This has been edited for the first time in seven years! How time flies! Hopefully it reads a little smoother. The next chapter is another one shot I wanted to get written down but thought it'd serve well to go with this story rather than having it as an entirely new one, so check it out if you want.

Thanks for your time, all. :)

Never again.

Blake thought it was a good idea at the time to take Yang up on her offer, but was regretting that decision more and more by the second.

The car rumbled down the road, Yang perched behind the beaten steering wheel looking increasingly agitated as the scenery whizzed by. Blake was pinching the bridge of her nose, wishing she could just turn back the clock and say 'no Yang, it's okay, I'll drive today, being pregnant doesn't make me unable to do basic tasks'. In the back seat, their four-year-old daughter Ellie found the whole situation highly amusing, clutching a raggedy teddy imaginatively dubbed 'Mister Bear' to her chest.

"It's around here," Yang stated with conviction. "It's definitely around here. I remember that sign."

"Yang, there are speed limit signs everywhere," Blake responded, losing the will to live. "It's our daughter's first day at school, you don't know where the school is - even though you said you did, may I add - and you won't ask for directions."

"Why didn't you look up the directions before we set off?" The blonde asked, gripping the wheel until her knuckles turned white, time ticking on. She refused to be late, especially when it was her daughter's first day at stake.

"Don't blame this on me, Xiao Long," Blake replied, ice cold. "I told you to take the right, but of course you knew a shortcut. I'd check my phone, but someone pulled out the charger last night and forgot her own phone."

Yang cringed at her wife's tone, knowing that it was truly her own fault for this mess. She would have to clean it up herself. Her keen eyes scanned the road carefully, looking for any clues whatsoever; if she didn't get this shit-show back on the road then she'd be sleeping on the sofa indefinitely, and with age came back pains that a night on the couch would only amplify.

The clock rolled another minute closer to the opening time.

"I'll get us there, don't worry-"

"Don't worry? I am so past that point."

"Mommy, where are we?" Ellie interjected, looking out of the window wide-eyed as the trees merged into a blur.

"Ask your Mom, I'm sure she knows where we are perfectly well," Blake said calmly, placing her hands on her ever-growing baby bump, trying to ignore the stress pressing against her temples.

Yang did not respond to the snipe, choosing wisely to remain silent and avoid digging herself in any deeper. Gritting her teeth, she tried hard to remember the maps they had looked at when choosing a school, with only a hazy criss-cross of random roads coming to mind.

She turned on the radio, hoping to dissipate the tension with some tunes from their favourite station, Semblance FM. Jovial voices filled the car, but the blonde hardly noticed, too preoccupied by the clock which now read '08:45'. She had fifteen minutes for lady luck to bless her with something special.

"Take this next right," Blake commanded.

Yang did as she was told, unwilling to butt heads any more than they had done already. The instruction brought them to a junction where Yang saw (with immense relief) a sign directing the way to the school, finally admitting to herself that Blake was the better navigator.

'It's gonna be okay, we're gonna make it, we're gonna make it,'' Yang repeated in her head, the mantra barely keeping the lid of her temper from blowing off completely as they joined a long line of traffic. A car had broken down at the front of the queue, and nothing seemed to be moving. 'The school is just three minutes up ahead, we're gonna make it, Blake isn't gonna hate me.'

Crunch!

All of her nervous tension exploded when a car rear-ended theirs, causing Blake to gasp

and instinctively place her hands around her stomach.

Ellie began to cry, and Yang snapped.

She kicked open the car door, flying to the driver's side of the car behind and grabbing the man's starched white collar through his open window, a mobile phone falling from his hand into the footwell. He yelped as two angry eyes blazed furiously into his.

"Listen to me, asshole. I have a pregnant wife and young child in that car, and all I wanna do is get them to school, and… and... damn it, you fuckwit! What were you doing?! You could have killed them! I swear if this collision hurt a hair on their heads I'm gonna-"

"Yang, it's nearly nine!" Blake called, leaning out of her window to watch the scene, feeling a little bit of pride as she watched the exchange. Yang reluctantly let the man go before mustering a glare that said 'if I see you again, you're dead, kiddo'.

Walking back to her own car, she had an idea.

"I'll be back before this line of traffic even moves, I promise!" Yang rushed, opening the back passenger door and unstrapping Ellie from the car seat. She picked up her daughter and wiped her tears, giving her a kiss on the forehead before shifting her onto her back. The young girl then wrapped her legs around her mother's waist and arms around her neck, her long black hair a stark contrast to Yang's blonde. "We're going on an adventure, Ellie. Cheer up!"

Yang waited until she was safely on the pavement before breaking into a run, determined to make it to the school before it opened. Blake watched, unable to contain a smile as her wife disappeared around a corner and out of her view. "Your mother is a weird woman," she said aloud, shaking her head.

Yang meanwhile had slowed to a walk as she neared the school, not wanting to drop her precious cargo, especially since she was already in Blake's legendary Bad Books. Ellie suddenly tugged on her hair, making her hiss in pain.

"C'mon fuckwit, we're gonna be late!" Ellie cried, pointing at the school.

The blood in Yang's veins turned to ice. Her eyes widened. Her heart began to pound.

"Ellie," she started, fear building as she imagined Blake's fury, palpable and barely contained beneath the veneer of a neutral face. "Don't you ever say that word, especially not when Mommy is around."

Ellie giggled, the sound carrying an evil melody to Yang's trained ear. This one's gonna give me hell.

"What's the matter?" Blake asked as Yang returned to the car, correct in her prediction that the line of traffic wouldn't move in the slightest. "Are you feeling sick? You're really pale."

"Uh, I-I guess it's too much running." Yang replied, wanting to cry on the spot and confess her sins. "Not in the shape I used to be!"

Blake knew this was a lie: her wife was relatively athletic, and a short jog would have no impact whatsoever. However, she decided to not push the topic. Yang had redeemed herself in the last fifteen minutes, after all, and Blake had no desire to carry on the argument.

There was one thing that Blake still needed her to do, however.

"You forgot Mister Bear."

Yang loved to sit on the sofa with Blake watching awful TV shows whilst Ellie was at school. The perks of having her own property maintenance business meant that she could be at home more often through the pregnancy, available for every menial task Blake set for her. From hammering a few nails for more family photos to pulling ridiculous amounts of hair from the vacuum, no task was too small for Yang Xiao Long, whipped-wife extraordinaire.

It was a typical Tuesday morning when Blake asked her who child number two would resemble most. Yang paused thoughtfully and laid her hand on Blake's swelled stomach. She hiked the shirt up, leaning over to kiss the skin tenderly.

"Well, Ellie looks like you but acts like me. I bet this one's the opposite!" She said excitedly. "That's why you're not being kickboxed into next week."

Blake remembered the first pregnancy very well. As soon as Ellie grew legs and could start kicking, she did. For hours on end. Every single day. She knew that Ellie was definitely a mini-Yang in the making; she came into the world active and boisterous, and that didn't look like it would stop any time soon.

With this pregnancy, things were quieter. The downside was that her back ached incessantly, and no matter how she shifted on the sofa, no position was working. Definitely the last one. If Yang wants any more she can carry them herself.

Yang watched her curiously. "What's up?" She asked, an eyebrow raised as Blake flopped down in defeat.

Blake's eyes closed, exhaling in pain. "My back is killing me," she admitted, feeling drained. "Will you get the ice cream? It won't help, but I can pretend."

"We're out of ice cream," Yang said, already formulating a plan to help her wife. Blake gave her a disapproving look, and Yang already knew what would be asked of her.

"Go buy some then," the black-haired woman demanded, closing her eyes as she slumped sidewards and rested her head on a cushion.

Yang smiled, running her fingers through raven tresses for a few minutes. She would do anything for Blake; heading to the store was barely an inconvenience.

Scratching her head, she tried to find Blake's favourite flavour. I swear they breed more flavours every time I look. Who the hell would enjoy marshmallow-fluff in ice cream? Freaks, that's who.

"Hey Yang," one of the aforementioned freaks greeted next to her, Yang turning to see Ruby scanning the fridge, undoubtedly looking for anything that had a minimum sugar content of eighty-five percent. She had dark circles under her eyes, skin pale and blotchy - hardly the picture of health.

Yang frowned in concern, touching her sister's cheek lightly. "You okay, Ruby? Shouldn't you be at work?" She asked, bloodshot silver eyes meeting her own.

"Weiss had really bad morning sickness, so I took the day off to take care of her. Just out on the craving run, you know?" Her sister replied, biting back a yawn as she rubbed her face.

"Weiss has you working like a dog," Yang said, "you look like you need sleep, badly. Aren't you exhausted?

"Nah, it's fine," Ruby mumbled through another yawn. "I want to make her as comfortable as I can, she gets all cuddly when she's satisfied, it's so cute-" She was interrupted by her phone ringing, and she answered it quickly. Yang could hear Weiss shouting through the phone, the familiar snarl making her laugh.

"Where are you with my cookies? I swear Ruby, I swear I am craving so hard right now and I just want to cry. If you don't get home soon I will shed tears over everything we own and it won't be pretty," Yang heard, Ruby gasping in response as she clutched the phone tighter.

"N-no, I'm coming Weiss! Don't cry, please!" She pleaded, bobbing up and down in frustration.

"She's so needy," Yang commented, smirking when she heard an angry "watch your mouth, Yang Xiao Long or so help me I will kick your-"

Ruby stopped the phone call before she could carry on, piling cookies from a nearby shelf into her cart, bidding her older sister goodbye as she went to pay for her goods. Even though they were all grown up, some things never did change; Ruby still being Weiss's servant in every single way was one. The two did love each other immensely despite the odd dynamic, a point proven when Weiss begged for Yang's help in proposing to Ruby. They were due to be married the next year, their first child well on its way.

When Yang had finally located the elusive ice cream, she took out her phone and dialled Nora.

"Hello!" A cheery voice rang out, full of energy. Yang smiled.

"Hey Nora. Can you look after Ellie tonight? I want to do something special for Blake," she requested, knowing Nora would agree immediately.

"Sure! Ren can pick her up after school."

Yang expressed her thanks, hanging up and paying for the ice cream. When she arrived home, Blake was no longer in the living room on the sofa, instead curled up on their king-size bed, a pained look on her face even in the midst of sleep. Yang spent a few minutes softly stroking her hair and tracing her face with the backs of her fingers. She loved Blake and their children more than anything on the planet, and was so grateful for the random chance of fate that threw them together.

She reluctantly pulled away to begin her work downstairs, hoping to make her wife's pain a little more bearable.

"Yang, what is this?" Blake asked, their living room decked out in candles, pillows spread over the floor. The lamp was turned on low, the lighting warm.

"You're getting the best massage of your life," Yang told, giving Blake a quick kiss on the lips.

"That's great, but..." Blake trailed off, looking for any sign of their daughter's existence apart from the building blocks hastily shoved in the corner of the room. "Where is Ellie? You did remember to pick her up from school, right?"

Yang looked hurt. "Babe, that happened once."

Blake raised an eyebrow.

"Okay maybe twice, but I swear she's okay. She's sleeping at Nora and Ren's house so we could have some time alone," Yang explained, directing Blake to kneel on some pillows she had set up near the sofa with her arms resting on the seat. This gave adequate space for the baby bump and ensured that Blake was comfortable enough for the massage, according to the Scroogle search Yang had made an hour prior.

"Did you get my ice cream?" Blake asked, feeling her threadbare button-up shirt slipped from her shoulders and her hair moved out of the way. She gritted her teeth when she felt Yang apply oil to her back in smooth sweeping motions, goosebumps erupting from her skin.

"Yep. I saw Ruby there too, picking stuff up for Weiss, apparently," Yang replied, first focusing on Blake's shoulders and grinning when she heard her moan. From then, there was no further conversation, just quiet groans of content as strong hands relieved weary muscles of built-up tension.

Yang kissed her wife's shoulder gently when she was finished, letting her lips linger against the warm skin. Her hands rested on the bump, and Blake placed her own hands over Yang's.

"I love you," Blake said, feeling Yang smile.

"I love you too," Yang whispered back, looking at their matching wedding rings and feeling truly complete.

Yang peered over the cot, seeing her newborn daughter sleeping peacefully for once. The first two weeks away from the hospital had been the worst for the crying, but Yang got up every single time to give Blake a rest, attending to the squalling bundle of joy whenever necessary, which turned out to be pretty much all the time.

When Kira began to show signs of unsettling, Yang quickly picked her up, taking her from the bedroom to avoid waking Blake. She kissed her on the head, resting her cheek against the tuft of blonde hair that was growing more each day. Half her prediction had been right - she looked like Yang.

The sun was rising, its light filtering through the blinds into the living room, illuminating the floor and gleaming off of the remaining eye of Mister Bear, forgotten by Ellie as she'd grown older. She bounced the child in her arms as the cries began, singing a song by the should-have-retired-ten-years-ago artist Cinder Fall from the radio, trying anything to distract Kira from crying and waking her mother up.

"Yang, what are you doing?" Blake questioned from halfway down the stairs, though her tone was so flat it ceased to sound like a question. Too late. Yang saw that Kira's face looked similarly unamused, though the crying had stopped, in fairness.

"Uh…" she trailed, "singing her to sleep again?".

Blake simply shook her head and smirked, descending the rest of the stairs and taking her daughter away from Yang. "If you sing another Cinder Fall song to our child, I will divorce you and take everything." She began to rock her back to sleep. It was something Yang tried not to be jealous of, how easy it seemed to be for Blake to settle their children down when all she wanted to do was take the stress away from her wife.

"Weiss is gonna give birth soon," Yang commented quietly, hovering over Blake's shoulder and watching as Kira's wide eyes opened and closed sleepily.

"I'd say we need to be around to see that, but I honestly don't think we would survive," Blake replied, touching a tiny nose with her fingertip.

"I think Ruby's gonna need more time in hospital than Weiss will when it's all over," Yang quipped, kissing Blake's cheek before the two fell into a content silence.

"By the way, Pyrrha said that Ellie called Jaune a 'fuckwit' the other day," Blake stated bluntly.

"Deserved it," Yang shot back quickly without thinking. She quickly amended this to: "I-I mean, I'll have a word with her. No idea where she picked that up from. Kids, huh?"

Blake rolled her eyes. "Yes, kids. Including you, apparently."

Yang supposed that Blake was the stricter parent.

However, when Yang found out that Ellie had placed a bowl on her six-year-old sister's head and cut her hair, she had gone ballistic.

It had happened in the kitchen: somehow Ellie had gotten ahold of a pair of scissors (Ellie was too much like Yang to be child-proofed from everything) and gone to town on Kira's long blonde hair. Kira herself seemed disinterested, not caring in the slightest.

Blake was at work at the time, and Yang had no idea how to deal with the situation. She removed the bowl from Kira's head and could have cried at the horrendous sight that was presented before her.

"What have you done?" She whispered as Ellie quietly sloped off toward the living room. She picked up a clump of golden hair, hands shaking, two seconds away from calling Blake, unable to cope. She was further dismayed when Blake got home; the woman's only reaction was to burst into a rare bout of raucous laughter at her daughter's new look, daring not to glance at the child in case it set her off again. She made Yang a mug of tea to calm her down, taking Kira to the hairdresser to salvage what was a truly disastrous haircut, no matter which way you looked at it.

Yang later confiscated Ellie's gaming device in angry retaliation, ignoring the massive tantrum that followed with ease. She told her that 'every action has consequences, especially when it comes to cutting your sister's hair off because just look at her, look at what you've done to her beautiful hair!'

The joke was on her however when she played the console herself, perpetually stuck on the last level in whatever game was playing. Her thumbs gripped the device tightly, teeth gritted as Ellie smugly watched her mother struggle.

"Give me it, let me show you how it's done," Ellie demanded, snatching back the device before Yang could smash it to pieces with a hammer. Her smug look only lasted a few more minutes as she found that she too could not complete the level. Yang and Ellie were united once more, complaining in heated mutual agreement about how the game was 'rigged' and was 'impossible to complete', neither protesting when Blake took the game and began to play it.

"You totally won't do it," Yang said after a few minutes, allowing her daughter to snuggle into her side, sins forgotten. Blake simply smirked the same smirk that made Yang fall in love many years ago, causing her to blush unexpectedly. Kira sat at the end of the sofa reading, clearly uninterested in such plebeian competition.

Showing Yang and Ellie the victory screen of the game, Blake grinned wolfishly. Their faces fell.

"How did you do that?" Yang asked, feeling inadequate. "It was impossible!"

"Maybe you both suck," Blake responded, shrugging. "In that regard, it's probably genetic. Burn."

Yang stayed awake for a long time during the night, thinking of everything Blake had given her. She unconsciously squeezed her wife a little tighter, nuzzling the back of her neck and placing a light kiss there. Each day, Yang thanked the heavens for the twist of fate that gave her Blake Belladonna; she had a feeling her life wouldn't be half as happy without her.

A quiet knock at their door caught Yang's ear and somehow woke Blake up - Yang theorised that she had the hearing of a cat sometimes.

"Mom?" The small voice said, door opening a crack and allowing light to pour in from the doorway.

Yang rubbed her eyes. "Kira? What's up, Firecracker?"

Blake huffed a laugh as she sat up, the irony of such a nickname given to the mellowest kid in existence never lost on her.

"I had a nightmare," Kira said, holding the arm of Mister Bear as he trailed on the floor next to her. Her gaze was focused on the cosy looking space between Blake and Yang, and hardly needed any more encouragement when Blake patted the duvet, taking a running jump to the bed and scrambling to sit between them.

"What happened?" Blake asked, running her fingertips through the jagged locks of blonde hair. Apart from this haircut.

"All my teeth fell out, and everyone laughed at me," the child explained, very matter-of-factly. "My teeth don't feel wobbly, but Ellie said they will all fall out when I'm older, and I don't want them to fall out."

Yang sighed. "They won't all fall out at the same time-"

Kira looked horrified. "So they will fall out?"

"You have two lots of teeth," Blake said calmly, hugging Kira to her chest. "When you lose your baby teeth you'll get some adult teeth."

"Which means you'll be a big girl then," Yang finished.

Kira frowned, as though unsatisfied with the answer but not pressing the issue. Yang observed Mister Bear, wondering how the poor thing had any of its stuffing left. She remembered fondly how Doctor Blake Belladonna MB had performed life-saving surgery to salvage his remaining eye with a very worried Kira looking on.

"Do you want to sleep in here tonight?" Blake asked, lifting the covers and letting the child scamper under them after a cursory nod.

A minute passed before Kira announced that she couldn't sleep.

"Hmm, you want us to read you a story?" Yang asked, not particularly fond of the thought of leaving the toasty bed to retrieve a book.

Kira looked between Blake and Yang, toying with a question in her head before she verbalised it to Yang. "Will you tell me how you and Mom met? Was it like a fairytale?"

Yang chuckled, meeting Blake's twinkling eyes from across the pillows. "It was sort of a fairytale. Not the ones you're used to reading though," she said, pulling Kira into her side.

"It all started when your Mom ordered a wardrobe…"

Sorry if there's any formatting errors, FFN removed it all when I uploaded from Google Docs, lol.