Childbirth, Weiss had come to discover, was a messier process than she had come to realize. Though she had done a plethora of reading on the subject, nothing could have prepared her for the real thing. If she hadn't been a trained huntress, squeamishness beaten out of her long ago, she probably wouldn't have held together so well. Knowing this did little to salvage her wits, or Blake's own for that matter.
Still, they were parents now. Three mewling, sticky, tiny, Faunus cubs alive and well. Each of were them in dire need of a sponge bath, a diaper, and a good feeding.
Weiss stood in awe as she watched her little family come together, her wife sighing exhaustedly, ears laying flat against her head, beads of sweat drenching her face. Sun patted Blake's forehead dry, while Yang helped to get her cleaned up. Her eyes closed in a wince as though she were suffering another contraction of the weaker sort. A short puff of air, and a muffled curse confirmed it.
Yang pointedly ignored the newest set of claw marks Blake had inflicted, the brawlers aura already repairing the damage. A short distance away, Ruby was dressing one of the cubs while Winter bathed another. In Weiss' own arms, the last to be born squirmed in his towel, waiting for his own warm sponge bath.
Weiss gently rubbed his dark hair with the towel, taking the time to wipe away the slimy wetness that glistened in dark locks.
Eventually, though it took some time, they managed to get Blake settled back into bed. Her cubs nestled in with her.
Weiss couldn't tell if it was late at night or finally early morning, it was too dark outside to tell. The pinpricks of a headache nagged at her to get some much needed rest, but she couldn't bring herself to relax just yet. Instead she tied off the last of the bag of soiled linens, leaving it out in the hallway for one of the maids to get the next time they passed by.
Then, when she was more than positive that Blake was resting and in good hands, she meandered her way back to the bedroom to shuck off her own filthy clothes. Throwing them away seemed the most logical thing to do. The material was shredded in more than one place, and she had a feeling the stains would never come out.
She didn't dawdle.
She showered quickly, washing away the last bits of stress and anxiety that clung to the woman like a vice, restlessness at war with the soothing heat of the almost too hot water. It was only after she re-dressed in proper sleeping attire that Weiss made it back into the room. Her long white hair was still up in a towel to help dry it. She wasn't the most dignified looking, if the snickering from Yang was any indication, but Weiss ignored her.
The nesting room was finally clean once more. Almost everyone was settling in, and that's what mattered.
Winter had stationed herself in the far corner of the room, unobtrusively resting with her back against the wall. Her eyes were closed, but she wasn't sleeping. The position seemed well practiced, as though she adopted the stance while on assignment more often than not. Ruby was clean too, dressed in a pair of pajamas, curled up on a sleeping bag in the hallway. She hadn't fallen asleep yet, and she was obviously fighting it off.
Yang, it seemed, was the one who couldn't seem to relax for the life of her. Weiss could hardly hold in a small laugh when Yang wandered off again. When she came back a short while later, it was to carry the last of the cubs to receive a quick exam of Oobleck.
"I'll take him." Weiss told Yang quietly, trying not to disturb Blake's slumber.
"Clean bill of health." Yang murmured. "Oobleck says he'll come back to check in on Blake again in a few hours. He looks dead on his feet."
"So do you. Go to bed, Yang." Weiss said as she held the small boy to her chest.
"Nah, not yet." Yang said.
"Can't it wait? You're exhausted. We all are."
Yang just shook her head. "I got a few more things to do first."
Weiss rolled her eyes, but slowly made her way to the rocking chair and making herself comfortable. Looking down, to the small bundle in her arms, she couldn't help but get lost in those blue eyes as they squinted up at her, sparkling in the darkness. As Oobleck had told her, all infants had terrible eyesight in the first place, and as Faunus they would grow into their night vision. The same held true for their Faunus hearing, it would be days before their little ears would begin to open. They were too young to even purr yet. The little boy was too sleepy to regard his parent with any more than a halfhearted squeaky mew before he closed his eyes.
Weiss decided then, being a parent was a strange thing. Being a sire to those children, stranger still.
It was tranquil as Weiss rocked back and forth steadily, wondering if the action was as soothing as everyone claimed the action to be. The baby in her arms rested easily, as though he was already tuckered out. Either way, it kept her busy, and she desperately needed something to do.
Her mind was running wild, taking all of hear greatest hopes and her worst fears right along with it. In retrospect these last nine months had been busy and stressful. Grimm invasions, injury, and the unquestionable havoc of day to day life was only the tip of the iceberg.
When she thought about it, there were times Weiss thought herself insane. She was sure many would question her rationality. Choosing advancements in medical technology might not have been the wisest option, though it was the one she and Blake had decided on with a stubborn sense of pride.
Bloodline placed before social conformity...the little miracle in her arms was the ultimate burden of proof. Her children were going to shake the bedrock of the corporate industry as Atlas knew it. Even in the impossibility that none of the three children decided to overtake the company, they had been born wealthy. As prominent social figures, they would be watched, whether they wanted to be or not. It only added insult to injury that each one of them were born with little sets of ears, and one with a tail as well…the smallest cub receiving a somewhat cute genetic mutation caused by the dust.
All of it was cause for consideration, and all of it twisted around in her head, weather she wanted it to or not. Then again, perhaps that too, was just her own fatigue.
Weiss felt her heart stutter, as she held her eldest son, nestled in a warm receiving blanket. Barely a few hours old, and she still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that this baby boy was her child.
Belladonna blood ran strong.
The cubs resembled Blake the most. Not just with their ears, either. Although, no one could deny the tiny triangles of black fur pinned down against each of their heads. The resemblance was in their dark, thick manes of hair, those calculating eyes.
Weighing in at a full five pounds, ten ounces, she named her first born son Finley Schnee-Belladonna.
A soft knock at the doorframe had Weiss looking up into lavender eyes, as Yang leaned into the room yet again. The blonde looked worse than Weiss. Her arms lined with marks, since during the delivery, Blake used her as the primary accidental scratching post. Dark bags hung below her eyes, and the droop in her shoulders indicated she was leaning on the wall more than she normally did to. "Hey, you guys need anything before I crash out?"
Weiss smiled softly, shaking her head, as she indicated over to where Blake was sleeping. Curled up in the nest of blankets and pillows arranged in a way that was safe and secure. "I think we'll be settled until morning." She whispered, not missing the way Blake's ear flicked slightly at the noise. "If not, I'll ask Winter."
Yang nodded, but ever so carefully stepped inside anyway.
She couched down, looking into the blankets where Blake was only halfheartedly resting. Her bare chest exposed to the warm air in the room thanks to the space heater nearby. She cracked an exhausted golden eye open to glance at Yang before closing it again. Her thumb stroked the bare back of her infant daughter, the small Faunus just as restless outside of the womb as she was inside. Tiny whines, almost squeaky sounding, protruded from the girl's throat.
"Hey there cutie..." Yang murmured, finger gently brushing into the little girl's locks of obsidian. "Sure you're not an owl?"
"Yang, shut up." Blake groaned quietly.
"You just wait until she's old enough to parrot what I say." Yang grinned before Blake opened her eyes again with a slightly murderous look.
Whatever retort Blake had died on her lips when Weiss issued her own threat. "You just wait until I teach Bianca to make your hair glow pretty colors."
Yang rolled her eyes, ignoring the jibe as her voice got quiet again. "So that's her name, huh?"
"Yes." Weiss replied just as softly. "Bianca Schnee-Belladonna." The baby girl, was the second to be born. At hearty five pounds three ounces.
Just like both of her brothers, she also had jet black hair, and Faunus ears. It was her impossibly fare skin, like delicate porcelain, that so resembled Weiss. That, and her clear blue eyes. Weiss wondered if they might stay that way, or, if over time, she would inherit Blake's golden hue. All of the cubs had a distinctive personality, but it was hers that seemed most pronounced, or, at least the most demanding.
She certainly made herself known to her mother as she fussed again, as soon as that thumb on her back stilled for any length of time, even as Blake was drifting back off to sleep.
"Goodnight everyone." Yang murmured, ever so carefully clicked the heater up another notch before she unrolled her own sleeping bag in the hallway next to her sister.
"Goodnight." Weiss said, making her way to the bedding. She maneuvered the blankets just enough to slip in beside Blake before unwrapping their son from his swaddled blanket. Laying him ever so carefully against her she pulling the sheet over the both of them.
However, it was the last of the cubs, and the smallest of the bunch that they had all worried about. Even now, Blake held the boy close to her breast in case he decided on a late night snack at any moment. Wycliff Schnee-Belladonna, the four pound, eleven ounce lightweight. He was frail looking, and much smaller in size than his brother and sister, tiny tail curled into a C shape.
It was no wonder why Blake seemed to want to keep him almost perpetually in the breast, or that he was more than happy to latch himself there, even when he wasn't suckling. Weiss reached over to stroke his cheek, smiling to herself when he nuzzled his nose into the palm of her hand.
Every few moments, Blake stirred from her sleep. Both parents found it impossible to sleep, and it seemed fitting that their first night as a family was one of the longest they had ever known.
Weiss was the first to rise when her eldest started mewling a few hours later, Blake following soon after. It took a moment for the groggy parents to trade offspring, Weiss sleepily cradling her daughter who was now crying in earnest over being moved from the warm place she had been sleeping. Weiss had the distinct impression these crying fits would become common place among feedings. She prayed at least one of them would learn to be receptive to the idea of a baby bottle, but that was a fight for another time.
With her one free hand, Weiss adjusted the pillow behind Blake's back, to help prop the woman up as she yawned tiredly. "And so it begins..."
"What time is it?" Blake asked, blearily looking around the room, only to see that something had been draped over the clock sitting in the corner.
"Seven in the morning." Winter replied as she stood from her spot in the corner. "Time to go round the house up for breakfast."
"Let them sleep." Weiss said with a shake of her head, she was keen on getting more rest as soon as possible herself.
"Very well…" Winter replied, looking to her niece who had calmed down somewhat, but was still issuing catlike complaints at being moved. Her mews for her mother were sharp and pointed. Weiss was trying to quiet her daughter, but the tiny Faunus wanted none of it. "Would you like me to get the two of you anything?"
"Some breakfast." Weiss said slowly, trying to think several steps ahead, not an easy task when trying to soothe an upset child. "Oh, and my laptop. I want to make sure the documentation got filed as it should have been."
"Their birth records, and starting health file, you mean. I'll look everything over, and notify the government." Winter instructed, her hand help up in a fashion that welcomed no argument. "I assume that's what you planned to do, correct?"
"Yes, thank you." Weiss said, rousing herself from the warmth of their bed to fish out the changing supplies, hoping a fresh diaper might settle her youngster.
"I'll be back then." Winter exited quietly, closing the door behind her.
Alone once more for the first time since the ordeal began, Blake finally felt an inexplicable weight on her shoulders fall away. She couldn't particularly explain it, other than she felt safe again, truly so. The protected space she meticulously marked was no longer being disturbed by guests. There was a comfort that resided in the territorial recesses of her mind, and she could feel the shift in her cubs as well…
Innate instincts told them that this was the way things should be.
With both sons in her arms, and Weiss tending to the care of their daughter, Blake ever so carefully nestled her smallest child into the warm bedding. Then she took to the long, and repetitive task of marking her eldest son as he suckled. Her thumb running gently across his forehead, neck, and shoulders. She did this for several long moments, the action as relaxing to her son, as it was to her.
"It's about time we kept the room closed off." Blake said then, feeling as though any intrusion would bring back the unwelcome sense of alertness that she couldn't simply ignore. As though, the moment she truly relaxed for good, something unwelcome would happen. It was a strange thing to feel, and she wondered if humans felt that way too, though she didn't have one she could ask.
"Do you want me to open the top hatch?" Weiss asked.
Blake seemed to think on it. No, she didn't want to have even half of the dutch door open…but, Weiss was their sire, and she had some level of decision-making over how quickly the cubs would be introduced to the outside world. They were young, and this was the ideal time to cultivate powerful bonds. That anyone else would share in this special phase, at least to the Faunus mind, seemed unpleasant. "Do we have to?"
"No." Weiss said as she came back to the bed. "We don't have to."
"Then, I'd prefer if we didn't." Blake decided then. "I'd like to keep the top half shut too. Everyone had the chance to greet our cubs, and now it's our time to bond."
"I'll sent a text, and let them know." Weiss said, giving Blake a gentle peck on the lips.
AYangThang: Since this needs to be clarified, the names and definitions are as follows:
Bianca- Italian and it means Blanca White...or off-white... and is a nod to the Monochrome pairing itself...
Wycliff- An English/British name. It means White Rocks.
Finley - Means White for male. For Females it means "White haired warrior".