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A heavy sigh blazed past Blake’s lips as she stared intensely at her reflection. Raven black hair tickled the exposed skin on her neck as she grasped the edges of the sink tightly. Her skin looked slightly paler than usual, and was slightly damp from just having splashed water on her face in an attempt to calm down. Even though it was only in her peripherals, she could see that her bright, amber eyes held an edge that was nearly as sharp as Gambol Shroud as they focused on the most distinguishable portion of her being.Her cat ears, having been a little excited by too much fresh air, were twitching in every possible direction on top of her head. Those damn ears. Those Dust-be-damned ears! Why couldn’t they just disappear?She had never hated her Faunus features. Even when she was a child getting pelted with rocks at early White Fang rallies, she never hated them. She never wished that she was anything other than a Faunus. But right now, a small, microscopic portion of her was wishing that the genetic trait would be magically wiped from her DNA.“Come on, Belladonna. Get a hold of yourself!” she hissed as she shook her head violently. “You wanted this, right? Set a better example.”She took another deep breath and turned her attention to the small, purple and white box sitting on the porcelain lip of the sink. It had appeared harmless in the store, but now it looked like a small Grimm snarling next to her hand. It took every ounce of her willpower not to rip herself away from the sink, and the disgusting pharmaceutical box-Grimm, and run from the bathroom screaming.This was ridiculous. It was just a box. She could handle hordes of Grimm, fight back any pack of Beowolves, survive a war against an immortal witch, deal with living in close quarters with Weiss Schnee during a coffee shortage, survive Ruby Rose on a sugar rampage tearing through a weapons convention, and still manage to sleep next to Yang Xiao Long and her horrendous snoring. Compared to that, this was nothing.The small shiver of excitement was completely masked by the Remnant shattering tremor that shook her core as she grabbed the box firmly and removed its contents. She re-read the directions on the back of the box for the twenty-third time and turned her attention back to her reflection. “Here goes everything.” A dull thumping echoed through the air as the heel of Yang’s tennis shoe bounced repeatedly on the hardwood floor. Waves of blonde cascaded over her shoulder in a ponytail as her muscles tensed and relaxed. Amethyst eyes flickered crimson as her semblance clicked on and off like an infant toggling a light switch.This was happening. She couldn’t believe this was happening. After all the hell they had gone through, she and Blake were actually going to have a baby!Well, okay, so it wasn’t one-hundred percent sure that they would be having a baby. It was more about a thirty-six percent chance. The doctors had been very adamant about that.A small smile pulled at her lips. She remembered the determined look in Blake’s eyes when the Faunus had confronted her right in front of Ruby and Weiss during their monthly double date.“Yang, I want a baby. More importantly, I want to have your baby.”In the eight years since their first day of Beacon Academy, and four years since she and Blake had been married, never had Yang seen or heard her partner be so serious about something that didn’t involve Faunus discrimination or the White Fang. Granted, the White Fang ramblings had lulled since her wife had taken over as High Leader. She had been so surprised by the initial statement that she had nearly drowned drinking her water. After that she had been sure that she just misheard something, but the ferocity in those golden eyes had kept her from asking.Of course, that hadn’t kept her from making a smartass comment. “Sorry, Dearest. Last I checked I didn’t have a dick or injectable baby making juice.” And, of course, that had caused Weiss to show that she knew everything in the world.According to everyone’s lovable Ice Queen, the newly established Schnee Dust Corporation was sponsoring the most prestigious medical facility in Remnant. Apparently, they were researching how to convert the unfertilized egg from one woman into the genetic material needed to fertilize the egg of another woman using Dust. So far they had been successful with ninety percent of the animal tests, and now they wanted to try it on an actual person.A violent shiver ripped through Yang’s body, and she crossed her forearms over the fabric of her loose gym shirt. “Ugh, I never want to go through that again. Stupid doctors, they couldn’t have knocked me out before taking an egg? Seriously, do they not realize how painful that was?”The shivers stopped. Yang’s eyes calmed and were finally stuck on their original lilac hue as a serene look coveted her features. She leaned back into the sofa and sighed heavily as she rubbed the scar tissue peeking out under the metal cap of her prosthetic.This was turning into the longest three minutes of her life. Blake sat erect on the toilet seat cover as she stared at the test stick impatiently. The little window that would indicate the success or failure was hidden in the box so she would’t psych herself out with the fading in results. Her ears were still twitching uncontrollably as she checked her watch. “Thirty seconds left. You can do this, Blake. Just thirty more seconds.”“Thirty more seconds, and a thirty-six percent chance that it will work,” she thought dully.She shook her head to dislodge the thought. That was the last thing she wanted to think about right now. All she wanted to do was get through these last few seconds-A high-pitched beep sounded from her watch and she nearly leapt to the ceiling.The sound of heavy footfalls filled her ears and Yang burst through the bathroom door. “Blake, are you alright? What’s wrong? Did the timer just go off? Is it positive or negative? I CAN’T TAKE THIS KIND OF PRESSURE!”Blake couldn’t help but giggle as she watched her wife drop to her knees dramatically and tangled her hands in her golden locks. “Don’t be so dramatic, Yang. I’m fine. Yes, that was the timer going off. I don’t know if it’s positive or not. I haven’t read it yet.”A heavy sigh released itself from Yang’s lungs as she fell to her hands. “Don’t scare me like that, Blake. My poor heart can’t take much more of this.”“Then why don’t we look at the test so we’re not walking the tightrope of our sanity?” Blake asked. She had tried her best to joke, but her ever increasing heartrate was making her hand quake as she picked up the pregnancy test.A slightly larger, warm hand enclosed hers and she stared up into shining amethyst eyes. “Together?” Yang asked. The confident look on her face did not match the clamminess coating her palm.Blake couldn’t help but smile softly. “Together.”Two pink lines were all they needed. Two meant that their two would soon turn into three. The two huntresses took a deep breath and turned their attention to the small window on the pregnancy test.*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*“I think I’m going to be sick,” Blake moaned as she watched the surrounding scenery whirl by. Her reflection in the window was slightly paler than usual. She slowly closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat just in time for an overwhelming wave of nausea to sweep through her gut. “Maybe taking Bumblebee would have been better after all.”Yang cast a sympathetic look to the Faunus sitting in the passenger seat beside her. A light sheen of sweat had broken out on Blake’s brow, her cat ears were slumped instead of their usual perky selves, her short, dark hair clung to her neck and forehead, and she could even hear the faintest grumble of discontent rumbling in her throat. Amethyst eyes trailed down to the near watermelon sized swell of her wife’s stomach and resisted the urge to chuckle.“Don’t worry, babe. We’ll be there soon,” she assured. She gently took Blake’s hand in her mechanical one and placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles. “I’m sure Dad will be more than willing to make you some ginger tea to help settle your stomach.”Blake grunted slightly and squeezed Yang’s hand before putting it to her forehead. The cool feeling emanating from the metallic appendage was a blessing in disguise. It had taken quite some time for both huntresses to get used to the fake limb; for Yang it was a physical aspect, while Blake had a bit more to get used to mentally and emotionally every time she saw the arm and hand’s metallic glint.Yang smiled and focused on the road ahead of them. It had been eight months since she and Blake had peered into the small window of the little pregnancy test and learned that they had beaten the thirty-six percent chance odds. Eight months, a million phone calls later, and now they were finally making their way to Patch to meet a very excited grandfather to be.The old huntsman had been so thrilled by the news that his shouts of joy had destroyed the speakers on Yang’s scroll. And ever since then he had bombarded both of the girls’ scrolls with voicemails asking when they were going to visit, if they knew the gender of the baby, and random picture messages of gifts, toys, clothes, and other baby necessities he had gone out of his way to purchase. The only person who was even relatively close to being as excited as Taiyang, besides Blake’s parents, Weiss, and Ruby of course, was Qrow.An awkward, half-hearted chuckle escaped Yang’s lips as memories of her uncle over the past eight months filled her mind. In the beginning the dusty old crow was tolerable; asking how Blake and the baby were doing, occasional check-ins, and even managing to keep Taiyang on a leash. But something seemed to have flipped a switch in his mind somewhere around the fourth month because one day Yang received a blueprint for a toddler sized scythe in the mail. A couple of weeks after that, Blake got a picture message of a schematic for gauntlets that had sword blades attached to the wrists that would flip up into the user’s palms, and recently they received Gambol Shroud rattles and Ember Celica teething rings.“Weiss and Ruby are going to be there, right?” Blake finally asked once she felt the wave of nausea pass.“Yup!” Yang stated cheerfully. “They’ll both be getting there later. Ruby’s finishing up her mission today, and Weiss is flying in from Atlas.”“That’s good. It’s been a while since we’ve seen Weiss and Ruby,” Blake thought out loud.“Yeah,” Yang snickered. “I think the last time we were all together that watermelon you’re smuggling was nothing more than a little apple.” A solid hit to the stomach from Blake’s backhand caused her to cough.The car pulled into a clearing, revealing a cozy-looking cottage. Blake gazed out at the humble abode and felt a heated lump stick in her throat. She had only ever visited the Xiao-Long home once before, and that was before they had moved to Vale when the war was over. They hadn’t even teased the idea of marriage…out loud at least…at the time.“Well, here we are!” Yang announced exuberantly. She unclipped her seatbelt and exited the car, running around to the other side to open Blake’s door. “Mrs. Xiao-Donna.”Blake sniffed back the tears and forced the painful memory from her mind. “Xiao-Donna?” She took Yang’s hand and forced a smile. “That one’s new. How long were you waiting to use that one?”Yang smiled goofily. “My dear, Blake, fantastic word play is not thought of ahead of time. A true expert in linguistic-”“So, two weeks?” Blake cut in, rolling her eyes.A light blush colored Yang’s cheek. “Two and a half actually,” she admitted sheepishly.Blake shook her head as her smile softened. She kissed Yang’s cheek and started walking up to the door, pulling the blonde along. “You never cease to amaze me.”“Good! That means I’m doing my job!” Yang laughed warmly. She opened the front door and shouted into the depths of the cabin. “Hellllooooooooo! Anyone home?”What sounded like a herd of stampeding Ursa echoed through the house. A large man with shaggy, blonde hair that was ever so slightly greying in the sideburns, blue eyes, and a muscular build that would put most Huntsman in their twenties to shame rounded the corner from a side hallway. It wasn’t surprising that this man managed to seduce both of the women on his team when he was younger.The man’s eyes sparkled, and an excited gasp escaped his throat. “Yang! Blake! How are my girls doing?” He exclaimed as he sprinted into the entryway with his arms wide.Blake immediately ducked behind the doorframe in an attempt to protect the baby from the bone crushing force that was her father-in-law. As expected, the older blonde wrapped his eldest daughter in a spine snapping hug.“Sorry, Yang,” she apologized mentally, “the baby comes first. You’ll have to deal with being a human meat shield.”Yang could feel every bone in her torso being pulverized as she withstood her dad’s super-ultra-bear-hug deluxe. She caught a glimpse of Blake trying not to laugh out of the corner of her eye. “Laugh it up, Blake,” she thought impishly. “This man is going to give you so much attention when he is done with me you won’t know what to do with yourself.”Tai set his daughter down and held her shoulders tight. “Oh, Yang, it’s so good to see you! How are you? How’s Blake?” His eyes went wide, and he frantically scanned the entry for his daughter-in-law.“Where is Blake? You did bring her with you, right? You said you were going to bring her along! I need to feel the little dragon-kitten kick!”As if on cue, Blake felt a single swift kick from within her belly. A heavy sigh filtered past her lips. “Oh, no. Don’t you start going all kickboxer on me just because your grandpa mentioned it,” she scolded her belly under her breath.Despite the stories she had heard from Tai about how much Yang was a kicker in the womb, the past eight months had gone by fairly smoothly. The baby hardly ever kicked, and the few times they did was usually because Yang was super excited about something, or Blake eating something the little bundle really seemed to enjoy. Otherwise, they were very mellow.Resigning herself to her fate, Blake stepped out from behind the door and braced herself for impact. Crystal blue eyes gleamed with tears as Tai threw his arms around her, blubbering about how she was glowing, how big her belly was, and how he was so happy for them.Another hour flew by before Weiss and Ruby showed up. Weiss held an armful of gifts for the parents-to-be while Ruby lavished Blake’s baby bulge with as many rubs and kisses as she could muster, much to the heiress’s chastisement. Once Yang was able to corral her sister into the kitchen to help with dinner, Weiss took her turn showering the lump with love and nuzzles.Blake glanced over the back of the sofa into the kitchen and a soft smile stole her lips. Yang was ruffling Ruby’s hair, causing a plume of flower to fill the air from the most recent cooking related incident. Taiyang had long since escaped the warring sisters and was sitting in his recliner with Zwei on his lap. Weiss, ever the responsible one, was now between the red and yellow duo trying to lay down some sense of decorum; only to get caught in the crossfire by a rogue blast of ranch dressing.“You’re coming into probably the most dysfunctional family on the face of Remnant, Little One,” she chuckled softly. She turned her gaze back to the swell of her belly and ran her hand over the taught skin. A small flutter of excitement met her fingertips, and she suddenly remembered eight months ago when she saw two pink lines staring up at her from a blurry little window. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
