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"So…" I started. I didn't sit down. I stood by the door awkwardly.
"So?" Taiyang wondered. He stared me down with folded arms while I waited for Ruby to finish what she was doing in the kitchen.
I imagined if I said something like 'your daughter is pretty hot, right?' That wouldn't go over very well. What the fresh fuck are you supposed to say to the guy who's little girl you're banging on the regular? I was trying to knock her up. Sure, I was marrying her. But I was also fucking her. So what did I say? Oh, also I killed this guy's first wife in one on one combat. So there was that.
"Ruby must have gotten most of her looks from her mom. Summer, right?" I finished. "I mean… I see where Yang got it. In both you and Raven Branwen. But Ruby must have taken mostly after her mother."
"You knew Raven?" He asked.
"I… I fought her twice. I killed her the second time. I have her sword… do you… do you want it?" I asked. I was unsure about what protocol was.
He sighed and looked away. "I didn't know that about you. No. I don't want it. It's yours by all rights. And Ruby does take after more Summer than me. It's a good thing. It reminds me of her."
I nodded a little. "Couldn't have been easy with how she wanted to be a huntress. With how both of your girls wanted to be hunters. I hope… I hope my kids choose something else."
"It wasn't a walk in the park. I worry about them but I had to let them go. I couldn't hold them back," he agreed. "But you're planning on having kids? With Ruby?"
I nodded. "Ruby wants four. Weiss wants two. They want to drown me. I think."
"You're a lucky guy."
"You… Everyone says that. But they wouldn't if they really knew me. You feel me?"
Taiyang laughed. "A little bit."
"Ruby and Weiss are all I really have. I lost everyone else. And if I lost them I'd lose it in a bad, bad way. I… I have some real power behind me and I've done some pretty terrible stuff with it before when no one was able to stop me. And we'll see how I fucking handle kids."
"Ruby trusts you with it. That counts for something."
"Ruby trusts a little too easily," I bit out. We both knew it.
He sighed. "Maybe. You took off with her to Mistral. That was you."
"Back then I thought they were just her enemies and it was my place to serve beside her. It was my honor to serve her and hound her enemies like a dog." I thumbed the wolf stud in my right ear.
"But they weren't just her enemies. Ozpin's enemies," he nodded. "I don't know the details like Qrow and Summer did."
"My family are those enemies. I defected from them. I fight them now. I… I lead the fight in many ways. It's my responsibility to fight them. It will kill me. And Ruby and Weiss are trying to squeeze as much life out of me as they can before I bite it fighting something like Ozpin's enemies or something for the council."
"You run errands for the council?"
"They pay well enough and it's sort of my duty. The money can't buy what I really want but it pays for pretty much everything else pretty handily for my ladies."
"Summer used to run those sorts of missions," he breathed. He slumped on the couch and looked tired. "I'm sure Ruby worries about you."
"Ruby worries about literally everyone. But yeah. She worries about me. But it's… it's really only a matter of time. You know? Until I run into something too big for me to handle. And there's no one who can really bail me out if I'm in a bad way. But in the meantime I have my women and a pretty good job."
"Beacon, right?" He asked.
I nodded. I walked over into his family room. I folded my arms in front of my chest and listened to Ruby work in the kitchen. She was after the old pots and pans and sheets which belonged to her mother. She wanted them at our house. It wasn't far. Just a thirty minute drive.
"Well, you seem like a good kid…" he murmured.
"But looks can be deceiving," I finished and shot back under my breath. I leveled a glare at him which he met with stupid, tired apathy.
"Ruby's an adult. She can make her own decisions," he whispered. "She always wanted a big family and I'm glad she's getting it. Raising kids is safer than hunting."
"It's just as hard, though. Isn't it."
"It's harder," he corrected lowly.
"I was worried about that," I nodded. "And I suspected as much," I sighed. "Luckily I'll have Ruby and Weiss to bail me out of a bad situation. Set me straight when I'm wrong."
"Are you sure about that?"
"That or this world stops being my problem. I lost it before. I know what would shatter me again. Losing Weiss or Ruby would be intolerable. I literally couldn't handle it."
"Kids change you," he disagreed.
"Vale would be gone. No one could stop me from tearing down cities in my madness. Atlas and Mistral too. It would break me and I would level mountains out of spite."
"Kids change you," he repeated even more quietly.
"Nothing could change this," I disagreed. "We call that checkmate."
"Maybe. If you have kids, they could ground you. Keep you sane," he murmured. "My kids kept me sane. Both times."
"I would break. I'm already glass. Ruby has no idea how fragile I am and how she holds me together. She's my moral compass. I would perish. I couldn't do what you did. Luckily I'm the one slated for death. I couldn't handle it if it was one of them."
"We don't really have a choice. I had to keep going for my little girls. I didn't have a choice. I had to let Summer and Raven go. I had to push forward. They were so wonderful and they held me together but I had to keep going for my little girls."
"Not so little anymore."
"No. Not so little anymore. Now she's somebody else's sweetheart. And I just have to trust that she's making the right decision for herself with who she chooses. You seem like a good kid but I sort of have to take it on faith."
"Sounds hard."
"Wait until you have a little girl of your own," the words dripped from his lips like an ancient curse. I imagined it stretching all the way back to the dawn of time. From father to son in law. "Then tell that to me."
"Weiss wants a little girl. A boy and a girl. I'm not sure if she wants both bad enough to do some in vitro bullshit. But I know that's what she wants. And Ruby I think is up for dealing with whatever hand she gets dealt."
"Six is a lot."
"It is. And they'll probably have to do most of the work without me. Especially if I bite it."
"But you want to give it to them?"
"I'd do anything for them. I'd even fight my family and try to walk away for them. It's so easy to say. 'I'd do anything for you.' But would I actually? Would I kill my friends if they asked me to? I'm having kids for them. Because they want it. And that's pretty hard. Maybe it's even the hardest task that they could ask me to do. You know?"
He nodded like he got it.
"I'm gonna fail. Whether I beat my family or not, I will fail to be a good enough parent. It's literally impossible to do a good enough job," I monologued.
"I take offense to that. I did good enough," he protested.
"You're not allowed to be offended because did you?" I shot back. I didn't quite accuse him but I made it clear that I disagreed. "Or could you have done better?"
He said nothing. He scratched his scraggly chin but wouldn't meet my gaze.
"How do I do it?" I asked him. "How do I do a good enough job? On top of all my other responsibilities?"
"You can't," he murmured, shaking his head. "You will fail," he promised. His voice was barely above a whisper.
"I knew it," I breathed. "But I have to try anyway. They're asking me to try anyway. They want me to try. They really honestly believe I can be a good father even with all my other bullshit. And I can't talk them out of it. And I've tried. And I would do anything for them. And it scares the living shit out of me. Even more than my family does."
"Good. You should be scared. Six," he reminded me. He gave me a kindly smile.
"Thank the gods I have two of them to support me or I would be fucked."
"But then again you wouldn't be having six without the two of them."
"You been to our place yet?" I asked.
He shook his head.
"You're welcome to swing by. Big empty house to fill with all those little ones. That's the plan."
"The wedding is there as well, isn't it?" He confirmed.
I nodded. "It is. That's the accord, at least. As far as I'm aware. Most of the planning is those two. I'm sort of just along for the ride."
"They both taking your name?" He asked.
"Yeah. Both of them. I suppose I had better ask for your blessing."
"Is that how you ask me?"
"Yeah. It is."
He sighed heavily. "Did you ask Weiss's dad for his blessing to marry her?"
"Weiss isn't on speaking terms with her father. I was going to ask the man she chose to walk her down the aisle. A butler who actually raised her named Klein."
"So you don't intend to ask her father?"
"No. She hates her pop. She couldn't care less if I had his blessing or not so I don't care about asking for it."
"But you do care about mine? And this other man's? Klein's?"
"To an extent. Ruby wants to marry me. I'm gonna marry her. You can either give me your blessing or you can not. But I'm gonna marry her regardless because I love her and she loves me. It's still your choice to give me the blessing or not."
"But it doesn't really matter. You'd marry her anyway."
"I'd like your blessing. Ruby cares what you think. That counts for something."
"And I'm supposed to give it to you off of one conversation?"
"You got to take me on faith. Isn't that what you said? And yeah, maybe don't give it to me today. Maybe don't give it to me in general. But I'm gonna marry Ruby. We're gonna have kids. You can be as big of a part of that as Ruby lets you."
"What about you? You gonna cut me out?"
"Not unless you motivate me to. Please don't motivate me to. And it would take more than not giving me your blessing to motivate me to."
"So how important is this blessing."
"I think it's important to Ruby."
"So… pretty important?" He asked.
"So pretty important," I agreed.
"But not so important that you wouldn't marry her against my will?"
"You'd have to have some pretty potent will to stop me. You couldn't stop Ruby from leaving for Mistral under my protection. When I was her dog and nothing more. Even if you would have wanted to, you couldn't stop her. And I'm willing to bet you would have rather she stayed here. Nice and safe. Not out dealing with those same forces that took her mother from you."
"Would you kill and die for Ruby?"
"Easily." I pulled my shirt up to reveal the bifurcating scars Tyrian left behind. "This serial killer came after us out in Anima and I almost died rather than let him take her. When I killed for the first time it was in Ruby's defense. I'd do it again now. I have a lot more power now than I did then. I'd do more if she asked me for more. Like having kids."
"Like having kids. Put your shirt down, kid." He gestured at me and I lowered the fabric. "I'm probably going to need more than one conversation."
"No problem," I agreed. "You had two wives, right?"
"Not at the same time," he shook his head. "Not like you will."
"Just about," I shrugged. "Ruby and Yang are what? A year and a half apart? Minus nine months implies… You moved on fast at the very least."
"I never really moved on and got over Raven."
"Ouch," I informed him. "But Summer scooped you up nice and quick."
"Yeah, I suppose she did."
"You can be more honest with me than that."
"I… I don't know what you mean?"
"Did you sleep with Summer before Raven left you?"
He said nothing. He wouldn't meet my eye.
"I was just curious. Does Ruby know?" I wondered.
He shook his head.
"How do you want her to find out?" I asked.
He lowered his face into his hands and rubbed hard. "Don't tell her, please. I will. When I'm ready."
"Fair cop. Fair enough. Just don't wait too long. I don't want to have to tell her."
"Making me the bad guy?"
"Holding you responsible. I have to be responsible for so much bullshit. Your daughter comes up to me and tells me 'take responsibility for me, won't you?' You have to be held responsible for the impact you have over her emotions too. And if I have to hold you responsible so that she's informed and aware of everything she should know, then I will. That's my job. I'm the person she turns to now."
"She used to turn to me…" he muttered.
"You had your time, old man," I fired out. "She's mine now."
"And if I don't like it?"
"Well let's ask her. We'll tell her you don't like it and ask her to decide."
"That's not fair…" he trailed slowly and quietly.
"Really? What's not fair about it? You had her for fifteen years, old man. I'll be lucky to squeeze out ten. You don't get to sit there and tell me it's not fair. Your time as the sun has passed. I'm her sunshine now. And I worked hard to get there. I killed, and bled, and almost died to get there. Over and over again I killed and bled and almost died. Worse than that happened to me too. What's not fair? Tell me specifically? If I'm not a good enough man for your daughter you better come out and accuse me of such."
"You're not a good enough man for my daughter," he looked me dead in the eyes. I rolled mine.
"Yeah, no shit. But she chose me anyway. She chose to save me. She could have left me in the garbage where I belong. Now I'm the most powerful man on the planet and it's all because of her. She has the power to make and unmake me. I'm only the most powerful man on the planet."
"And this other girl? Weiss? You want her too?"
"I always wanted Weiss. Ever since I was young. She was my first real crush. She was the question with the changing answer. 'How do I be good enough?' Do I need to be faster? Stronger? Smarter? More confident? Do I need more power? Always more power. Unending with the power. When is it enough? And of course the answer is that it's never enough. It can't be. I can't be enough. I was never going to be. But she also chose me anyway."
"And how did you three get together?"
"How we got together… Ruby and I dated out in Anima. Then I got split up and they and I weren't sure that we'd ever see each other again. Then Weiss and Ruby got together. They were always close and had good chemistry. Then when we found each other again Ruby begged me not to make her choose. She begged me. So I gave it a shot."
"How magnanimous of you."
"Please. I'm allowed to have something. Just because you never figured out how to make it work with your business doesn't mean we can't. And Ruby begged me to try. I had no choice. And I always wanted Weiss. It just played out well. If we tried it again a million times I think they'd exclude me. And I would deserve it."
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-WG
