Thank you to the person who pointed out to me that Ch.28 and Ch.29 were basically nonsense. FF's tools aren't great and this shouldn't have been an issue BUT I also should have made sure everything was fine and not assumed based on past experiences. Regardless I hope you enjoyed these chapters and are looking forward to the rest of this final stretch of the story!

Ruby Rose

"Ruby, we are going to be late for the movie!" Weiss shouts from the other side of the closet door.

"I know I know, sorry I should have started getting ready sooner." I frantically finish getting dressed.

"You'd think after 20 years of marriage I'd be used to this by now." She says with a small laugh and I can't help but crack a smile.

"Yeah yeah, I know, chronically late Ruby." I joke.

"Summer and I are gonna go wait in the car." She starts to walk away but before she does she leans against the door and talks a little softer. "Dear..before you come outside, can you check on Nicholas?"

"What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure, he said he doesn't want to go to the movies and he just seems…down. Summer seemed to have an idea but I guess Nick made her swear not to tell and you know she'd never break a promise to him. All I could get out of her was that it had something to do with Kirinu" For some reason I can just tell she is resting her hand on the door just by the tone of her voice.

"He didn't want to talk to me about it but you've always been his favorite." She lets out a somewhat sad chuckle.

"You know he loves us equally Weiss."

"I know but you and him just get along better, will you talk to him?"

"Of course hun." I open the door and she gives me a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks love, we'll be outside." She leaves the room and I rub the back of my neck letting out a big sigh. I walk down the hall lightly knock on his door. "Nick?"

"I already told Mom I'm fine."

"I just wanted to check on you bud..can I come in?" There is a long pause but finally he speaks.

"I guess.."

I pop my head into the room and see that he is laying down on the bed, playing a game on his phone. He doesn't look like he's enjoying it though, more like he is just playing the game to distract himself. I can relate to that feeling. "So..you sure you don't want to go the movies with us."

"No thanks Mom." he says without even looking over at me.

"Hey..we don't have to talk about it right now if you don't want to but I have to ask, are you okay?" I step a little further into the room.

"I..I'm fine." he says turning over.

"That wasn't very convincing." I inch closer and sit down on the edge of his bed. He focuses more intently on the game, almost like he just wants to tune the entire situation out. I don't want to push to hard but I don't wanna give up to easily either. I decide I'll try one last thing and if it doesn't work I'll let it go for now.

"Sweetie..does it have something to do with Kirinu" I ask and that gets his attention.

He looks surprised before looking slightly upset. "Who told you?"

"That's not important." I say not wanting rat out his sister. "Do you..want to talk about it?"

He puts his phone aside and lets out a big sigh. His cheeks turn a little pink and he looks like he wants to speak up but is finding it difficult…it couldn't be that he-?

"Do you…Do you like her?"

He doesn't say anything but just nods a little. It completely catches me off guard..I didn't think I'd be having this big of a talk tonight.

"What am I supposed to do Mom?" he asks and it almost breaks my heart. He sounds so lost. I take deep breath and put aside my own nervousness, my son needs me right now.

"I guess it was only a matter of time, you are growing up after all." I scoot closer to him and put my arm around him. "I guess it's just a little hard for me to see you two as anything but the little rascals playing games together."

"It's not easy for me either..as long as I've known her we've been best friends but at some point it started to change." He leans his head against me. "I started to notice things about her that I didn't before, like how pretty her eyes are or how sweet her voice is…before I knew it I started to get butterflies in my stomache whenever she got close."

"I can relate to that kiddo, believe me."

"I want to tell her but...what if she doesn't want to be my friend anymore?" he asks. It hurts my heart to see him like this. "It hurts to keep quiet about it but..it would hurt way more to lose her completely."

"Well if I know Kirinu she wouldn't stop being friends with you over something like that...but even if she did if you like her enough...it's worth the risk to tell her because if you don't you'll regret it forever." I say.

"Was it this hard for you to confess to Mom?" he asks.

"Honestly...yeah. I had a lot of the same feelings you did and some other more complicated ones." I respond chuckling slightly. "You know me and your Mom were best friends too, we spent almost every free moment we had together but just like with you and Kirinu, one day those feelings just started to change into something else.

I lean my head on his. "One day your Mom was going to be moved far away from me and I may not have ever had the chance to tell her how I felt, it was put up or shut up time. So, with a little pushing from Auntie Yang, I hopped on my motorcycle and chased after her." I laugh a little. "She thought I was crazy."

"I can see why." He says with a laugh of his own.

"Hey now." I squeeze him a little tighter. "Anyway, I shouted that I loved her at the top of my lungs, letting go of any of my fears and just letting it all out. Turns out she felt the same way and the rest is history. We started dating, eventually got married and way later on we had you and Summer."

"What if Mom hadn't felt the same way as you?"

"Well…it would have really hurt and it would have taken some time to get over but I like to believe I still wouldn't have regretted it because at least I could've said I tried, I let my feelings out."

"That makes sense.." After giving it a moment of thought a look of determination spreads across his face. "I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna tell her tomorrow how I feel."

"That's my little man." I smile and kiss the top of his head. "We Roses never back down from a challenge."

"Mom...thanks for the talk." he says before hugging me.

"Your welcome sweetie." I hug him back and I can't help but feel very happy. Not only because I actually managed to help him but because, at least in some ways, he still needs me. The older he gets and the more independent he gets, the less and less it seems like he needs to turn to me for help.

Seeing my baby boy grow up..it's a strange combination of sadness and joy that it is difficult to describe.

"Sooo, is it too late to accept that movie invitation?" he asks.

"Oh you can come..if you can beat me to the car." I gently push him and run out of the room.

"Hey!" he laughs and runs after me. To my surprise he actually manages to not only catch up but bolt past me. I remember when he could never beat me without me letting him win.

Later that night, after we got back from the movies and the kids were both in bed, Weiss and I get ready for bed ourselves. She didn't ask any questions the whole night so I assume she was just happy to see Nicholas in a better mood.

"Soo..how did it go?" she asks. There it is, I figured her curiosity would get the better of her sooner or later.

"Pretty good actually." I explain the entire conversation to her before plopping onto the bed. "Not to brag but I'm pretty sure I deserve Mom of the year."

"Oh really?" Weiss asks raising her eyebrow at me.

"Yes really, what is my award?" I ask winking at her.

"Well I was prepared to let you take me out on an incredibly romantic evening, anywhere you'd like to go with no rules but now I realize I'm just going to be much to busy this weekend." She kisses me on the cheek. "I have a lot of catching up to do after all."

"No no no no I was I just kidding you're totally mom of the year." I say as if I'm begging her to change her mind.

"No no you clearly won so I will just have to work extra hard we may even have to skip out on our date nights for a few weeks so I can really get caught up." she says super nonchalantly.

"Your such a meanie Weiss." I whine throwing my arms around her neck.

(The Next Day)

"Ruby let the boy have some privacy." Weiss says shutting the curtains on me.

"Aw come on, I just really wanna see how it goes." Nicholas decided that he was going to tell Kirinu how he really felt and today was the day. Ignoring Weiss' insistence I continue peaking outside.

Poor kid, I can tell from here that he is extremely nervous even after our little talk. Not that I can blame him, it's never easy just laying your feelings out like that. Suddenly he puts his hand on hers and closes his eyes before loudly exclaiming something.

What happens next makes me let out an audible squeal. She threw her arms around him, giving him a big hug but that wasn't the part that got me the most. When they stop hugging she suddenly lurches toward him and kisses him.

"What happened?" Weiss asks her curiosity suddenly piqued.

I quickly recount everything I just saw. "and then she kissed him, it was soooooooooooo cute!"

"No way!" she shouts.

"Yes way!" I shout back but then when we hear the door open and we start pretending like we're cleaning. Nicholas walks in and shoots the both of us a very suspicious look but then turns to face Kirinu

"So um..I guess I'll see you at school." He says with a big smile on his face, his cheeks redder than I have ever seen them.

"Yeah...bye Nicholas." she says back, kissing him on the cheek one more time before running off.

"Awwwww!" Weiss and I involuntarily let out much to Nicholas's embarrassment.

"Moms! Geez!" He immediately bolts up to his room but despite how much he tries to hide it I caught a glimpse of that smile on his face.

"That's my boy." Weiss says before walking into the kitchen probably to cook dinner. I follow to lend a hand. "It's amazing how fast these two are growing up, it won't be long before Summer starts getting interested in dating."

"Please don't make me think about that, Nicholas and Kirinu might be adorable but just thinking about Nicholas being at that age already kinda scares me, Summer eventually being that age terrifies me." I say with a small shudder.

"Yeah she'll be quite the handful, it doesn't help that she takes after her beautiful Momma." She says, bumping her hip into mine.

"Weiss if you're trying to sweet talk me, it's working." I say, bumping her back. "Soooo we still on for date night tomorrow?"

"Oh alright how could I say no to that face" she says kissing my cheek. "besides I was only joking last night."

"Your so mean sometimes." I say pouting.

"I know, but you love it." she says winking.

"Yeah I do." I respond and kiss her. "Oh by the way I told Loran we'd give her twenty bucks to keep an eye on Summer tomorrow."

"Is Yang busy or something?" I ask.

"Yeah, coincidentally her and Blake are going out too." I lean forward and rest on the counter. "I would ask Nicholas to look after her but I'm pretty sure he'll have plans."

"Good call, besides Summer loves Loran to pieces." she says, straining the noodles. "So where are you taking me tomorrow?"

"Oh that's a surprise." I say with a smirk.

"I don't know whether to be excited or scared." she says chuckling.