2 YEARS LATER

"Max, hurry up! We're going to be late! Mummy said to be there in half an hour!" Ruby called as she hopped from foot to foot in front of the front door.

"Max?!" Her father asked as he entered the room. "You haven't called me that in years! Why am I suddenly Max but Zoe is still Mummy?"

"Because you embarrassed me in front of my friends."

"What did I do?" Max asked as he grabbed the car keys.

Ruby folded her arms. "You know what you did! I told you not to kiss me goodbye anymore in front of my friends, but when I came out of school you picked me up, spun me around and then dropped kisses all over my face!"

"You loved it really." Max pulled open the front door and then shut it behind him, following Ruby towards the lift with a grin.

She had. In fact it might have been her favourite thing ever. "No I didn't!"

"Did so."

Ruby turned to frown at Max, and for a moment she looked just like Zoe. "I'm not going to call you Daddy until you say sorry."

As Max got down on his knees and pretended to beg, Ruby began giggling and then finally rushed forward to wrap her arms around his neck. "You're silly, Daddy. I love you."

"I bet I love you more." Max grinned, picking Ruby up into his arms to carry her to the lift.

"Nope, I love you more."

"Not possible."

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is too!"

"How about we agree that we love each other equally?" Max asked as they entered the busy lift.

Ruby glanced around the busy lift and Max's arms tightened around her instinctively, but Ruby was no longer as shy as she used to be and turned to look at him with a smile. "Okay, but don't do it again."

"Don't do what? This?" Max asked before attempting to drop a kiss on a giggling and squirming daughter's cheek.

"DADDY!"

40 minutes later they were sat back in the same photography studio that they'd been in 2 years before. Rather than just the 3 of them, this time there was 8, and Ruby looked around at them happily. All her favourite people. Her family. At school, a boy had recently teased her for being adopted, and Ruby had drawn herself up to her full height, crossed her arms as she'd seen her mother do a replied "I'm glad I am. My parent's picked me. YOURS just got stuck with you!" The boy's friends had laughed at him. Smiling at the memory, Ruby looked around.

Lofty stood in the corner trying to fix the mess that Dylan had made of his tie.

Max was rushing around trying to stop his son Ben from chewing on everything he came across.

Robyn was assessing herself in the mirror, unsure if she'd made the right dress choice.

Zoe was stood back trying to organise everyone, but no one was paying her a bit of attention.

And Dervla lay with her head on Ruby's lap, letting the girl she loved tie pompoms into her fur.

"Right, if everyone is ready, I'd like to take the photo!" The photographer finally yelled.

Everyone walked reluctantly towards the front of the camera, Max pulling a squirming Ben into his arms.

"I don't think I picked the right dress." Robyn moaned.

"My tie just doesn't look right." Dylan noted.

"I probably should have had a haircut." Lofty added.

"Why do I always have to be pregnant when we get these done?" Zoe asked.

As everyone turned to look at her, Ben burst into tears and the photographer took the photo.

Ruby still giggled every time she looked at the photo that hung on the wall. Zoe stood in the middle, and everyone's heads were turned towards her, but she was looking right at the camera with a grin. In front, Ben's face was red with anger and tears.

"You did that because you realised you wouldn't be the baby anymore." Ruby was fond of telling him, but her eyes were always drawn to her mother in the photo. That smile rarely left her face these days, and Ruby found it infectious.

She loved her mother, but secretly her father was her favourite. He might be silly sometimes, but he kept the large household and everyone in it running smoothly, he silenced every argument and he still had time for endless cuddles. She knew that whatever storm might come her families' way, he would keep them safe.

THE END!

A/N- I really enjoyed writing this, and hope you all enjoyed reading it. Thank you to all who reviewed! I have a new story coming, but I know a lot of people really liked Ruby, so I'm considering writing another story with her involved, separate from this story. Let me know your views, and if anyone would like to write with me or send me ideas, please do! I'm also on twitter - georgygirl17.