"We're here, we're here!"
Ruby shut the door to her modest apartment and watched her niece run around the living room with a wide smile on her face. The drive over from her sister's place had been quick and so Ruby had some extra time to burn before her guest came over for the night.
"Snowflake! Remember that nice lady you met last week? She's coming over again later!" Ruby announced as she dropped Snowflake's bag onto the ground next to the couch in the living room.
Snowflake was already lying on the couch flipping through the channels on the television, before settling on a cartoon.
But not just any cartoon!
"Oh awesome! Happy Jolly Rabbit's on!" Ruby shouted as she jumped onto the couch and sat down next to Snowflake.
Both Ruby and Snowflake enjoyed the show with childlike curiosity and joy present on their faces. Lost in the world of cartoons however, Ruby failed to realize time flying by and before she knew it; her guest had arrived.
DING
The sound of her apartment doorbell rocked Ruby out of her daze in watching cartoons with Snowflake.
"Oh darn it!"
Snowflake looked at her aunt with curious purple eyes. "Who's that, Auntie Rubbies? Is it the nice lady from last time?" Snowflake asked with innocent curiosity.
Ruby jumped up from her spot on the couch and quickly brushed herself off and ran her hands through her hair to appear somewhat presentable for her friend.
Now rushing to the door and tripping over Snowflake's bag she dropped on the ground earlier, Ruby started hiccupping nervously.
"Y- Yeah it's- hic it's her again, Sno- hic Snowflake! B- Be nice!" Ruby stuttered as she prepared to open the front door now.
But Snowflake was too curious for her own good, and scampered towards the front door right behind her flustered aunt.
Ruby did one last dust off herself before pulling her wooden door open and revealing a tall and elegant figure standing in the doorway. The woman in question had long black hair that seemed to flow perfectly down to her chest, with her bangs covering her left eye. Her eye color was a beautiful amber that seemed ablaze as if it were glowing.
The woman stood motionless in the doorway as her curious amber eyes trailed across Ruby's flushed face before falling onto the small figure standing right behind her aunt's legs staring back up at her with wide eyes.
"It's the fire magic lady!" Snowflake cheered out.
Cinder smiled warmly towards the child before glancing back up at Ruby.
"Well, can I come in Ruby?" The woman asked in a low voice.
It seemed to have the desired effect, as it snapped Ruby from her stupor.
"Y- Yeah o- of cou- hic course! Hic." Ruby stammered as she moved aside to let her friend inside.
Stepping inside now, the woman met Snowflake's star struck stare and smiled once again towards the small girl.
"Hello again, Snowflake." The woman greeted.
Snowflake squealed with delight at the attention and jumped into the woman's legs hugging them.
"Miss Fire magic!" The small girl shouted with delight.
This in turn caused the woman to chuckle warmly before bending over and picking Snowflake up into her arms and holding her in front of her face.
"You don't remember my real name?" She asked.
Snowflake was still laughing with happiness as she was being held before nodding her head energetically.
"Yeah I do! It's Cinder! Auntie Cin!"
The woman now known as Cinder raised an eyebrow at her new nickname but then smirked before placing Snowflake back onto the ground on her feet gently.
"Auntie Cin? Hmm, I like it." Cinder replied.
She now turned towards the still flustered Ruby who stood by the doorway watching the whole exchange with a small smile on her face. Once Ruby noticed that Cinder was staring at her with a hungry look in her eyes, Ruby seemed to shrink back slightly and begin her hiccupping fit again.
"H- Hi C- hic Cinder." Ruby greeted meekly.
Cinder just smiled towards the crimson haired girl before walking slowly towards her. She wrapped Ruby into her arms and pulled the shorter girl into a kiss.
"Auntie Cin and Auntie Rubbies are just like mama and mommy!" Snowflake noted while she watched the two girls.
Pulling out of the embrace, Cinder turned towards the small girl before winking at her;
"I'm sure your mama and mommy don't do half the things we do, Snowflake." Cinder growled playfully towards the young girl.
But before Snowflake could inquire as to what Cinder meant, Ruby intervened not liking where the conversation was going.
"S- Snowflake wanna go to the park?!" Ruby asked much more loudly than she needed to.
Snowflake's curious lilac eyes widened into giant saucers at the mention of the word park.
"Will Auntie Cin come with us, Auntie Rubbies?" The small girl asked excitedly, already rushing off to get her shoes on.
Ruby glanced towards Cinder who wore a curious smile at the change of plans. But before Cinder could say anything; Ruby put on her best puppy dog eye face to tempt Cinder into complying.
Which worked like a charm. Cinder's cool gaze vanished at the sight of Ruby's pleading eyes. And sighing deeply, she nodded.
"Yes, I'm going too Snowflake."
Snowflake cheered loudly before rushing towards the front door already opening it and sprinting down the hallway, with both Ruby and Cinder in tow.
Now outside in the warm summer evening air, Snowflake was being swung by both Ruby and Cinder's arms as they walked down the sidewalk and towards the park. The playground was only a five minute walk from Ruby's apartment and since it was such a nice evening out, they decided to enjoy the weather on foot.
"Higher higher!" Snowflake cheered as she swung her feet out in front of her, still being lifted by Ruby and Cinder by her arms.
Like this they continued their walk towards the park seemingly content with their lives in the moment. Until an older couple was nearing them, walking on the same sidewalk but in the opposite direction.
"Snowflake we have to make room for them, okay?" Ruby said as she let go of Snowflake's hand.
The small girl used this chance to run around the old couple making their way towards them and jogging ahead of them.
"Snowflake, don't run too far!" Ruby called out.
She then smiled apologetically towards the couple that her niece just ran around.
"Aww, she is adorable. How old is she?"
Ruby looked up towards the elderly couple and replied;
"She's five, I'm sorry for that." Ruby apologized slightly embarrassed.
The elder woman just smiled back towards Ruby though.
"Your little sister?"
But before Ruby could admit that it was in fact her niece, Cinder placed her hand around Ruby's waist and pulled her extremely close before smirking towards the woman.
"She's our daughter actually." Cinder replied confidently.
Ruby felt her face heat up instantly at the blatant lie Cinder just told the couple but couldn't bring herself to correct her. Instead she found herself in another hiccupping fit at being so close to her crush.
"Oh! Well you two made such a cute child together! Have a good evening." The woman complimented before walking by a confident Cinder and a flustered hiccupping Ruby.
It was only when Cinder released her grip around Ruby's waist when the girl came back to her senses and turned to scold the taller woman.
"Y- You- hic lied to them!"
Cinder just giggled and continued to walk down the sidewalk towards Snowflake who was waiting for them to catch up before looking over her shoulder and winking at Ruby.
Ruby just pouted and crossed her arms before jogging to catch up with them.
Within another few minutes the trio arrived at the park. The sun was close to completely setting so Ruby knew they couldn't stay out long, but she did want Snowflake to enjoy the playground for a little bit at least.
It didn't take long for the small girl to rush off towards the swing set. Ruby sat down on a nearby bench and watched Cinder kick her heels off and walk into the sand where the swing set was. The older woman was being guided by Snowflake, as the smaller girl tugged on her hand, leading her to the swings. Ruby smiled as she watched Cinder push Snowflake gently as she swung back and forth while crying out in a childlike joy that made Ruby jealous.
"I want to ride on the swing set to." Ruby whined to herself quietly.
But Ruby relented. She just enjoyed the view of Cinder and Snowflake. Watching the older woman acting so carefree and giggling alongside Snowflake was such a huge contrast from her usual attitude. It warmed Ruby's heart; as Cinder truly looked like a loving mother in this moment, with the sunset in the background glimmering off the two girls; it looked like something out of a painting.
Ruby finally took this time to observe what her friend was wearing. Cinder wore a thin red sweater with her sleeves pushed up at her elbows, short black shorts that showed off her long toned legs, and barefoot in the sand after kicking off her satin black heels.
Ruby sighed deeply before shutting her eyes and embracing the cool breeze that passed over her. The sun had now completely set and she enjoyed the drop in temperature for a moment. At least before she felt the bench she was sitting on shift slightly.
Opening her eyes, Ruby looked over towards her left and spotted Cinder sitting down next to her, still wearing her rare smile as she continued to watch Snowflake who was now climbing on the monkey bars with a few other children.
"We should definitely have one."
Ruby glanced back over towards the other woman in confusion.
"H- Have one? Have what, Cinder?" Ruby asked blissfully clueless.
She watched Cinder smirk before looking over at her with an all too familiar devious smile gracing her lips as she bore into Ruby's silver eyes with her blazing amber ones.
"We should have a child as well, little jewel." Cinder explained lowly.
It only took a moment for Ruby's plump cheeks to heat up to a dark crimson shade as she once more found herself in another hiccupping fit at what Cinder had just suggested, and before she could even try to form a sentence she felt Cinder's hand on her lap.
"Don't worry; we have plenty of time to discuss this." Cinder whispered towards the flustered girl.
She removed her hand from Ruby's lap before chuckling and standing up, walking back towards Snowflake.
It was indeed going to be an interesting night tonight once they returned to Ruby's apartment.