...Four, three, two, one.

Ruby and Weiss opened their eyes and peered around the living room, searching for any signs of their beloved daughter before turning to each other.

“You think we should split up to look for her?” Ruby proposed.

“Of course not. You’re taking this too seriously,” Weiss said as she stood from the couch.

“What do you mean ‘too seriously?’ Hide-and-seek is about as serious as you can get when you’re a kid!” Ruby followed her up and frowned, fully prepared to defend her and her daughter’s favorite childhood game, but instead of responding Weiss bent down behind the couch. “Weiss?”

Ruby heard distressed but giddy squealing and watched Weiss lift their daughter up into her arms. Ruby giggled at her devious strategy, and stepped in to hug her while sharing an amused grin with her wife.

“Cerise! You can’t hide in a spot you’ve already used before, silly!”

“But it worked the last time we played!” She pouted while folding her arms. Ruby poked her cheek a few times, which quickly turned her frown upside down.

“While it was a good hiding spot that did work,” Weiss admitted, “it was only yesterday. Now we know that you might try to hide there, so you’ll have to think of a better place this time.”

Weiss set her down again and sat with Ruby on the couch.

“We’re gonna start counting again,” Ruby warned her. “So go find somewhere to hide!”

She spun her around and gave her a little push. Cerise stumbled forward a few steps, but turned around and found her parents already shielding their eyes and waiting for her to run off.

“W-Wait, don’t start yet, I’m still thinking!”

“Better hurry,” Ruby teased. “Thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-eight…”

“That’s not fair Mommy, we haven’t started yet!”

“Twenty-seven, twenty-six, twenty-five…”

Cerise groaned, worried she wouldn’t be able to find a good enough place to hide.

“Mom! Make her start over!” she demanded, not caring to use her inside voice as Weiss had instructed her to so many times.

“We’ll start over Cerise, but you should stop shouting if you don’t want us to hear you.”

“Oh, right! Okay!” They listened to her footsteps hastily thudding away. Ruby started counting again, but could only call out one number before being interrupted by Weiss.

“Be careful on the stairs Cerise, if you go up them!” Weiss was nudged in the ribs by Ruby. “What? I’m trying to be a responsible parent!”

“She knows to be careful on the stairs, Weiss! After all, if she were going up them she would take it slow so we don’t hear her." She felt Weiss’ hand find hers on the couch. “You aren’t opening your eyes, are you Weiss?”

“Of course not. But at least I know who she gets her mindless shouting and stair running from,” Weiss quietly murmured.

“Weiss, come on, I’m an adult now!”

“You have your moments.”

Ruby grumbled, knowing Weiss was right. Ruby occasionally raised her voice just to bug her, but ever since they had Cerise she started doing it more just to get a laugh out their daughter by irritating her mother.

To deflect her remark Ruby squeezed her hand and said, “Now how exactly am I taking this too seriously? Splitting up would make it easier to find her.”

“I swear, you’re just as much a child as our daughter. It’s hide and seek around the house, Ruby. It won’t be that hard to find her. Besides, don’t you think she would be much more delighted if we found her together?”

“I guess so. Okay, good point Weiss. I guess it’s a good thing you decided not to keep living in the Schnee manor, huh? We would never ever find Cerise in there!”

“Well, it’s thanks to you inviting me to Patch for the summer that one year. I took inspiration from your house when laying out the plans for this one, after all.”

“I’m glad you liked it enough to make this one sort of similar. That made it easier for me, at least.”

“Believe me, it was wonderfully simple for me too. You know I like your house.”

“Yeah, I know. I was just surprised you wanted a smaller one. Compared to yours, ours already must have been a lot tinier.”

“This one’s not that much smaller than your old house. I just didn’t want something as needlessly extensive as mine. Good riddance, if you ask me.”

Of course, Ruby didn’t care what kind of house they had, as long as she was sharing it with Weiss. Her partner had other plans however, insisting that a bigger house wasn’t always better, and so they had this one constructed from the ground up to move into together.

“You think we should start looking?”

“Let’s wait ten more seconds. She’s never been good at deciding on where to hide.”

“She’s gotten better at it though! And besides, it’s pretty cute when we find her trying to hide and she doesn’t see us yet.”

“That’s true,” Weiss said while squeezing her hand back. Ruby could tell by the slight chuckle that escaped that she was smiling. “It reminds me of a certain someone who was trying to hide the boxes of cookies she spent her allowance on.”

“Hey, you told me I could spend it on whatever I want! And that was back while we were in Beacon,” Ruby moaned, as if it were ludicrous to bring up any memories of their college years.

“What does that have to do with it?”

Ten seconds having passed, they opened their eyes and stood up together, finding grins plastered on each other’s faces.

“It’s been years since then and you’re still nagging me about it,” Ruby laughed.

“I’m reminiscing because it was cute, and our daughter takes after her mother,” Weiss informed her while folding her arms. Ruby stepped closer and planted a kiss on her cheek as she passed by to preemptively check around the couch again for her, finding nothing but the shadowed space between it and the wall.

“So, where do we start?” Ruby asked.

“Might as well start here, since she loves this room so much.”

Weiss held a good point. Cerise wasn’t much into toys, but just like Ruby, she adored figures. The few toys their daughter had were scattered about the living room, since that was where her parents spent most of their time. Dolls and action figures sharing the same house on the glass coffee table, building block playsets they had all built together in the middle of the floor and had all stepped on before (Weiss continually urged Ruby and Cerise to move them out of the way but they always held that it was too much work). The only thing Cerise liked to keep in her room was a little music box that Ruby had constructed for her before she was born that, once it was wound up, played a lullaby: a song that Weiss wrote and sang especially for her. Though there was virtually no drop in quality, Ruby still thought it no substitute for Weiss’ splendid voice.

Ruby hummed the tune to herself as they searched behind chairs, curtains, under the table, and the small space between the grandfather clock and the wall, but found no sign of Cerise. Ruby followed Weiss’ lead to the dining room, not spying her under that table either.

“Weiss? You don’t think she hid in the cabinets do you?”

“She clearly inherited your unorthodox ways of thinking, so I wouldn’t doubt it.”

Weiss checked behind the island that separated the dining room and kitchen. Nothing.

“Aha!”

Weiss straightened up and peered at Ruby, who was crouched down on the floor staring into a cabinet. When she said she didn’t doubt Cerise hiding in the cabinets, she said it jokingly - she pleaded for her not to be in there. Weiss quickly stepped around to find Ruby shutting the door to a cupboard full of large bowls.

Thank goodness.

Weiss watched her move to the next one and yank it open.

“Gotcha!”

Cutting boards, all stacked on their side.

“Oh Cerise… are you in this one? Nope.” Ruby prepared to open the next cabinet but was pulled up by her wrist.

“She’s not in any of them Ruby.”

“You don’t know that! Our little girl is crafty, and you know that just as well as I do.”

“That may be true, but I’m not going to stand here while you open all these cabinets.”

“So… you’re going to help me?”

“No! Come with me upstairs already.” Weiss dragged her into the hall and up the stairwell since there was nowhere to hide in the kitchen.

Weiss thought it possible that Cerise would hide in one of their bedrooms, and since theirs was closest to the top of the stairs they entered it first. She flipped the lights on while she and Ruby split up to check opposite sides of the bed. Weiss opened their closet and parted the wall of hung up clothes in case Cerise was hiding behind them.

“Ruby, what time is it? Oh, and no sign of her by the way.”

“Not in the bathroom either. Uh… it’s 5:19. Why?” Ruby stood in front of the closet with her, watching her examine the more formal shirts and dresses at the other end of the rack.

“Do you think I need to change into something more formal?”

Ruby didn’t know why Weiss continued to worry about these trivial things, when she knew full well that Ruby adored her in any outfit, but loved that should could help the elegant lady with her fashion woes. She stepped back to gauge how well her clothes complimented her, a task that she never took issue with. She was wearing a dark, navy blue sweater with a white collar, complimented by a black miniskirt. One of Weiss’ preferred at-home outfits and one of Ruby’s favorites.

“No, you look cute and classy as always Weiss!”

“What? That’s not what I meant Ruby!”

Weiss frowned at her while pulling a typical office blouse from a hanger.

“Ohh, that’s right, you’ve got that meeting in like, what, ten minutes?”

Weiss nodded while she started sorting through the clothes again.

“Well, it’s just another video conference right? So no one will see your skirt… And your sweater looks good to me. If you’re that worried about it, go ahead and change, but you’re the CEO after all, so it’s not like it’ll be a huge issue if you decide to go a little more casual for one day.”

“It’s not that, just that it sets a bad example for the rest of the employees.”

“Oh, you’ll be fine,” Ruby said while dragging Weiss away from the closet. “Besides, you’ve got a good enough excuse as a mom with a little girl.”

“I suppose one time won’t hurt…”

“And speaking of our little girl, we’ve still got to find her, remember?” Ruby walked backwards, facing Weiss as she led her into the hall by her hands. “So, got any ideas as to where she might be?”

“You don’t think she really hid in her room, do you?”

Ruby shrugged. That was the only place left, other than the downstairs bathrooms, Weiss’ office, the guest room, and the grounds around the house, although Weiss firmly maintained a no-hiding-outside rule to keep it simple for all of them.

They left their bedroom behind to investigate Cerise’s, but as Weiss opened the door a sound softly approached them.

Ruby quickly picked up its tune and began humming along, smiling at Weiss as she did. The song was sung by a familiar voice that Ruby loved just as much as her daughter did, belonging to the lovely lady standing beside her. However a new voice joined in, trying to mimic and carry the notes with Weiss’ delicate voice but falling along the way.

Weiss was hugged by Ruby and felt her arms holding her tight, hanging onto her as if she were serenading her now.

“Seriously Ruby?” She whispered, embarrassed to find that her wife still loved the song as much as their six year-old daughter did. “We’re in the middle of a game…”

“I know. You sing really well Weiss. She gets it from you,” Ruby said while nuzzling into her shoulder, still humming. She remembered the notes without thinking about them, having listened to the song countless times already, engraved into her mind like a tattoo. They listened to Cerise as she continued quietly singing, learning it herself, and Weiss felt Ruby’s body rise as she released a heavy, but happy breath.

“She must get loving to listen to it so much from you,” Weiss fondly said while relaxing into her.

“Should we really go in and get her?” Ruby’s squeamish tone made it clear she didn’t want to stop Cerise, or let go of Weiss, for that matter.

“Let’s wait ten more seconds.” Weiss didn’t want to let go of her either. Since Cerise, they found few moments to silently stand and smile like this, aside from lying in bed together. Weiss operated on late nights and early mornings, being a busy president of her own corporation and a busier mother, so they took the time to cherish these respites whenever they came along.

They silently counted down together, listening to their daughter sing the song that Weiss wrote on the device that Ruby constructed. In a way, it was as if all three of them were singing together. Usually they took turns: at bedtime, only Ruby would sing it to her, as Weiss would jokingly claim that they couldn’t sing it as well as her. Cerise would start reciting the few lines she had learned for her parents while they listened in earnest. Her voice would always fade out and stop, then Ruby picked up where she left off, and Weiss would finish for them. That was Cerise’s favorite part. She always asked for an encore when it was bedtime and Weiss needed to continue working, however, so Ruby decided to make the little music box so they wouldn’t be stuck singing to her all night long.

The night she finished making it, Ruby stuck around with Cerise in her room while Weiss returned to her office.

“Hey, once you grow up a little more, and your voice gets deeper and stronger, you’ll be able to sing that song just like Mom y’know.”

“Really?” Cerise asked, gripping her blanket with a shining excitement in her eyes.

“Yep! It’s in your genes.”

“In my genes?”

“Mhm,” Ruby nodded. “But you have to practice every day! Right now you’re like a little seed in the ground, and what do you do when you want a plant to grow?”

“You water it, and make sure it gets lots of sunlight!”

“Correct! And if you do that for long enough, you’ll end up a big beautiful flower! Or a tree, or corn, or something.”

“But, I don’t want to be corn… corn tastes bad.”

“Believe me, I know. I’ve never liked corn, but Weiss still tries to get me to eat it. You should eat it because you’re a growing girl, but-”

“No, I don’t need corn to help me grow up! I drink milk,” Cerise huffed while folding her arms like Weiss always did when she was irritated, or like Ruby always did when trying to prove a point. Ruby recognized the pose and the line, wondering just how much she took after her.

“Hey, I once said that too, and look at how short I am now! But I’m only joking about becoming a tree or corn.”

Ruby revealed the music box that she was winding behind her back and handed it to Cerise, watching her eyes widen in wonder while her mother’s lilting voice sang the familiar song for her.

“That’s… Mom, right? And this is the lullaby you both sing! Wow… and, did you make this all by yourself?”

“Sure did! Well, she wrote the song and sang it first, to be fair. But anyway, to wrap up Cerise: remember to practice every day and you’ll definitely bloom into a flower with a beautiful voice just like that. Okay?”

Cerise nodded and stared at the box she held in her hands, watching the mechanical arm spinning around and around while Weiss’ voice sang her to sleep.

“Ruby?” Weiss leaned out of their hug to check on her, noticing how quiet she had become. “You do know it’s been more than ten seconds, right?”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “I was just thinking.”

“I know. Me too.” Weiss softly smiled at her, knowing exactly what she was dreaming about: the two of them and their little girl. Ruby kissed her, a deep, lasting press on her lips, and together they silently sneaked into Cerise’s room.

Finally they realized that she had stopped singing along. The song continued to play however, emerging from her closet. Ruby stood on one side while Weiss took her position on the other, and opened the door on Ruby’s silent count of three.

Cerise shrieked at the startling intrusion but quickly started giggling as Ruby rushed inside and picked her up. She carried her back to Weiss, who was folding her arms though she was smiling at Cerise’s wild laughter. Ruby took the music box from her hands and held it between them, just as it finished playing.

“Cerise! I thought Mom told you you had to be quiet if you didn’t want us to find you!”

“She did, but I didn’t think you would come up here that fast! So let’s play again!”

Ruby and Cerise glanced at Weiss together.

“Weiss, I know you have a meeting to attend to…”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I can spare the time for one more game.”

“Yay!” Cerise cheered while Ruby lowered her down.

“Now we’re going to start counting, so be quick, okay? And remember to try to be as quiet as possible.” They closed their eyes, but waited for Cerise to start moving before they actually started counting. They heard her running out into the hall. “Thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-eight…”

“Careful on the stairs Cerise!”

Ruby snickered.

Weiss began to retort but heard a click, and her own voice singing to her. Ruby looped their arms and hands together, quietly humming along to the lullaby, and Weiss joined in too. It was strange to hear herself singing her own song, and stranger still to sing along to it, but she couldn’t be happier singing along with her family.

Two tiny arms hugged their legs, and they opened their eyes to find Cerise at their feet and staring at the music box.

Ruby smiled at Weiss and picked their daughter up in between them.

“You’re never going to be good at hide and seek if you keep letting us know where you are Cerise!”

“I know, but I heard you playing the song and wanted to listen to it.”

“Are you sure?” Ruby asked. “Mom’s got a meeting soon, so she only has time for one game or one song.”

Cerise frowned and mulled it over carefully, but decided quickly.

“Will you sing it to me, pretty please?”

She looked excitedly between both her parents. Ruby tried another smile to convince Weiss to sing it just once, as she could see the impending conference beginning to worry her.

“Of course darling,” Weiss said, while rewinding the music box. She recited the lyrics with all the compassion and talent she could muster, glancing at Ruby, silently letting her know to start singing too, and she quickly picked up with her. Cerise joined in too, but eventually stopped singing due to not knowing the rest of the lines. She listened closely to her parents as they sang, absorbing every shift in their voices and how happy they sounded together, hoping that she would sound as good as them when she grew up.