perked up. It sounded like she was trying to say her name.
"Sookies" Ruby said, eyes taking in the sight of the freshly baked cookies in the oven.
The timer went off signaling the cookies were done. Cinder hung her head again, the depressive aura returning, and Ruby just stood staring and giggling, blissfully unaware of the two shattered hearts behind her.
AN
And after that little cute bit of a heartbreak, that's a wrap! Hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter. I tried to make it as fluffy as I could so hopefully it's up to snuff. As for the cookies Mason and Cinder made this chapter, it is an actual recipe for chocolate chip cookies so feel free to use that if you ever want to make cookies from scratch, or pm me for the actual list form of the recipe.
Unfortunately, college is starting up again for me next week so I will try to keep the once a week update schedule I have but I make no promises. Odds are that you will get another late update this week since I move in next weekend.
Anyway, I hope everyone is having fun reading this.
Have a good one everybody!
-Zeak-
