Weiss Schnee
"MOMMY!" Ruby and I hear Nicholas yell from his bedroom. He must be having nightmares again.
"Love, he's calling for you again." I say to Ruby turning over in bed. I'm not sure why but whenever he is scared he always calls for Ruby. If I didn't know any better I'd think our Son already had a favorite.
"Can you please handle it Hun?" Ruby asks through a very groggy yawn. "I've had to handle it twice already this week and I'm exhausted."
I turned toward her only to come face to face with her signature puppy dog eyes. To this day she knows I can't resist when she does that. "Ugghh, you don't play fair you know that?...Fine but you owe me." I throw the covers over her face and crawl out of bed.
"Thank you Weissy, I love you." she says sweetly.
"Yeah yeah, I love you too dolt." I roll my eyes and walk down the hall to Nick's room. I walk in to see him cowering behind his blankets and holding his favorite plush toy close. It's actually the main character of Ruby and Alan's game…whatever it's called, just significantly cuter.
"What's the matter sweetheart?" I try not to yawn as I sit down on the bed beside him.
"Why didn't Mommy come, Momma?" he asks, still kind of scared. We decided early on Ruby would be Mommy and I would be Momma to make it less confusing for him and us. Luckily he picked up on it pretty quick.
"Mommy asked me to come this time because she was really tired." I responded honestly, ruffling his scruffy white hair. It honestly does make me jealous that he prefers Ruby so much but what can I do? "So what's wrong?"
"The monsters are gonna get me Momma, they had scary red eyes." he says genuinely believing his nightmare was real. Poor little guy. That said I have no idea where these monsters of his are coming from, Ruby better not be letting him watch anything too scary.
"I wouldn't count on it, with Momma around they can't touch you. Those monsters wouldn't dare mess with her boy." I say smiling and kissing the top of his head.
"You can fight monsters too Momma?"
"Uh..yeah, almost as good as Mommy." I say with a nervous laugh.
"Mommy said she would destroy them with a big scythe like the character from the game she and Uncle Alan made!"
"Did she now?" She has quite the imagination, that's for sure.
"What is your weapon Momma?"
"Me? Well uh…" I guess I should keep playing along, if it makes him feel better. "Momma prefers swords and uhh maybe some magic too!"
"That's super cool!"
"I know right? So you can trust that Momma will keep you safe." I pull his blankets over him. "Now you better get some sleep, remember that Mommy and Momma promised to take you to the Zoo tomorrow."
"Okay Momma." he smiles for a moment but it's quickly replaced by a small frown.
"What's wrong?"
"W-Will you stay with me tonight Momma?" he asks.
"I don't know Nicholas, Momma would really like to sleep in bed with Mommy..." I answer. Ruby has been dragged into sleeping in Nicholas' bed every night this week…I act like it doesn't bother me but I can really feel when she isn't there and it's a little rough.
"Please.." he asks, giving me his own version of Ruby's puppy dog eyes, big silver orbs and all. I am about as good at resisting him as I am Ruby. I just let out a sigh and smile at him.
"Alright, scoot over." I say prompting him to move over a bit. I lay down in the bed next to him and he cuddles into my side.
"Thanks Momma..I love you."
"Momma loves you too Nicholas, more than you could ever know." I am glad that he at least feels safe with me. It doesn't take long for him to fall asleep.
It's crazy to think he is almost 5 years old, it feels like just yesterday that he was born…on one hand it's nice to see my little guy growing up but on the other it kinda makes me sad. I mean where did the time go?
Next thing you know he is going to be all grown up and starting a family of his own..I just want him to stay my little boy for as long as possible. I know I complain about it but…I kind of like that he needs me..I pull him a little bit closer, being careful not to wake him up.
Eventually I start to drift off myself "Momma will always love you…"
(The Next Day)
I wake up to see that Nicholas is no longer in the bed. I wonder for a moment where he went but as I catch the subtle smell of eggs and bacon I immediately figure it out. I crawl out of bed, ignoring the slight cramping from sleeping in a bed much to small for an adult. Mostly because I know some of that cramping is because I'm getting older and I'd rather not think about it.
No sooner do I make my way down stairs than do I nearly bump into Nick who was about to go running up.
"Woah sweetie, remember we don't run on the stairs, you might hurt yourself."
"Sorry Momma but Mommy said to wake you up for breakfast."
"I appreciate it but still." I turn him back toward the kitchen and walking inside I see a full spread of not only those eggs and bacon I smelled but also a stack of very tasty looking pancakes.
"Morning Hun!" Ruby turns off the stove and turns to face me wearing that adorable apron of hers. She calls it her breakfast apron since that is the only meal she ever cooks, she insisted she wanted to get good at cooking something to help me out and it turned out breakfast was that thing.
"Good morning love." I sit down at the table as she puts the syrup in the middle of the table next to the big stack of pancakes. "Looks delicious as usual."
"Oh stop!" she blushes and puts her hand on her cheek.
"I love Mommy's pancakes!" Nicholas excitedly sits down and grabs his utensils, waiting to be served. Ruby walks over and hugs him, rubbing her cheek against his.
"Well Mommy loves YOU so you can have as many as you want!"
"Let's maybe keep it to a couple…" she spoils him a bit but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't at least a little cute. She really took to the doting mother role really fast…that said she could stand to be a better influence now and then. "Anyway, we should eat quickly, I wanna get to the Zoo before the big rush."
"Sounds like a plan." Ruby smiles and serves Nick his breakfast before sitting down and eating herself.
"I wanna see the Penguins!" Nick says through a mouth full of pancake, syrup dripping out of his mouth. Ruby of course thinks it's adorable…it IS kind of cute but still
"Don't talk with your mouthful sweetie, I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to see the Penguins." I reach over and wipe his mouth.
After we all finish eating we get cleaned up and dressed for our day out as a family. It's actually been awhile since we have had time for something like this but work hasn't been nearly as busy for either of us, especially with Ruby and Alan's last game selling enough that they were able to expand their team and take some of the weight off their shoulders.
Once we all get loaded into the car and we take off for the zoo, I can't help but notice for some reason that Nicholas is staring at the seat next to him in the back. His expression is almost..sad?
"You okay sweetie?"
"Yeah, I'm fine Momma." he returns to his usual self which calms my worries a little, still I can't help but wonder what that was about.
"Well…okay."
Eventually we arrive at the Zoo and just like I hoped, it's not crazy packed yet so we shouldn't have any trouble getting in. We go to get in line when we spot some familiar faces. It's Inu, Alan and Kirinu.
"Woah, I didn't expect to see you guys here." Ruby walks over and knuckle bumps Alan.
"Same, crazy coincidence." Alan chuckles and puts his hand on Kirinu's head. "This one just insisted that she wanted to go to the Zoo."
"Yup and Daddy here is just incapable of telling his little princess no." Inu playfully slaps Alan on the back.
"Hey Kirinu!" Nicholas cheerfully greets his best friend.
"H-Hey Nicholas." she responds rather meekly. It's not like they aren't close but Kirinu is a rather shy and softspoken girl.
"Well since we are all here, why don't we spend the day together?" I offer.
"Sounds good to us." Inu says with a smile before kneeling down to the kids level. "Sound good kids?"
"Yeah, that sounds awesome!"
"Y-Yes please."
"Well that settles it, let's get going!" Ruby cheers and Nicholas cheers right along with her.
Once inside both the kids' faces light up at all the possible exhibits to visit. Nicholas, being the sweet boy that he is, let's Kirinu pick first. Our first stop was the wolf exhibit, Kirinu's favorite animal according to Nicholas. It's kind of cute that he just knows that.
Apparently the female had recently given birth to a litter of pups. The kids really get a kick out of watching the pups run around and play with each other and I'll admit it was pretty adorable. Suddenly though, I see that same look appear on Nick's face again.
I was about to ask what was wrong but-
"Weiss, hey Weiss you there girl?" Inu waves her hand in front of my face.
"O-Oh sorry Inu, what were we talking about?"
"You okay hun?" Ruby asks.
"Yeah I'm fine, just got a little distracted is all." I smile and turn to Inu. "What were you saying?"
"I was just talking about how Alan and I are expecting again."
"Oh right, congratulations you two."
"Thanks but this is for sure going to be the last one." Alan says with a chuckle.
"Oh so you don't want another baby." Inu puffs out her cheeks and pouts.
"You know that's not what I meant." he puts his arm around her waist. "I'm happy for real, I just don't think I could handle more than two."
"So…Kirinu is going to have a little brother or sister?" Nicholas asks.
"Yup and she's thrilled, isn't that right baby?" Inu asks.
"I guess..as long as it's not a boy."
"I feel ya on that one, I love Uncle Azu but he was a pain in the neck sometimes."
"That said, we don't exactly have control over that princess."
We all share a laugh until I again notice that look on Nicholas' face. I consider asking him about it again but decide against it. I think it's probably something he'd rather discuss at home if at all. Instead we go about the rest of the day visiting the various animal exhibits, we even take in a dolphin show but of course the highlight for Nicholas was the penguin exhibit.
I don't think he smiled that big all day. They even had a fun little game where if you answered some penguin trivia questions you could win a little stuffed penguin and a hat. Him being so smart he actually got them all right.
He felt bad that Kirinu didn't get anything though so he kept the hat and gave her the stuffed penguin so they could 'remember their day together at the zoo'. It was so cute and sweet, I couldn't be more proud of my little man.
As the day comes to a close we all wave goodbye, except for Kirinu and Alan who hug goodbye. The whole car ride home he kept looking to the seat next to him and getting that same look on his face.
Once we get home he attempts to run upstairs. "Hold up Nicholas, Mommy and I wanna talk." I stop him and guide him over to the living room couch.
"What about?"
"Well...I noticed that you kept getting this sad look on your face all day."
"He has?" Ruby asks, in a tone that suggests she feels really bad for not picking up on it herself. "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"
"Ruby." I put my hand on her shoulder and give her a look that says 'calm down'. It's sweet that she cares so much but we have to handle it delicately. "Now, what's been bothering you sweetie?"
"Yeah, you can tell Momma and I anything."
"Well I've been thinking…I'd really like to have a little brother or sister!"
His proclamation really catches both Ruby and I off guard. I mean I could tell something has really been bothering him today but I wouldn't have guessed this.
"Wh-What makes you say that sweetie?" I ask.
"Well…I look at ? and her brothers and sisters and they always have so much fun together and now Kirinu is even going to have a brother or sister." he kicks his feet. "Plus both Mommy and Momma have sisters and Momma even has a little brother too…"
That is definitely the logic of a young boy…I do get what he means though. Ruby and I both look at eachother and smile before sitting down on either side of him.
"That is a really important decision Nicholas." Ruby puts her hand on his back.
"It's a big responsibility, both for us and you." I kiss the top of his head.
"Does that mean no?"
"No, it means that Momma and I would have to give that a lot of thought. Making another baby is a really big deal…and you would have to think too."
"Think about what?"
"About if you are ready to be a big brother. That is a really big job, I mean just look at Aunt Winter."
"Yeah or Auntie Yang, they both worked really hard to be there for us whenever we needed them. They guided us and protected us, they taught us a lot. Do you think you're ready to do all that?"
"I…I don't know Mommy."
"Tell you what, Momma and I will discuss it and think about it really hard but you have to promise you'll also think about it for a while too, okay?"
"I promise Mommy." he smiles at us both and it seems like, if nothing else, we were able to put his mind at ease at least.
"Good." Ruby and I give him a kiss on either cheek. "Now go brush your teeth and get ready for bed."
"Okay Momma, I love you." He hops off the couch and starts making his way upstairs. "I love you too Mommy."
"We love you too!" Ruby and I both say in unison.
Ruby goes up shortly after to make sure he does everything he is supposed to and that he is tucked in before coming back down stairs and plopping down on the couch next to me.
"Well…I definitely wasn't expecting that."
"Me neither…I mean it makes sense I suppose but it still came as a shock."
We both just sit there in silence for a bit, only occasionally glancing at each other and sighing.
"We..we can't really be thinking about having another kid right?" I ask.
"I mean…it feels like we are." Ruby says, looking up at the ceiling.
"It just feels like Nicholas was only born yesterday…besides can we really handle another kid?" I ask.
"I mean…with the studio doing so well right now and all the raises you've been getting at work we are doing pretty good right now and we could always convert the home office into another bedroom, it's not like we even use it that much."
"Ruby…it sounds like you've given this some thought yourself." she blushes a bit.
"Well…yeah actually."
"Why haven't you told me?" I ask.
"It just never felt like a good time to bring it up…but since it's out there, I don't hate the idea of having another baby." she just fidgets around a little and twiddles her thumbs.
I put my arm over her shoulder and pulled her close to me. I mean..I don't hate the idea either I guess. I'm just not entirely sure Ruby and I are ready for that. Nick is a good sweet boy but even he can be a handful sometimes…what if the other baby proves to be too much for us.
"Let's make a deal…we'll wait till the end of the year." I kiss the top of her head. "We'll think it over, discuss it some more and make sure we are ready for this. If, come this Christmas, we can agree that we are ready for a baby…then we go for it."
"That sounds fair…" she leans into me and kisses my shoulder. "I love you Weiss."
"I love you too Ruby."