A/N: Well this took a lot longer than usual but I'll make a tl;dr for everyone. Life got busy, medical situations happened, still searching for lost dog and had some technical issues that caused this to be delayed. I also had to continue some research for housing to kind of form an economy. Combine that with some food poisoning from an early birthday dinner and I missed the upload date of yesterday. Nothing like a new chapter on your birthday though. Anyway, next chapter shouldn't take as long hopefully. Another A/N at the end and a little bit of a preview you might find on the back of a book for another story idea once this one is done. Feedback would be appreciated on both. Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 23
A short drive later as thankfully they encountered no red lights, Klein pulled the car off the main road and into the parking lot of the Early Riser Diner.
After a brief glance of the parking lot, Klein easily picked out a parking space and pulled into with the practiced ease of someone who had been a driver for decades.
"Alright ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at the destination. Please ensure you have your required belongings before departing the vehicle." Klein said as he did an impersonation of a commercial pilot drawing a chuckle from a few of the members and a groan from the others.
"Isn't that more of a dad style humor Klein?" Willow asked as she got out of the car.
"Well despite not having children of my own, I did practically raise the three of yours." Replied the mustached man.
"You know it's never too late to have children of your own, Klein." Jaune said as he got out of the car next.
"Well as true as that might be lad, but I'm afraid I'm still a bit older and I would prefer to be able to truly play ball and wrestle and all that fun stuff with my kids. Preferably I'd like to date a woman for a bit before marriage and having a kid or multiple." Klein explained.
"I guess that's true." Jaune said.
"Besides, the dating pool these days isn't the best. After all, not all of us can get drunk and wake up married to an incredible wife like the missus here." Klein said with a smirk causing Jaune and Willow to blush a little.
"Yes well Klein's love life or lack there of aside, let's go inside and get ourselves a table. I do believe some food could do us all some good." Willow said as she began walking towards the front door of the cafe, with the rest of the group following suit.
"Hello, how many are in your party?" The hostess said as she saw the group walk through the door.
"Five and a highchair please." Answered Willow.
"Of course ma'am. Right this way." The hostess said as she grabbed five menus and a kids menu along with a pair of crayons and led the group to an empty table.
She set down the menus in their proper spots and put the kids menu and crayons at the end of the table before moving to grab a highchair and bring it over.
"Your server will be over to take your orders shortly." The hostess said as she gave a polite bow before going back to the front door to help the new group that had just walked on in.
"So what looks good to everyone?" Jaune asked as he picked up the menu and looked it over.
"I think I'll get the avocado toast breakfast and two eggs scrambled." Saphron said as she looked over her menu.
"I think I'll probably get breakfast too and do a little bit of a cheat day with the cinnamon roll pancakes. They just look so good. I probably won't be able to eat all of them so I'll just split them with Adrian." Terra said as she looked to Adrian who garbled his approval from his highchair.
"Ooh breakfast sounds like a lovely idea and these banana chocolate chip waffles look delicious in the picture. " Willow said as she added her own input.
"Well if we're all going for breakfast, I might just get the breakfast burger. It looks pretty good in the picture and it sounds pretty good too." Jaune said as he decided to answer his own question before turning to the last member of the group. "What will you have Klein?"
"Oh I think I might break the breakfast mold and go for the bacon cheese fries. I do love a good plate of salted fries and the bacon and cheese only make it better."
"Ooh some nice fries do sound good but I think I'll stick to what I originally said. Having some fruit along with some chocolate sounds like it'll be delicious." Willow said as her eyes kept scanning the menu.
"Well here comes our server now so hopefully our food won't take too long to cook." Jaune said as he motioned with his head towards the approaching apron wearing young woman with copper colored hair.
"Hello everyone, my name is Flora and I'll be your server for today. What can I get you all to drink to get started?"
"A diet cola for me please." Klein said as he set down the menu.
"Hmm. I can't decide if I want orange juice or maybe a glass of milk to go with the waffles. I guess I'll just go with a glass of water." Willow said.
"I'll just have water for me as well please." Terra said as she took her place in the ordering process.
"Water for me and one for the boy here too." Saphron said as she gestured towards Adrian. "Can you please bring it in a kids cup though or something with a lid."
"Or a mop." Jaune quipped knowing full well the tendency to spill drinks wasn't something Adrian was immune from and earned a small laugh from the copper haired girl.
After making a note down on her pad she placed a hand on Jaune's left shoulder and asked him what he wanted earning a nervous look from a few at the table and a not so friendly annoyed look from Willow.
"Uhh, I'll just get some water and I'll also have the breakfast burger please." Jaune said as he pointed to the item on the menu with the same arm and additionally tried to be subtle as he shrugged off Flora's hand from his shoulder much to a relieved smile from the other two women at the table not named Willow.
"Well if young master Jaune is going to get started with the ordering of food I guess I'll go ahead and follow. I'll take a plate of bacon and cheese fries please." Klein said as he did his best to keep the pace going and distract the server.
I guess I'll go next," Terra said before she said her order. "I'll have the cinnamon roll pancakes and I'll be splitting them with Adrian so a small extra plate would be appreciated."
"I'm just going to have the avocado toast breakfast and two eggs. Scrambled please." Saphron said before placing her menu on the growing pile at the end of the table.
"And I'll have the banana chocolate chip waffles. Ooh and can I get a side of hashbrowns with some bacon and cheese on them please?" Willow said as she placed her menu on top of the now no longer growing pile at the end of the table.
"Sure thing. I'll go put this order in and be back with your drinks." Flora said as she gathered the menus and moved to return them to the hostess stand before circling back towards the kitchen to drop off the order.
After a minute or so Flora came back with six drinks on a circular platter and began setting down the drinks in front of the corresponding people.
After putting straws on the table she walked away, although not without giving a quick look towards Jaune. Something that went didn't go unnoticed by the others at the table.
A few minutes of idle conversation passed before Willow noticed Flora beginning to grab a tray with their food.
"Hey Jaune, can I see your left hand glove? I think I saw a hole in it." Willow said as she tried to be sly.
"Really, where?" Jayne replied as he examined his still gloved hand as the others watched on in amusement.
"Here let me show you." Willow said as she reached out and took the glove off his hand as Flora was making her approach to their table.
"Hello everyone, hope you're hungry because I brought your food." Flora said in a cheerful tone as she set the tray down at the end of the table next to Jaune.
"Here let me help you." The blond knight said as he took a few plates off the tray and passed them down the table.
After the food had been passed out to its respective orderers, Flora picked up the tray and turned to Jaune. "Thanks for the help, sweety."
"No problem, happy to help." Jaune said with a small laugh as he began to rub the back of his head with his hand. His ungloved left hand, which had something on it that glinted in the light and caught Flora's eye.
Her eyes widened as she watched Jaune's hand move back and forth and realized exactly what was on it. Seeing that, she glanced at the table one more time and saw varying ranges of emotions.
Ranging from the two mothers fussing over Adrian as he tried to grab the pancakes, Klein looking amused by the whole situation and finally Willow looking at her with a smirk.
As they locked eyes Willow gave a wink and wiggled her left hand causing Flora to give a little eep before quickly blurting out a "Let me know if you need anything else." And taking off back towards the kitchen.
"Having some fun are we?" Klein asked in a whisper as Willow handed Jaune back his glove.
"I have no idea what you mean." Willow said in a similar volume level with a chuckle before raising her voice once more. "I guess I was wrong, Jaune, I didn't see a hole after all."
"She saw something all right." Saphron whispered into Terra's ear causing both women to giggle.
"Well I'm glad, I'd hate to have to get another pair after all." Jaune said as he set down the glove along with the other one and picked up his utensils.
"Oh don't worry Jaune, I would've covered the cost if I couldn't have had them patched up. Maybe we could've even gotten you an upgrade. Might be a good idea though to keep in the back of my mind for a gift idea." Willow said in a sincere tone.
"Well I appreciate the sentiment and look forward to seeing any fashionable gift you might give." Jaune said just as sincerely.
"Careful Jaune, or that fashionable gift just might be a tiny speedo." Terra warned as she wiggled her eyebrows.
"Well we do have access to our own private beach." Willow answered back giving a tease of her own.
"I think we should just focus on this delicious looking food." Jaune said as he fought the blush creeping up his neck and face.
"Splendid idea Jaune." Klein said as he picked up his silverware and dug into his food as everyone else followed suit.
About ten to fifteen minutes of eating and idle conversation later, the last plate was cleaned off and pushed away.
"That was so good." Terra said as she leaned back in her chair.
"I have to agree one hundred percent." Klein said as he took the final sip of his diet cola and finished it off.
"So how are we doing checks today?" Flora asked as she came back over and approached the party.
"All on one please." Willow said before holding up a hand as her husband and in-laws moved to object. "It's fine dears, we're all out shopping anyway so we can consider this a company expense." Willow said before giving a small laugh.
"If you say so dear." Jaune said as Willow gave a nod of satisfaction before turning to her in-laws.
"Thank you Willow." Terra and Saphron said in unison as they thanked the white haired woman.
"Well that's not so bad at all." Willow said as she looked at the check she was handed it.
"I suspect five of us getting waters probably helped out." Jaune said with a laugh.
"Indeed it did. That would've been another 15 lien." Willow responded before bringing out a card from her wallet and handing it and the receipt to Flora.
"Thank you, I'll be right back." Flora said before she walked off towards the back of the restaurant.
"So is everyone ready to continue the house hunting tour?" Klein said as he set his napkin down.
"Well we already got what we wanted so now we just have to submit an offer and hope for the best." Saphron said as she dabbed at Adrian's face with a napkin.
"I feel like we should be able to put down a pretty healthy down payment." Terra said as she did some mental math in her head.
"I guess it's just doing that and then finding something for ourselves." Jaune said as he turned to Willow.
"Speaking of ourselves, I need to go make a phone call. Jaune when the server comes back be a dear and put down a tip and take my card back will you." Willow said as she stood up and brushed herself off before pulling out her scroll and heading for the unoccupied corner of the restaurant.
After punching in a few numbers the scroll began to ring and after three rings the call connected.
"Hello?" The voice from the other line asked.
"Lisa, so great to hear from you." Willow said in a sickly sweet tone which conveyed anything but.
"M-Mrs. Schnee?" Lisa asked stunned to hear directly from the Schnee matriarch.
"Indeed and I have a favor I'd like to request of you." Willow said in a manner of tone that conveyed this wasn't a request.
"O-ok?" Lisa said in a half answer half ask tone of voice.
"I need you to pass along a message to your bowler-wearing friend. Tell him that with us opening an office in Vale we will be much more displeased if any of our shipments get trifled with." Willow said in a stern tone like one would see conveyed when talking to an undisciplined child.
"My bowler wearing friend?" Lisa asked as she tried to feign ignorance.
"You know exactly who I'm referring to as I know you're in communication with him. After all, you're always a little too quick to get the scoop for it to be organic. Anyway, Vale and Beacon are on his case now so I'd suggest laying low and laying off our SDC's dust shipments. Otherwise we'd have to get involved moreso than just asking Vale and Beacon to keep our stuff safe."
"Noted, I'll uh, I'll make sure the message is conveyed."
"Glad to hear it. In exchange I'll offer you a little tidbit of information. I'm going to be making a major announcement soon and I'll give you the exclusive." Willow said as she could practically hear Lisa salivating on the other end of the call.
"Of course, if something happens to a shipment of ours involving a certain fiery haired individual I will retract that privilege and I will go straight to your competitor with the exclusive. Do I make myself clear?" Willow said as kept her fierce and stern tone.
"Yes ma'am." Lisa said quickly in a military style tone, showing just how serious she was about getting the exclusive scoop on this story.
"Good, oh and tell him if he ever tries to harm any of my family again I'll put a bounty on his head so high it'll make Mob Barley look like a sober priest. Talk to you later dear." Willow said in the same tone as her opening statement, before hanging up the call and making her way back to the table where everyone was seated.
Meanwhile on the other side of the city, the west side to be specific, in a cozy home a bathroom door was flung open, startling the man currently occupying it and currently in the shower.
"Aah! What the hell woman? Why did-" The man in the shower yelled before he was cut off by Lisa as she pulled the curtain aside to stare him down and let him know how serious she was.
"Can it carrot top. I just got off the phone with the big lady. Do not interfere with any more dust shipments coming in. If you do, I could lose the story of my career." Lisa said in a stern tone.
"Sheesh alright, alright. I didn't realize your editor was so invested in not having any more dust robberies."
"He isn't but I didn't talk to him. I talked to the Schnee Matriarch herself." Lisa said smugly.
"Ooh fancy. Getting in with the big contacts." The teased as he turned off the water and reached for the towel hanging on the wall besides the shower.
"She also knows about us Roman. Apparently you haven't been too careful after all. That's how she knew to contact me to get to you. Oh she also says if you mess with her or her family again and she'll put a bounty out for your head. Attached to your body still or otherwise."
"Sheesh, she's really being threatening." Roman said as he stepped out of the shower with the towel around his waist.
"Well she didn't explicitly say that part but the "I'll put a bounty on his head so high it'll make Mob Barley look like a sober priest" kind of implied it."
"Yikes. Guess I'll steer clear then. Rather not piss off the woman who can afford to literally sick every huntsman on me on the planet. There'd probably be very few huntsmen who wouldn't be tempted by that large of a bounty."
"And that is why I said to lay off her shipments dear Roman."
"Shouldn't be a problem now that Cinder is out of the picture and she isn't controlling me via threats to my health anymore." Roman said with a laugh.
"Good, now go ahead and get dressed and we can send you home." Lisa said with a smile as she turned and exited the bathroom."
Back at the restaurant, Willow had just gotten back to the table as Jaune was finishing up the receipt. With a quick scribble of the pen he signed the receipt and set the pen down before looking up and seeing her.
"Here you go Willow." Jaune said as he handed her back her card.
"Thank you Jaune." Willow said as she pocketed the card and then addressed the rest of the group.
"Are the rest of you ready to go and continue house hunting?" Willow asked.
"Sure, let's go find a place that fits us." Jaune said as he stood up and pushed his chair back in.
"Away we shall go." Klein said as he stood up and did the same before making his way towards the door with everyone else following behind him.
After reaching the car he unlocked it and opened the door for everyone to get inside then went and got into the driver seat before turning the ignition and shifting the car into drive.
As Klein was driving them to their next destination on their itinerary, a question popped into his mind.
"Hey Willow, have you heard from that realtor yet?" Klein asked from the front seat.
"I have not, I suppose I should probably give him a call to inquire about his location." Willow said as she pulled out her scroll once again and after a few taps on the screen put the scroll to her ear.
After a few rings the call connected and Willow spoke, "Hello, is this the realtor utilized by the Valean city council? I'm sorry but I didn't get a name with the listings before or from the councilwoman."
"Ah yes my apologies about that. My name is Harl, Harl E. Quinn, and I am indeed the realtor utilized by the Valean city council. I'm assuming you have already toured a few of the properties today, yes?"
"Indeed we did Mr. Quinn and we think we found one of the properties that is suited perfectly for our relocating employee and they'd like to put forth an offer for one of the apartments you recommended." Willow responded as she looked over at Terra and Saphron as they nodded their heads.
"Wonderful news, and Harl is fine by the way Mrs. Schnee. Now I heard in that statement you found one for the relocating employee but I heard no mention of your own lodgings."
"Quite perceptive Harl, and just Willow is fine if I'm going to refer to you by your first name as well."
"Very well then Willow, I take it you are looking for more of a conventional house rather than an apartment?"
"That would be correct."
"Well that works out well then. I'm actually currently by one of these houses over in the west side of Vale. I'll send you the address and the listing now. You all can meet me there and I can do the offer paperwork with your relocating employee while you look around the house to see if you like it as well."
"That sounds like it'll work for us. We'll see you there."
"Excellent, I'll send over the address now." Harl said as he hung up and a few moments later, Willow's scroll pinged.
"Klein we're heading for a new address, I'm inputting into the GPS right now."
"Yes ma'am." Klein said as the route populated on the GPS and Klein began to drive accordingly.
"So we're meeting him there?" Jaune asked as he looked over at his wife.
"Indeed, we'll tour the house we're at while your sister and her wife do the paperwork to put down an offer on the apartment they found."
"Cool, what do the pictures of the listing look like?" Jaune asked as he scooted in closer to be able to look at her scroll as well.
"Well let's find out shall we?" Willow responded as she opened the listing and angled the phone so they both could see the pictures.
As the duo clicked through the photos they realized another photo was taken as a flash went off and the pair looked up to see a smiling Saphron holding her scroll and waving.
"Sorry but you two were just too cute like that to pass up a photo opportunity." Saphron said with a smile before she started typing on her scroll to send the photo to Jaune and Willow.
As Jaune and Willow gave a small laugh to the blonde's antics, they resumed looking at the photos of the house they were going to.
It wasn't much as far as uniqueness goes but it was nice and had a cozy homey feel. It had light beige or maybe cream looking walls with a dark hardwood floor and white trim along the baseboards and crown molding.
As they kept looking through the pictures they found the only areas that didn't have this hardwood floor color was in the bedrooms and bathrooms where it was replaced with a time in similar color to the walls.
"Hmm, interesting." Willow said as she scrolled through the pictures.
"It looks nice. Maybe not exactly what I had in mind but renovations exist for a reason if we can't find anything better suited for us." Jaune said as he watched the photos scroll across the screen of the scroll.
"I guess so. It might grow on me when I'm actually there to look around at it." Willow said as she collapsed her scroll and put it in her pocket before closing her eyes as she leaned into Jaune's side.
"That's the spirit." Jaune said as he looped an arm around her waist and closed his eyes as well as he heard another click of a scroll camera from across from him.
A short while later Jaune and Willow were woken up by the car coming to a halt and turning off.
"Huh? I guess we're here?" Jaune said as Willow stirred next to him.
"You two looked awfully comfy." Saphron said as she unbuckled her seatbelt.
"I guess we were." Jaune said as he looked to his wife before turning back towards Saphron. "I guess I know why Blake takes those naps." Jaune said with a little laugh.
"Well let's go inside and take a look shall we?" Willow said as she got out of her own seat and began walking towards the front door of the house.
Seeing his wife get out of the car, Jaune followed suit and as the group approached the front door it opened and the man standing inside it looked to be the realtor if the nice suit and fancy car in the driveway were any indication. Well that and the folder of forms he had tucked under one arm.
Apart from the nice suit he was wearing, Jaune noticed the man had Amber eyes, and black hair that had begun to fade to a silvery steel combed to the left side of his head.
"Good afternoon everyone." Harl called out as the group approached the front door. "So what do you think of the front visage of the house? Looks pretty good huh? And look at this porch, it's even got a ceiling fan on it for those hot summer days." Harl said immediately going into sales mode.
"It's alright. I've seen better and I've seen worse but the fan will certainly help if we ever want to sit on the front porch during a hot summer day." Willow said immediately recognizing the state of mind of the realtor and going into dismissive mode to not fuel that mode further.
"If it's all the same to you Harl, myself and the two gentlemen will take a look around the house while you and the ladies sort out the paperwork for the offer for the apartment.
"Sure, sure. Ladies, if you'll just come take a seat at the kitchen table, we can start filling out those paperworks and seeing what price you want to offer." Harl said as he gestured towards the way to the kitchen where said table was.
As his sister, sister-in-law, and his nephew went towards the kitchen, Jaune also bid Klein a quick goodbye as the man went with them to inspect the kitchen area.
Turning to Willow he gestured for her to lead on as he followed her around the house and they looked over everything else having already seen the family room from walking into the house.
As the pair of them toured the house they saw it did indeed match the photos they had seen on the listing and whoever took them was a master of photography. As the lighting was perfect to display the colors of everything around the house in their correct shades, as unimpressed or maybe it was disappointed that Willow might've been by that fact. Something that didn't go unnoticed by Jaune.
"Everything not to your liking dear?" Jaune asked as he bumped into Willow's side.
"It's not perfect, it has some imperfections, some things I would probably switch out or change up-" Willow said before being cut off by the look Jaune was giving her.
"Ok no, I don't like it. The size is a good fit but just the interior, it feels like we'd need to literally gut it and redo it." Willow said as she brought a hand up to her head in clear thought.
"Well why don't you go and chat with the realtor and see what he and Klein might recommend." Jaune suggested.
"And pray tell where might you be going? Not going to try and sneak off to never return already are we? I've read that usually doesn't happen till a child is thrown into the situation." Willow said in a clear teasing manner.
"Well you do already have three." Jaune teased back before speaking again. "No, I'm just going to go outside and get some fresh air. It might just be the color they used for the interior but I'm feeling a little stuffy."
"Ah well don't wander far, I'll be in the kitchen with them seeing how things are going and inquiring about other listings." Willow said as she gave Jaune a quick peck on the lips before making her way to the kitchen.
With a smile, Jaune headed towards the front door to go outside and get some fresh air and maybe see about pulling up some listings of his own on his scroll so that he might have a better input for the house hunting.
A few minutes later, Jaune was leaning beside the car lost in thought as he doom scrolled through endless listings when he heard a cry come from his left.
When he turned his head to look that way he saw the sight of an older woman, elderly some would say, who was currently laying flat on her stomach with what appeared to be a rather large sign on the grass in front of her.
Jaune pushed off the car and began lightly jogging over, taking in the woman's appearance as he did so. She was definitely what some would categorize as elderly, appearing to be in her late sixties, maybe early seventies. She had completely white hair that didn't have a trace of color left which wouldn't have looked out of place on someone much younger from the Schnee family but here it helped to show her age.
"Are you alright ma'am?" Jaune said as he knelt down next to her and offered her a hand after finally reaching the woman who was now beginning to try and get up.
"I'm alright lad. It'll take more than that to keep this old huntress down." She said with a heavy accent Jaune couldn't quite place, as she took his hand and he helped pull her up before Jaune let go once she was standing and moved to pick up the dropped sign.
"Here let me help you with that." Jaune said as he bent down and picked up the big white sign laying in the grass, only to see that the front of it had the words "FOR SALE BY OWNER" printed on it.
"You're selling your house miss-" Jaune trailed off realizing he hadn't gotten the elderly woman's name yet.
"The name is Skadi lad. Skadi Frost, sharpest shot this side of an Atlasean robot. Why back in my day I'd shoot a nevermore outta the sky with my bow and arrow like a heat seeking missile." Skadi said proudly before giving a little bit of a sigh.
"But those days are long gone. With my husband's passing and me becoming less able to take care of myself these days my daughter wants me to come live with her in Atlas. She said it's either that or a home and I doubt they'd want some old retired huntress in an old folks home. Not that she could get me there if she tried." Skadi said with a laugh which Jaune joined in on.
"I can imagine. You imagine four or five nurses trying to hold you down because you don't want your shot or your medicine. We had a similar situation with my old uncle Ralph. Well he wasn't really my uncle in anything but name but he was family, you know?"
"Aye I know the feeling all too well. When you're a huntsman your team is your family, even if they ain't blood. Team Frost was the team I was on. We graduated from Atlas way back before yer time. I miss them all to this day."
"I'm sorry for your loss." Jaune said solemnly.
"Bah none of that. They went out in good ways. They all lived long fulfilling lives and died of old age surrounded by their loved ones. Still with my husband Henry passin that leaves just me as the last remaining member. Even the most badass huntsman can't stop time." Skadi said as Jaune hummed in agreement.
"Moving on to a different and hopefully better topic, I ain't seen you here before lad. Ya new to the area? I know just about everyone in the area but never caught sight of you before."
"The name is Jaune, I'm actually a student at Beacon but I'm out house hunting with some of my family." Jaune said as he finished putting the sign into the ground and held out a hand for a handshake.
"Ah yer folks dragged ye along then. Well it'll do fer you to spend some time with yer parents. Too many kids these days don't spend enough time with em."
"Actually I'm here with my sister, her wife, their son, and uh my wife. We're looking for a house for me and my wife right now." Jaune said as he brought a hand behind his head in his usual nervous routine.
"You? Well congrats lad." Skadi said as she let the surprised look fall from her face and patted him on the arm. "Beacon, a wife, and a house soon. That's one heck of a hand ye been dealt. So you and the missus find a house ye both like yet?" Skadi asked.
"Unfortunately no, we've only seen one house and a few apartments so far so there's hope yet I'm sure."
"Well come on then. I'm putting my house up fer sale and yer here so might as well come see if it might interest yer lady." Skadi said as she began walking to her front door with Jaune following behind.
As Jaune walked towards the house he took in the white painted front porch with a pair of blue rocking chairs with a wooden table between them. It was quite charming to see in his opinion.
As they got closer, Jaune noticed the nicely made and finished wooden door, and as it opened it opened into a hallway with a nice tan and natural shaded hardwood flooring. It was probably ash or maybe maple wood that paired well in his opinion with the white walls. Going down the hallway, he saw that it led past a coat rack and into the living room.
In the living room Jaune saw it opened up into a pretty wide space and the walls were similarly painted to the walls in the hallways but as he looked up at the crown molding he saw it was textured well and it led to the rectangular patterned ceiling in which one rectangle was inclosed in another and so on till it reached the middle of the room.
"Wow." Jaune said as he looked up before looking down to take in the full view of the room. There was a big flat screen mounted to the wall and across from it was a pale blue couch and two recliners with a similar pale blue but patterned into rectangles and squares with white going around the blue shapes.
Besides the couches he saw the white marbled coffee table and side tables that stood on minimalistic black metal legs. In the middle of the room he saw the white lampshade chandelier that seemed to match the lamps behind the couch.
Looking past the furniture he saw the big clear windows and the curtains patterned the same as the recliners. Looking out the windows he saw it led to a nicely kept backyard with a smaller residential pool around which a few chairs and some closed umbrellas.
"This is incredible." Jaune said as he looked around and took it all in just this one room.
"I'm glad ye like it lad. I always thought I had an eye for design, my husband thought differently at first but he never complained after it all began to come together.
"I definitely say you do. Would you mind if I went and got my wife and brought her back. If everything goes well you may just get an offer today."
"I'd be delighted lad. Go and get ye missus. I'll go sit on one of the chairs on the porch and wait for ye two." Skadi said as she slowly walked behind Jaune to the front door before moving over to one of the chairs and sitting down in it as Jaune went down the steps and made his way back next door.
As Jaune walked over he saw Klein walking out with an unhappy look on his face. "Willow isn't happy I take it?" Jaune asked as he got closer.
"Indeed she is not. We went over some listings with Harl while your sister and her wife finalized their offer but nothing quite peaked her interest. I dare say she might think she'll have to settle and do massive renovations." Klein said with a sigh before he noticed Jaune's smile.
"I take it you have some positive news Jaune?"
"Indeed I do, and hopefully she'll like it." Jaune said with a smile as he moved past the man and towards the house.
After walking into the kitchen, Jaune found Willow at the table scrolling through more listings as the look of disappointment slowly grew on her face. Deciding he'd try the same thing she had done to him a while back, he snuck up behind her before covering her eyes with his hands.
"Yes Jaune?" Willow asked, immediately knowing who it was.
"Awe c'mon, I didn't even get to ask the question.
"Oh no, who ever could you be?" Willow said as she grabbed Jaune's hands and held them over her eyes.
"Well now it's no fun." Jaune said with a laugh as everyone else present let out a small laugh. "Anyway come with me Willow, I got something I want to show you." Jaune said as he grabbed her hand and guided her out the front door.
"Where are we going?"
"Not too far, don't worry. You'll like this surprise. I made a new friend." Jaune said with a grin.
"Oh dear, I hope it's a good friend this time around." Willow said as Jaune dragged her along to the next house over.
"Hey Skadi, this is her." Jaune said as he walked up towards the front porch hand in hand with Willow.
"Well ain't you two just a good pair. Tis a fine missus ye got their lad. Maybe a wee bit older than ya but it's all good if ye are." Skadi said.
"Jaune, who might this be?" Willow asked from beside him.
Jaune opened his mouth to answer but was beaten to the punch by the woman in question.
"The name is Skadi Frost, retired huntress and last remaining member of Team Frost. A pleasure to meet you. A word of advice for ye though, that's a fine man ye got, don't let him go. I know of plenty in these parts who'd snag him up quick." Skadi said as she stood up and gave a polite little bow as much as her old body would let her.
"I don't intend on letting him go, Skadi. Not now, not ever. My name is Willow by the way."
"Good to hear it. C'mon then lovebirds, go on and do ye tour. I wanna know if it be everything ye thought she might like it to be lad." Skadi said as she took a seat back in the rocking chair and motioned to the door.
"Jaune?" Willow asked as she looked to her husband not fully understanding what the elderly woman meant before Jaune pointed to the "FOR SALE BY OWNER" sign in the front yard and understanding dawned on her.
"Oh, you found a house you think I might like."
"Indeed I did. Come on, let me show you." Jaune said as he led her inside and began to show her everything, watching in growing happiness as Willow took everything in as she wandered around inside.
From the crown molding and patterned ceiling, to the mixture of light colored hardwood floors and carpenters, the blue accented furniture and fixtures. It all came together nicely.
Her smile and the excitement in her eyes grew when she saw the fully loaded out kitchen with ventilation over the stove, cabinets, and nice soothing lighting underneath the cabinets for those late night snack runs. It was perfect.
"I did good, didn't I?" Jaune said as he wrapped his arms around her as he stood behind her in the kitchen.
"That you did my dear." Willow said as she leaned back into him before turning around in his arms and wrapping her own around him as she drew him in for a quick kiss.
"Ah what a lovely sight the two of ye are. Me and Henry used to do that sort of thing all the time. It's good to see ye both have the love that shows ya can go the distance and stand the test of time." Skadi said as she slowly made her way into the kitchen.
Jaune and Willow separated with a blush creeping up both their faces and mumbled their thanks.
"So what do ye think of the house missus? Is it to yer liking?"
"Indeed it is. All of the accents pair nicely with the colors and the furniture. It's a nice touch."
"Thank ya for the kind words. I did all the decoratin and paintin and color pickin myself. Wouldn't stop naggin Henry till he let me. It'll all stay here of course. I won't be takin much from here besides my clothes and a few other small things. My daughter's house ain't the roomiest in Atlas after all."
"Your moving to Atlas then?" Willow asked.
"Aye, I told yer husband this but I be getting too old to continue this. Me daughter said it was her place or an old home and I ain't going to no home." Skadi said with a small laugh.
"Quite understandable. Why don't we have a seat and we can hash out the details." Willow said as she pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and motioned for them both to sit.
"A fine idea lass." Skadi said as she pulled out a chair and sat down in it. "Now I know ye was touring the homes around here so you must know what they go for."
"We do, yes."
"Good, I'll make this easy then. One million eight hundred thousand lien and ye both can have it. I think that's quite fair." Skadi said as she leaned back in her seat.
"One point eight million?" Willow said with a small gasp. "That's beyond fair, why you could sell this for two million to even two and a half million if you really tried. Why would you offer that." Willow asked curiously.
"Call it, paying it forward." Skadi said with a small laugh before moving to explain more when she saw their questioning glances.
"When me and Henry was young, we got a similar deal made on the house. We were just married and we was expecting so along with our quite a down payment saved we got offered this place for better than we should've ever seen. Asked us to do the same if the time to sell ever came, so that's what I'm goin to do." Skadi said with a warm smile.
"I think that's quite fair then." Willow said with a smile as understanding dawned on her. "We'll take it then and we'll handle all the fees." Willow said as she reached her hand across the table to shake Skadi's hand.
"Wonderful, I hope it helps ye both as much as it helped us in our youths."
"I think it will Skadi, I think it will." Jaune said as he stood from the table and went around to shake her hand as well as Willow pulled out her scroll and sent a message to Klein.
A short while later, Klein, the Cotta-Arcs, and Harl, walked into the house as the two of them sat around listening to some of Skadi's old tales of her adventures.
After Skadi gave Harl some info he went off to arrange everything.
"I can't believe you're getting such a nice house, Jaune. Look at you all grown up."
"It's really nice too, you did excellent work Ms. Skadi." Terra said.
"Thank ye lass. I put lots of effort into this place oer the years. I know I bugged Henry to death about it. He's probably waiting for me dreadin what I want to do to our place in the afterlife." Skadi said with a hearty laugh.
"Thank you once again though Skadi. We really do appreciate this, we might not need the discount but it's wonderful to see your kindness." Jaune said, now standing next to his sister and Terra, while Adrian sat on the floor playing with a small red fire truck Skadi had found in the closet.
"I appreciate yer words lad, but all I need ye to do is to take care of the three of ye when all ya be livin here." Skadi said with a smile.
"Oh it's just going to be us living here Skadi. Terra, Saphron, and Adrian bought their own place already today." Jaune said as he answered the elderly woman.
"Aye. Ye told me that, me statement still stands though lad. Take care of three of ye when yer here. Yer included in that count. Can't take care of the missus and the little one when you be sick yerself."
"Yeah I'll take care of me and Willow and obviously I'll take care of the kids when they get here in a few years time." Jaune said with a smile as he moved over by Willow and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
All the while not noticing Terra and Saphron growing a little paler in the background and looking at each other.
"I never did tell ye what me semblance is did I?" Skadi asked.
"No you didn't but we never asked." Jaune answered back.
"Aye, ye didn't. Very well then. My semblance be a bit of a special one. It let's me sense life, very handy for searchin for those trapped from an accident but it lets me see other stuff too." Skadi said as the smile on her face grew as she watched the Cotta-Arc heads whip towards Jaune and Willow.
"Sounds very useful for search and rescue then but what else does it do?" Jaune asked, as Willow's heartbeat began to speed up beside him.
"I see life lad, and right now as I be standin here lookin at the two of ye, I see three lives. One fer ye" Skadi said as she held her hand out in front of Jaune, "and two fer her." Skadi finished as she held a hand out in front of Willow causing Jaune to begin to pale and match the shade of the walls.
"Congrats lad, yer on yer way to havin one lad or lass of ye own." Skadi said with a big grin and patted him on the arm causing him to fall backwards in a faint and land with a thud.
AN: There you have it. Papa Jaune is coming true. You didn't think all that de-aging thing was for nothing did you? The final pieces begin falling in place as we set the stage for the closing chapters. How will his friends react? How will his family react? How will the Schnees react? What will happen to the White Fang who have been unusually quiet? And how high of a bounty might Willow set if Roman sticks his nose where it doesn't belong again? Find out next time!
Story Preview
When Jaune's greatest nightmare came to life and Cardin actually went and leaked his transcripts he feared for the worst. When his team cornered him in their room that morning, it made him scared he was going to lose them. To his surprise though, he didn't. They all apparently had their secrets now Team JNPR's bond stood stronger than ever.
Everybody else in the school wasn't as happy and when Jaune got called to the headmaster's office, he didn't face the music alone. Surprised when Ozpin offered him a transfer he became more surprised when they all took it. The news of Jaune's expulsion pleased the students, however when they learned the rest of team JNPR was leaving with him out of their own volition to follow their leader, the students weren't as pleased.
Follow Team JNPR as they start this next chapter in their journey as they embark on their journey not only to a new school but on a new chance to keep those dreams of a Vytal Championship win alive at an opposing school.
(Yes it's a Jaune betrayal fic but it's a different spin on it that I think might make it interesting. What do you all think? Leave a comment or message me if you prefer that. Thanks and see you next time.)