WARNING!!! Exactly one 'monkey' was harmed in the making of this chapter!
If That's the Baby...
Winter break was upon us at Beacon Academy.
It's been roughly a year and a half since Jaune and I got married. And in that time, we had our first (and only) major 'marital struggle' which involved the wonderful bundle of joy who should be waking from his nap any minute now.
Solomon Ghira Arc. He had my hair and ears. Jaune's eyes weren't the only thing our kitten got from my hubby, Sol had his father's strength too.
The issue was, during my pregnancy, that I was craving a certain meat. One that my beloved husband refused to share on account of not wanting to put our child at risk. Which, in hindsight, is perfectly understandable.
Didn't stop me from 'trying' to shatter his pelvis after recovering from experiencing the miracle of life...
"Khoowah..."
I smiled to myself as I walked over to my child's playpen.
We were situated in a specialty dorm in Beacon meant for couples with kids. Thankfully, someone had the foresight to have these built in academies where the phrase 'You don't wanna die a virgin' is commonplace given the profession studied within.
It was less a dorm, and more of an apartment now that I think about it.
We had our own kitchen!
"Hey Sol, you ready for a snack?" I cooed, holding up a cookie.
It was not just any cookie, but a homemade cookie specifically for Arc children. I learned the recipe from Jaune's mother, Gaea.
A.K.A., literal Mother Nature herself.
Yeah, I was surprised too.
Though that did explain a lot.
Anyways, these cookies were meant for her children to help acclimate them to solids while keeping them occupied. Due to their extreme hardness, they aren't really safe for us mortals to eat unless you have steel teeth. As Ruby found out the hard way and almost broke a tooth.
It was pretty funny if I'm being honest.
And it got even funnier when Jaune decided to be a tease and ate one in front of her right after her failed snack-theft.
After handing over the treat to my son, I heard a knock on the door to Jaune and my dorm.
'Who could that be? Jaune shouldn't be back for at least another thirty minutes...'
I set down the cookie jar on the counter before making my way to the door. Opening it revealed the confident face of an old acquaintance.
Sun Wukong.
"Oh! Sun! Hi! It's been a while," I greeted.
There was only one reason as to why he was here.
"Hey Blake, is Jaune here?" He asked.
There it was. After the news of Jaune and my marriage and pregnancy had reached Sun, he immediately challenged Jaune to a duel to 'steal me back'.
Yeah. The epitome of stupid. I know.
And I thought Cardin was an idiot.
Of course, Jaune turned him down on several occasions over the scroll.
But hey, you can't fix stupid.
"He'll be back any time now," I answer. "You're really dead set on this?"
"Of course! I've been training all year!" Sun proudly declared with a confident pose.
"Right... Well, come on in..." I tiredly sighed, rolling my eyes. 'It's your funeral...'
"Bah! Bah!" Solomon called out, seeing our guest. He was still nibbling on his cookie, roughly a third of it remained.
"So this is your son, huh? Cute," Sun walked up to the baby after snagging a cookie from the jar nonchalantly. 'Oh this is gonna be good...'
"Hey little fella, I'm gonna be your new stepdad soon..."
'Like Hell you are!'
Sun then took a bite...
Kra-AK!!!
Or at least, he tried to...
"What was that?" I asked, pretending to not have seen Sun break a tooth or three on the cookie.
"What was what?" He returned, acting like nothing had happened. I think I see a tear in his eye.
Sun set the undamaged cookie down on a napkin.
"Mind if I use your bathroom?" He asked.
"Go ahead..."
He power-walked straight towards it and almost slammed the door. Not three seconds later did I hear muffled screaming. I chuckled.
Looking over at the uneaten cookie, I saw not a scratch on it which gave me an idea as Solomon finished off his own and took a swig of apple juice from the sippy cup I had placed in the pen earlier during his nap.
"Hey Sol, ready for another cookie?" I offered the one that Sun had tried to eat (wiped off, of course) as soon as I saw the bathroom door open.
The absolute horror in Sun's eyes as he watched my baby munch down on his treat was extremely gratifying.
"Yeah, these cookies are baked extra hard to help Sol here get used to eating solids," I explained. "Good thing you didn't try to take a bite yet, else you might've 'chipped' a tooth, huh?"
And Yang says I can't pun.
"Oh? Ye-yeah... Good thing..." Sun stammered while walking up to Jaune's son, watching him in mortified awe as Solomon happily nibbled on his second cookie. Right before doing something, if he knew any better, incredibly foolish.
He reached a hand out to pat Solomon's head.
"Tough little guy, ain't'cha?" He said, regaining his confidence.
Only for Solomon to do as babies are often want to do.
He got a little grabby.
Grasping Sun's finger tightly, I could have sworn I heard a quiet 'crunch' followed by a soft whine.
Looks like somebody forgot to bring his aura up. Thankfully, Solomon is instinctively gentle with me as his mother. Jaune, his sisters, and his mother were really the only ones who could safely interact with him without their aura up.
"Strong too, eh?" Sun quipped in a tight voice, desperately trying to keep it together.
'Time for the finishing blow...'
"Yeah... He's just like his father..."
My cat ears barely picked up the deathly quiet whisper-shriek.
"His father... If this is the baby... What's his dad like?" Sun asked himself with every drop of blood draining from his face. Even his hair was starting to look white.
"Hey Blake! I'm back!" My husband's voice called out.
With a terrified shriek, Sun shot out of our dorm so fast, I almost thought he teleported.
"What was that?" Jaune quizzically asked.
"Oh nothing. Solomon was just scaring off a pest..." I answered coyly before pecking my Darling on the lips. "Got it all on film too." I added with a pointed nod at my scroll propped up on the counter.
"Really? Good job Sol," Jaune praised.
"Dag-da!"
"Did he just try calling me 'Dad'?"
AND SCENE!!!
Yep, this chapter was greatly inspired by the story of Finn Mac Cool. Or, Fionn mac Cumhail if you are Irish.
I'm thinking one more chapter before calling this quits.
See you then!
Omake: "Happy spouse, happy house."
It has been two weeks, three days, eight hours, five minutes, and twenty-two and a half seconds since the birth of Solomon Ghira Arc.
Jaune was currently in his new dorm's kitchen preparing dinner when his wife, Blake, slammed the door open.
"Oh hey Blake. I just set the table. Where's Sol?"
Blake marched straight up to Jaune with a fire in her eyes.
"With my team. You. Bed. Now."
"Blake, I just made dinner! It'll-!"
"IT TIME SNU-SNU."
"Yes ma'am..."