Weiss Schnee-Rose sighed heavily, rubbing her eyes as the numbers on the computer screen began to blur out of focus. She had been at this for hours, desperately trying to balance the Schnee Dust Company's budget for the quarter. Since she had taken over the family business, she was faced with the arduous task of undoing the years of corruption and shady business practices her father had done. True, the company turned amazing profits in those years, but they were at the expense of basically every moral or ethical rule and often involved things like Faunas slave labor, bribing health officials to push unsafe products on the market and that was just the start of it.
She exhaled deeply before taking another sip of her coffee from the "WORLD'S GREATEST CEO" mug that Ruby had bought for her on a whim. It was already 8:34 PM and the coffee was barely working in keeping her awake, even if it was the special double caffeine blend that Nora had suggested she try. Ruby was running late coming back home, as always, as she simply sent a text reading 'MISSED THE AIRBUS - BE HOME SHORTLY SNFLKE! LUV YA! Xoxoxoxoxoxox'
"Such a dolt," Weiss said with a soft laugh. She knew why Ruby had missed the Airbus, the same reason she always does - she was distracted reading another issue of 'DUST & AMMO' magazine at the news-stand. It happens more times than Ruby would admit, but Weiss had fully anticipated her wife coming home later than usual. Since graduating from Beacon, Ruby had taken on work as a free lance Huntress, taking jobs here and there to continue to rid the world of Grimm. She was offered a job to teach at the newly reopened Beacon Academy, now renamed the Pyrrha Nikos School of Higher Achievement as a tribute to their fallen friend, but Ruby turned it down.
"I left school once, don't wanna go back again," she said that day. Weiss had briefly protested since the job would pay more and be a lot less risky than being a Huntress, but Ruby was stubborn as always and set in her ways. Being a Huntress is what she wanted to do and it is what she would continue to do, like it or not. Weiss came to respect that, coming to the conclusion that she did not want to deny her wife her longtime dream.
But as stressful as being married to a Huntress was, it was nothing compared to the anxiety Weiss was feeling at this moment. Tonight was the night she asked Ruby a very important question, one that carried ramifications that would change the scope of their lives forever. Weiss flipped through the brochure one last time, reading and reading the bullet points and marketing text. She was going to give it to Ruby to read over, offering more information for her in case she needed it. But she needed to get home first and Weiss was having trouble staying awake.
Closing down the financial spreadsheet, Weiss decided she would try balancing the accounts again tomorrow. She sipped her coffee again, feeling slightly more alert, but not as much as she would like. Zwei woke from his slumber, the corgi old and gray and half blind, but still fiercely loyal to his owners.
"Oh, good evening, sir," Weiss said playfully, rubbing the dog's ears. "I was wondering when you would join us. Didja have a good nap, boy? Hmmm?" Zwei's tongue lulled happily out of his mouth, giving a satisfied snort and bark of approval, before spreading out on his side, stretching his legs out as far as they could go. "Lazy bum," Weiss said with a laugh and stepped out of her office to the living room. Still, no word from Ruby and she was starting to get worried that she missed the Airbus again. Weiss had pulled out her scroll from her fluffy ice blue bathrobe pocket, when she heard the side door open and the sound of heavy boots stomping off sticky snow.
"Honey, I'm home!" Ruby yelled. It was something she always said every time she came back from a mission, serving as Ruby's version of a stereotypical sitcom greeting. It was dorky, annoying, cute in a way and one hundred percent Ruby. "Who's happy to see me?"
"No one," Weiss said with a smile, meeting her beloved in the kitchen. Ruby gave a fake, exaggerated pout in response.
"Well, that's some bad news. Guess I just better get out there and sell my body on the street for dust money."
"Please, like you would give up the chance to leave your Sugar Mama," Weiss chuckled. It was a reoccurring joke between the two that Ruby only married Weiss for her money, with Weiss referring to herself as Ruby's 'Sugar Mama', much to her wife's annoyance.
"You're only my Sugar Mama cause you're so sweet!" Ruby said cheerfully, planting a kiss on Weiss' cheek. "How was work?"
"Ugh," Weiss groaned, rolling her eyes. "You know, I almost miss being a Huntress. Grimm are easy to predict - they're dumb, violent, blood thirsty creatures. A boardroom is unpredictable. A greedy suit in a boardroom will smile in your face while stabbing you in the back."
"I guess the meeting didn't go well?" Ruby said, shaking the snow off her fur-lined cloak and hanging it up to dry.
"It went better than I expected, I'll put it that way. How did the hunt go?"
"Better than I expected too! Turns out, it wasn't an Alpha Grimm the villagers saw, but just a really, really, REALLY big Beowulf. He wasn't too much of a problem once I tracked him down. Cut his head off in one swoop and it was so cool, like, I didn't even feel any resistance from Crescent Rose." Ruby said, attempting to balance one foot as she tried to unlace her combat boots.
"Did they pay well?" Weiss asked. Ruby slid off her left boot and shrugged.
"300 Lien. That will recoup my costs for the dust I spent, plus a little extra."
"I really wish you would just let me cover your expenses," Weiss protested, putting her mug of coffee down on the counter top. Ruby struggled with her right boot, before sliding it off and sighing in relaxation as her feet were finally free.
"I told you, babe, I don't like that. I want to do this on my own and if you're footing the bill for ammo refills and weapon repairs, it's just not the same. I'm married to a Schnee, but that doesn't mean I'm sponsored by one." Ruby protested, unfastening the survival belt around her waist where she kept spare dust ammo rounds and basic survival gear. That too was hung up to dry.
"I know, I know, so you've said a thousand times already," Weiss grumbled. Ruby just smiled and gave Weiss a gentle kiss on the lips.
"I know you care about me and it means a lot to me, it really does. But I wanna do this on my own. My Mom didn't have someone footing the bill, Uncle Qrow didn't have a sponsor and they were all great. I just gotta do this on my own." Ruby said, arching her back. The cold was slowly leaving her muscles, the warmth of the cozy little house they shared helping thaw her out. Weiss had the option of moving into Schnee Manor, but after spending her childhood and young adult life there, the platinum-haired CEO wanted nothing to do with it. Instead, she entrusted it to Klein who acted as a caretaker of sorts.
Seeing that Ruby was in such a cheerful mood gave Weiss the opportunity she needed to spring the question on her. Having grabbed the brochure from her office, Weiss slid her hand into her other pocket and flicked her thumb over the dog-eared corners.
"Hey, Ruby? Before you change into your PJs, I was wondering if I could talk to you about something real quick?" she asked innocently. Ruby froze like she was shot point-blank with ice dust, before slowly backing away after hanging Crescent Rose up on her weapon rack.
"Um, am I-I in trouble?" she asked quietly. Weiss' eyes went wide with shock.
"In trouble?! No! Why in Remnant would you think that?"
"Oh, well, usually when someone says they need to talk, it's almost never anything good."
"No, no, no, everything is fine, Ruby! I just...I wanted to ask you something." Weiss said, mentally cursing herself out for phrasing her inquiry in such a manner. "Maybe we could discuss it in the living room?"
Ruby visibly deflated, the stress flowing out of her after she found out this wasn't an Angry Talk. She managed to take off her snow pants and jacket, now just wearing a spaghetti strap blank tank top and thermal yoga pants that kept her skin dry and regulated her body heat in the freezing cold. She plopped down on the large couch, Zwei having moved there at some point. Smelling the familiar scent of his original owner, he slowly lumbered over to Ruby and curled into a ball in her lap, snoring loudly as he slept.
"So what's up, Snowflake?"
"Ruby...have you ever thought about becoming a family?" Weiss asked, a hint of trepidation in her voice.
"But we are a family? I mean, it's me, you and Zwei. That's a family? Plus, there's Yang and Jaune and Blake and Sun. And Nora and Ren when they're not too busy teaching at the Academy." Weiss sighed. This wasn't going to be as easy as she hoped.
"No, I mean, expanding our current family. Ruby, look, I'll just come out and say it...I think we should have a baby."
Ruby had been petting Zwei but stopped suddenly. Her silver eyes seemed to zone out, as if suddenly she had an out of body experience, roaming free in celestial form. What seemed like an eternity passed before Ruby spoke.
"Who, um, would be the Mom? Because I'll be honest with you, I don't want to get pregnant and I don't like the idea of some guy's daddy butter floating around inside of you."
"Wait, wait, daddy butter?" Weiss asked in disbelief.
"You know what I mean..." Ruby said, blushing a profound shade of crimson.
"It's called semen, Ruby. We're adults here."
"UGH! I hate that word. It sounds so...so slimy and gross. Like some kind of goblin who lives in a swamp...Semen the Goblin." Ruby gagged, sticking her tongue out.
"You are so childish sometimes. First, it was panties, now it's semen. Are there any other words I should avoid?" Weiss scoffed, hands on her hips. Ruby shrugged, still blushing. "Good. May I continue?" she asked. Ruby nodded, resuming petting Zwei.
"To answer your question, none of us would be the biological mother. I can't afford to take maternity leave and you would go insane not being to hunt for nine months. No, I was thinking about adoption." Weiss said, handing Ruby the brochure.
"OH!" Ruby said. "That...that's actually not too bad of an idea. I mean, I never really had a Mom growing up, besides Yang. It would be nice to give someone the motherhood I never had..."
"I'm glad you agree," Weiss said, feeling relief wash over her. "If it's okay with you, I want to schedule an interview with the adoption agency next week. No pressure, we don't have to commit to anything. Does that sound good?" Ruby patted Zwei on the butt softly, his cue to get up off her lap. He huffed in frustration, before rolling back into a tight fur ball on the opposite side of the couch.
"I would love to go," Ruby said, hugging Weiss around her neck.
"Oh, I'm so glad! It's a date then." Weiss said, happy that everything worked out. The two lovers sat there in the living room in each other's embrace before Weiss had something on her mind. "Ruby, how can you not like the word 'semen'? Have you ever even seen it in real life?"
Ruby backed away, her jaw dropping and her face pale. She stammered a bit, before shyly glancing down at her bare feet, unable to make eye contact.
"N-No...you're um, the only one I've been ac-active with. What about you?"
"That's...not something I want to talk about," Weiss said, suddenly regretting bringing up the subject.
"Whoa, whoa! You can't drop a question on me like that without answering yourself!" Ruby balked. Now it was Weiss' turn to blush, though unlike Ruby, she confronted the problem head-on, though her cheeks were red enough to stop traffic.
"Yes. At the Beacon Dance, before we left for the night. Neptune and I...in the janitor's closet. We did...did not do everything or go all the way, but at least one of us walked away finished." she said, her face feeling hot enough to fry an egg. Ruby just stared for a moment, the innuendo going over her head. She ran Weiss' words through her brain over and over again, till it suddenly dawned on her with the force of a car wreck.
"AH-HA! I knew that wasn't cream frosting stains on your dress!"