Weiss rubbed her temples. She had been working at this proposal for the SDC for most of the afternoon. She knew that Winter would have fully accepted a phone call, but she hadn’t spent those years getting a MBA for nothing. Singing professionally had been fun, but after a few life changing events, being more of a homebody fit her much better.
Her ears flick subtly. She had heard something under the quiet snores Zwei was giving off in the corner. There were quiet footsteps coming up and she smiled as she recognized them, but didn’t show any sign that she had. No change to her posture nor the slow swish of her tail.
Suddenly, two small hands flew up and over her eyes.
“Guess who?”
Weiss smiled at the voice and decided to play along.
“Ruby?”
“Uh-uh. Try again!”
“Nora.”
A high pitched giggle broke free.
“Well, if it’s not Nora, and it’s not Ruby, then it can only be Summer.”
Weiss’ eyes were uncovered and she spun her chair around to scoop up the giggling six year old wearing a pair of overalls with a powder blue shirt. Her straight black hair was pulled back with a red ribbon, revealing her two wolf ears peeking up from the mass over her eyes. One silver and one icy blue stared back at her.
“You’re right, Mommy!” Summer laughed, hugging the Wolf Faunus.
“Well, it could have only been you, Ma petite fleur.” Weiss leaned forward and rubbed her nose against her daughter’s. “After all, who else would try to surprise me in my own office?”
Summer smiled and wiggled to sit more comfortably in Weiss’ lap and crossed her hands in her lap. Despite having the energy of her other mother - and love of sweets - Summer Rose was a relatively well behaved child. She did, however, tend to parrot whichever parent she was around, so which of them had more influence on her was up to interpretation.
“Why do you talk like that, Mommy?” the child asked, her ears perking up. “Mama never says things like that.”
“Well, Summer,” Weiss said, stroking her back. “You mama and I grew up in two different places, and in Atlas the socialites spoke Old Atlesian as well as common. It was a way to show how important they thought they were and to separate themselves from Mantle. And it is incredibly pretentious of them, but because of who I was, I had to be taught.”
She rubbed her own ears, feeling her tail curl under her slightly. “Your grandfather made me hide my ears and tail for the silly dances and dinners. I hated it. But you, mon coeur, simply defy words in one language for how cute you are!”
She tickled her daughter, who squirmed while letting out giggles. When she stopped and kissed the top of her head between her ears, Summer asked a question Weiss hadn’t expected.
“Can I learn it?”
Weiss tilted her head curiously.
“Why, little one?”
“Because you always give me nicknames in it and I want to be able to talk to Aunt Winter like you do sometimes.”
“You mean you want to snoop on our conversations.”
Two small ears tilted back. “No.”
“Summer Éclair Rose, what have both I and your mama told you?”
“Sometimes grownups talk isn’t for me to hear.” The little girl looked down.
“I can teach you what the nicknames mean,” Weiss said, reaching out and tilting her daughter’s face up. “And when you’re a little older, if you still want to, I can teach you more. Is that acceptable?”
Summer’s grin returned and she threw her arms around Weiss’ neck and kissed her cheek.
“Thanks, Mommy!”
“You are very much welcome, ma chérie. But why don’t you go tidy up, and I’ll go fix us some lunch. Do you want anything in particular?”
“Cheese sandwich!” The girl hopped out of her mother’s lap and fairly raced out of the office. If she had moved any faster, Weiss would have sworn she had inherited Ruby’s semblance and not hers.
“Grilled cheese it is then.” She stood and brushed her hands off on her casual slacks. She then turned to face the other door that led into the office.
“You can come in now, Ruby. I know you’re there.”
Her wife opened the door and stepped through, grinning sheepishly and rubbing the back of her neck.
“I guess after all this time, I should know I can’t sneak up on you, Weiss.”
Weiss smiled and went over to kiss her wife.
“You probably hoped Summer would have kept me a little more occupied, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.” Ruby admitted, pulling Weiss in a little closer. “By the way, Yang called to let us know they’d be a little late. Jade had a bit of a tumble and they wanted to make sure she was ok first.”
“Is she?” Weiss asked.
“Yeah, Yang said she just bruised her pride, but Blake is like you.”
“Overprotective?” Weiss asked, ears tilting forward.
“Cautious.” Ruby countered. “Jade fits her name. She’s probably broken more bones than I have and she's only seven!”
“Ruby, you’ve only had one broken bone. It’s easy to top that.”
“Doesn’t mean I’m wrong,” the taller girl whispered as she nuzzled her wife’s nose.
“Mommy, I’ve washed my hands!” the voice of Summer called out.
“We’ll be there in a moment, Mon coeur.” Weiss returned, knowing her daughter’s sharp ears would pick up her voice without having to raise it much.
“You know, you never call me any cute Atlesian names,” Ruby softly.
“You already have a nickname, Ruby.”
“Dolt, though? We’re not in college anymore.” She pouted at Weiss as they walked towards the kitchen.
Weiss sighed. “Fine, Ruby. I’ll come up with a nickname.”
Fourteen years they've known each other, twelve years a couple, and she still couldn’t resist Ruby’s puppy eyes. It was like a little superpower of hers that had nothing to do with semblances.
“Score!” Ruby said.
Weiss rolled her eyes and went to start making Summer her grilled cheese. “Would you like one too, Ruby?”
“Yes, please!”
Weiss chuckled. Despite Ruby being an engineer, she was also easy to please at times.
“Bien sur, ma chérie”