Ch 3: Emotional Blizzards

It was a nice day outside and both inhabitants of the home were off for the day. Ruby was sitting on the couch with the sun beaming in, messing with some game on her scroll online against her uncle. She really didn't play many video games anymore but she still enjoyed it from time to time with Qrow. Weiss had been in the study working on a few things before getting a message on her scroll.

She shut everything down and began heading towards the living room, "Ruby. She's almost here."

She rounded the corner and frowned at the younger woman, folding her arms, "Are you sticking around this time or are you planning to miss her again?"

Ruby glared at Weiss. It was not a good look for the usually cheery woman and it was definitely foreign on her face. The younger woman sat up and closed her scroll before standing, "I think I'll go with just missing her again thanks."

Weiss sighed and closed her eyes so Ruby wouldn't have to see how upset she was by this. The older woman looked tired, having skipped any makeup today. Her dark circles and sickly pale skin made her look very ill. Ruby stopped next to Weiss, her face switching to one of concern as she touched Weiss's cheek, "Weiss, are you doing ok today? Maybe you should cancel and go back to bed? I can make you some soup. Have you reached out to the doctor yet about it? I can call if you need."

Pale fingers touched Ruby's briefly before she moved away stubbornly, "I most certainly will not! I want to see my sister, I need to see her. I would think you'd understand. I already called the doctor and that's why I've been home so much. If it gets worse we can worry but for now I just need to relax until the next appointment."

Ruby bit her lip. She was torn about Winter but she understood what Weiss was saying about needing her sister. She looked over all the telltale signs of the fact Weiss was pretty sick but didn't want to rile her up and make things worse, "If your…"

She was cut off by the front door. With their families, they generally created a common understanding to knock when you arrive then let yourself in. Ruby turned her head towards the knock and door opening, her distaste showing again on her face. Weiss was about to say something to her when Winter stepped into view, in her arms a young girl a bit over a year in age smiling and clung to Winter as the two different colored eyes glanced towards her aunt.

"Winter! I'm so glad you made it!" Weiss said with a bright smile, relaxing her body into something less frustrated.

Ruby forced a smile, which wasn't exactly done smoothly or subtly, as she walked towards the front door as Winter greeted her younger sister in return before watching Ruby pass her, "Hello Weiss. It's good to see you again. Ruby… are you leaving? I had hoped to spend time with you as well."

Ruby shrugged, "Ooo sorry Winter but I have somewhere to be and I was just leaving. Shoot maybe next time."

A brow rose from the woman as Weiss frowned unseen from Winter, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Winter watched Ruby at the door, "Bye Weiss, I love you! I'll be back tonight!"

A frustrated sigh left her wife, "Yes I love you too you dolt. You'd better go finally give the news to your father!"

Ruby limply waved at Weiss as she closed the door, her wife grunting, "Ugh… that woman…"

Winter chuckled a bit, "She still hates me I see."

Weiss closed her eyes before relaxing her body and smiling when she opened them again, walking over and taking the child that was happily reaching out for her, "She… just hates that you won't tell her uncle about this whittle cutie here."

The child giggled as Weiss hugged her close with a grin. When she looked back at her sister, her face saddened. Winter looked torn between annoyance and sorrow, a look that ran in the family one could assume, "Winter… It's your baby and your choice but it's her family too. She won't say anything but that doesn't mean she will like it. Ruby and Yang are still pretty irritated by your decision but they respect the fact that it's not their place to say anything. I think she's just… really doesn't want to feel involved with it all. She feels like she's betraying him."

Winter just nodded, hating how it felt to talk about it all and quickly adjusting to change the subject, "I assume we are going to be having decaf today all things considered?"

The two went out back to the back porch after Winter made them a pot of coffee while Weiss entertained her niece, "I still can't get over her hair and eyes. It's pretty incredible. Strong genes on both sides I guess."

Winter didn't respond. Her daughter, Dove, had a bright blue left eye and a red right eye, her hair was white on the left and black on the right. It often made Weiss wonder what her child was going to look like. Of course she wasn't silly enough to think it would be the same situation. Dove's physical traits were incredibly rare. But would her child have her hair or Ruby's? Or would they be a blonde like Ruby's dad? Would they have silver eyes too? What about the Schnee family semblance? As she lazily tickled Dove, Winter broke her from her thoughts with two cups of hot coffee in her hands, "Let's go sit shall we?"

They went out to the back porch and they took seats, Winter handing Dove a favored toy to give Weiss a chance at a free hand for her coffee. She observed her sister's ill state, face softening, "Weiss, are you alright? What did your doctor say?"

After a short sip from her coffee, and a mild frown at still not being able to adjust to decaf, she rubbed her tired eyes, "He wants me to keep a close eye and if it gets any worse he wants to see me right away. I don't want to worry Ruby so please don't say anything. I kind of made it sound a bit more… light than it is. She just gets stressed so easily. And that won't help anyone."

Winter gave Weiss a sincere look, "Just… she's your wife Weiss. Don't keep her in the dark about anything serious alright? She may not like me right now but there's no one I'd trust could take care of you better than she can."

Winter was met with a soft smile and nod as Dove nibbled on the toy watching them from Weiss's hold. The older woman watched them for a bit before smirking over the brim of her coffee cup, "So, almost out of your first trimester… when are you going to tell Mom?"

The sounds of choking came from Weiss as she set the cup down and covered her mouth, frowning at Winter as the woman snickered once Weiss was ok, "Winter! Ugh see that's actually what I wanted to discuss. See I'm in a bit of a situation. Mom and I have really been repairing things over the years. I want to tell Klein before Mom but I know if I do, Mom is going to be very hurt. Would Mom be upset if I just told them both at once?"

Winter rolled her eyes, causing Weiss to frown and glare, "What?! I'm serious!"

Winter was laughing now, "That's why it's so charming Weiss. I just really admire the woman you have become. We have both grown so much away from Father's corruption over the years, or brother too. If you'd have asked me when you got accepted into Beacon that you would become who you are today, any of us really, I would have found it utterly preposterous, insulting even. And now, you found love in a woman who adores you, you are going to be a mother. You even changed your last name, something I thought you would never do. I think Mom and Klein will be happy just to know, no matter who you tell first. Mom isn't naive. She knows Klein basically raised you and Whitley. I think she will understand so long as you don't keep her in the dark for too long. And I'm sure she would love to know that you were considering her feelings when deciding."

Weiss felt a smile creep onto her lips as Dove giggled at her, "Thanks Winter. I'll be sure to do that."

The baby yawned and squirmed restlessly. Dove wasn't much of a cranky baby, rather calm when tired and could fall asleep anywhere anytime. As she leaned into her aunt and closed her eyes, she quickly drifted off, causing the two women to beam happily. Weiss stood gently, "I'll go lay her down for a nap and we can have lunch before you leave?"

Winter nodded, watching Weiss carefully. She had to admit, her little sister always did so well with her daughter. When Weiss was out of view into the house, she gathered their dishes and brought them in to wash them. The two settled on cooking something simple together, Winter elbowing her sweetly, "For the record, I think you are going to be a great mother Weiss."

Her younger sibling smiled at her, her hormones having her teary eyed and emotional as they prepared food. After they ate and Dove woke, Weiss saw Winter off. Once alone, she sent Klein a message asking him to get her mother and call Weiss.

She sat on her couch, nervous to tell her mom and the man who basically raised her like an actual loving parent the news. When the scroll rang and she answered, their joyous greetings quickly shifted to concern, "My dear, you look ill. Is everything alright?"

She took a deep breath, "As alright as a pregnant woman can be I guess?"

The two were stunned then the rest of the call was just filled with details, congratulations and catching up. She let them think she was just tired so that she wouldn't worry them either. When Weiss hung up, she took a deep breath, feeling worn out, and laid her head back on the back of the couch, closing her eyes and trying to keep herself from suddenly being swallowed by worry while sitting in the house completely alone, her head dizzy. Even though she wanted to trust she was ok, she felt even worse by this point today, "Ruby…"

—-

Yang was currently at her father's for dinner when Ruby had left her house. When Ruby gave her a call, Yang stepped away to her old room, "Hey Rubes! What's u… oh hey are you ok?"

Ruby's grumpy face had caused the blonde to go from grinning to a frown and raised brow. If Ruby was calling her with such a sour face, it had to be related to Weiss in some fashion, even if it didn't happen very often. The younger girl nearly growled in irritation, rubbing her face to try to relax it, "Ugh… I'll be fine… Winter is just at the house and I don't want to talk to her."

The blonde's face also went sour almost instantly. She was even more disinterested in the woman and baby than Ruby, if that were possible, "Oh. Oof. Yea I get ya. Well hey! I'm over at Dad's. Want to come join us for a meal?"

Ruby poked her finger into her cheek in thought before shrugging, "Yea alright. That could be fun! Oh hey Yang, have you… ya know told Dad yet about Blake?"

"Uh… no not yet. I was actually going to do that tonight at dinner. Have you?" Yang responded. So far, they hadn't told anyone but they had tickets to actually go visit Menagerie to go tell Blake's parents via boat first thing in the wee hours morning.

Ruby got a nervous expression and rubbed the back of her neck as she climbed into her and Weiss's car, "Eheh I was actually hoping to tell him right after you that way he'd be too excited to treat me like you did."

Yang frowned, her metal hand resting on her hip, "Ruby… I'm not your scapegoat you know!"

If her life was an anime, Ruby would be visibly sweat dropping right now, "Yannnggggg! You know how Dad can be!"

Her sister glared a bit longer before she broke and started to laugh, "Yea ok. Well hurry it up over here then!"

Ruby made her way to her father's home. By the time she got there, Yang and Tai were just finishing up cooking and were setting the table. Tai gave her a warm smile as he walked over to hug his youngest when she walked in, "Hey! There's my little hero! Yang said you were coming too!"

His hug was nice of course but his affections tended to make his daughters feel a bit like he was too much. A frown tugged one side of her mouth and she glared lightly at him, "Dadddd! I'm not little!"

Yang was laughing at them, "Give it up Rubes! He did the same thing to me. You can't win."

The younger woman managed to wiggle free of the prolonged embrace, her father giving a joking whine, "Aw come on girls! A father can't be happy to see his girls?"

That made the sisters chuckle as everyone settled down into their seats. During the meal, Ruby checked her scroll. There was a reminder to tell her father from her wife, making her sigh slightly internally. It's not like her Dad had a right to be mad at her, he was her age when Raven got pregnant with Yang after all. Even still, he had this overbearing way of treating Ruby in particular that annoyed her that he didn't even have with Yang.

Her sister noticed her behavior, Ruby starting to pick at the small remainder of food with her fork. She rolled her eyes briefly before she finished up her last bite, clearing her throat, "So Dad, I have some big news to share with you."

When their father perked up and looked at Yang with interest, Ruby noticed Yang give her a reassuring wink before she indulged the now curious man, "Me and Blake are going to have a baby."

His eyes widened, confusion lit them at first but then he grew the biggest smile not worried about the details of such a feat and stood, stepping over to Yang and smothering her in a big hug, "That's great! Though, I feel a bit young to be a grandpa!"

Yang gave a playful punch to his arm when he let go, "Oh get over yourself old man!"

Even Ruby was snickering now, watching them cut up about the good news but she didn't miss Yang eyeing her and giving subtle head nods to their father. Ruby took a breath and gave a smile of her own, "Well… I'm glad you're excited to be a grandpa because Weiss and I are also having one too."

At first, she had succeeded in catching him off guard and he stepped over to hug her tightly as well. But as the seconds passed, his face changed and he went still, arms moving to fold across his chest. He was giving her a look of disappointment and was about to speak when she frowned, "Oh come on!"

"Ruby. Aren't you a bit young?"

"You were my age when you found out about Yang! And I'm at least married!" Ruby argued, staring at her dad as she stood up.

His disapproval didn't falter, if anything she seemed to have struck a nerve, "You've only been married for a year! My life doesn't mean it should be your life!"

His oldest frowned. This almost felt like he was calling her a mistake. She also couldn't stand when anyone other than herself gave Ruby a hard time, even if it was their father. It's not like he had done a great job himself so what room did he have to talk? She watched the two practically squaring up and stood up slamming her hand on the table, "That's enough! Dad, Ruby isn't a kid anymore and I'm not that much older then her. She;s right, you were her age when I was conceived and I turned out fine! And it's not like Ruby just happened to accidentally get her wife pregnant like you did with a girlfriend. They had to plan for this and take tons of steps. In fact, if not for the steps and efforts they made, me and Blake wouldn't be having a kid either! So back off and be happy for her just like you were for me. It's going to be fine."

The younger woman placed her hands on her hips and both women gave Tai an expecting look waiting for him to get over himself. At first he didn't cave but after a moment, he let out a deep sigh of defeat, "You're right Yang. Ruby, I'm sorry. Come on let's all sit back down for dessert yea? I want to hear all about it, for both of you."

His girls nodded and the air relaxed. They spent the rest of their visit answering his curious questions, though leaving out the more intimate details of the processes, and helped clean up before they left.

—-

It was really late when Ruby got in so she wasn't at all surprised that the house was dark and quiet. She was surprised however to find her wife asleep on the couch sitting up, her head awkwardly lulled over to the side. A loving soft hint of a smile graced the younger woman's face. She kicked off her boots and left them at the door along with her cloak before quietly walking over to Weiss. The woman looked so exhausted. Ruby gently moved hair out of Weiss's face before kissing her forehead lightly as those tired blues lightly looked at her, Weiss waking a bit at the affection ever the light sleeper since she got pregnant, "R…Ruby? What time is it?"

Ruby smiled a bit more, eyes glowing with her love for this woman as she gently scooped Weiss into her arms, looking down at her and lifting her up, "It doesn't matter. Shhh go back to sleep. You need it. I'll take care of you Princess."

Weiss over the years had grown to love that pet name from her red clad owner of her own heart. Her heavy lids closed again and she leaned her head on Ruby's chest as the woman carried her to bed, whispering, "You cheesy dolt…"

She was so tired and every inch of her body felt weak and ached similar to how one might feel with the flu even though she knew she was in the clear for something like that. Those strong arms felt so safe and Ruby's calm heartbeat in her ear was so soothing that she was struggling to stay awake for the short walk. Luckily, Ruby's light chuckle at Weiss's words shook her enough to help. She wanted to talk to Ruby plus her hormonal emotions had her missing this woman all day something fierce. A weak shaky hand reached and touched Ruby's cheek lightly, "Did you tell your father?"

Soft bedding greeted Weiss's back as Ruby laid her down, humming positively as her response before kissing Weiss's forehead again. She was glad she could tell with the kiss that Weiss didn't have a fever or anything. That was good, meant she wasn't sick right? Weiss tried to sit up but Ruby didn't let her, rubbing the shoulder she held down gently but firmly before getting a slightly annoyed sigh in response.

As her wife covered her eyes with her arm, Ruby worked on getting her out of her clothing and into the woman's usual nightgown. Her hands were committed to the task but sweetly delicate. Once Weiss was properly dressed for sleep, Ruby got herself changed then aimed to go put their clothing into the hamper to not leave a mess Weiss would be mad about later, "I'll be right back Princess, please just rest."

When she turned, those slender pale fingers of her loved one wrapped around her wrist and her ears picked up of sad sniffling, "Ruby please… don't go…"

When she looked, she instantly submitted to the plea, seeing the emotional tears on Weiss's face and those longing beautiful orbs staring at her begging Ruby to comply. She had gotten used to the fact Weiss's emotions were a mess already and knew it wasn't going to change for now but she had also really stepped up to being good about dealing with it, shrugging off any unjustified rage and consoling any unexplained sadness.

The blankets pulled back and Ruby tucked in close to Weiss, gently holding the woman who was curling into her and softly crying, "Alright Weiss… I'm not going anywhere I promise. Now please try to rest. I know you're tired."

Weiss softly cried herself back to sleep clinging to Ruby, her mind troubled with the fears that something more could be wrong then anyone or the doctor thinks. It was scary but she wouldn't talk to anyone about it, worried if she spoke it out loud she would only make it true. When Ruby felt Weiss's grip slack and could hear the breathing even out she reached a hand to wipe Weiss's wet cheeks and just watched the love of her life sleep for a bit.

She knew Weiss had a rampage of something going on in her head that she wouldn't say but she didn't dare ask again. The last time she did, Weiss was quickly spurred into a hormonal anger and had put Ruby in a literal and metaphorical dog house, forcing the woman out into the pool house for the rest of the day and night until her mood swung back into neediness the next morning.

That was definitely not something Ruby ever wanted again, especially when she was worried about keeping an eye on Weiss's current health. She tucked her forehead against her wife's and let sleep take her over with a quiet sigh.

—-

Weiss woke in the early hours of the dark morning feeling absolutely awful, sharp pain radiating from her lower abdomen. It immediately spun panic inside her. She pulled loose of Ruby's arms and stood, her legs screaming at her not wanting to hold her up. Stumbling, she made it to their bathroom connected to the room and closed the door enough to leave a small crack before flipping on the light.

Just in case it was nothing to be too worried about, she didn't want Ruby waking up. It wasn't like it was the first time something hurt but it was the first time it was this severe. She leaned herself against their massive clawfoot tub and panted, legs shaking. Another intense sharp spike to her pain came like the one that woke her and she grunted, her grip on the edge of the porcelain turned her knuckles ghostly white.

As she looked down to the area in question, she could feel how terrified she was now. Her heart was racing and she was sweating even though it was cold in their room and bathroom. When she willed her eyes to search her own body, everything in her brain triggered all the alarms in her thoughts and all she could do was scream out for Ruby.

The younger woman woke quickly at the sounds of Weiss screaming her name with more need and fear than she had ever heard come out of the usually well composed woman she was in love with. It made her fly into action before she could even think, flying through the bathroom door with her semblance leaving petals in her wake.

When she stopped and looked at Weiss her eyes widened and horror filled her every fiber of her being, causing her to freeze for the briefest of moments before panic gripped her. Blood. So much blood all over Weiss's thighs and the floor she was sitting on by their tub, her hip area of her nightgown saturated with a blotch of it. Weiss's hands bloody from the floor she clearly had leaned against judging by the smeared prints in it but were now wrapped around herself as she was hunched over in her pain.

She was sobbing loudly and frantically pleading over and over again for Ruby's help, "Ruby! Ruby help me. Please help. Ruby, it hurts so much! I'm scared please do something please!"

In a flurry of petals, Ruby grabbed Weiss into her arms and darted outside, not even bothering with shoes or keys as her semblance could get her to the nearby hospital so much faster than the roads and car. Weiss was shaking violently in her arms, still frantic and crying as Ruby rushed them to the hospital, flying into the doors and to the counter causing a scare in the nurses.

Her face was intense as she leaned over the desk, "I need help now! Please, it's my wife, something's wrong! She's pregnant and there's blood everywhere, please do something!"

In seconds the nurses flew into action, getting Weiss into a bed and getting a doctor to her. Sadly, they had kicked Ruby out of the room for it, needing the space and ability to focus on the task at hand despite both women shouting in resistance. The younger woman paced madly outside for the longest time before eventually sitting in a chair outside the door, her leg bouncing rapidly as she gripped her face and leaned into her elbows rested on the arms of the chair, grunts of impatience constantly being aired. She had tried to call Yang to get some support while she waited in agony but Yang was already far enough out on the boat with Blake to not have signal for a while, which caused Ruby to toss her scroll across the hall and shatter it only adding to her frustrations.

After what felt like an eternity, the doctor stepped out to see Ruby, the young woman flying to her feet and instantly bombarding the man, "Well!? Is my wife ok?! Is our baby ok!? What happened to her!?"