Chapter 13

Yang staggered out of the meeting room with tears streaming down her face. Arslan slipped into the room behind her to retrieve Summer. Yang collapsed on a sofa in the reception area. Winter rushed over, sitting beside her and cradling Yang as she cried. It took Yang quite a while to regain her composure, but no one rushed her. They all knew it was going to be very difficult for her but that it was something she could, and would, work through.

"She can't stay here." Yang finally declared, sniffling. "I can't just stand by and do nothing while she's tormented."

"Do you...want to adopt her?" Winter asked.

"I...I...I don't know." Yang stammered. "I'm...I don't know if I'm ready. I don't want to take her out of here just to put her in another bad situation. Summer deserves better. I...I can't rush into this. But I can't leave her here anymore knowing how hard it is for her."

"We could take her in." Blake suggested. "Velvs and I have already been vetted. It would only take a few signatures."

"Are...are you sure?" Yang asked. "What if…"

"We could start on a temporary basis, and if you decide you want to, you can adopt her." Velvet noted. "It would get her out of here sooner, and give you time to make your decision."

"I don't want you to feel pressured…" Yang started.

"We all think Summer's great." Blake declared. "We'd have no problem adopting her permanently."

"Then maybe you should." Yang sighed.

"Yang, you're family." Velvet shook her head. "If you want to adopt her, you should be able to. We'll love being her aunts as much as we would being her mothers."

"That's...I...alright." Yang agreed. "Arslan...would that work?"

"It's a little unorthodox, but given the circumstances there shouldn't be any problems." Arslan replied. "I'm afraid you'll have to wait for tomorrow though. I can't entrust her to your care without approval from a social worker, and the bureaucracy doesn't operate on weekends."

"But…" Yang protested.

"I'll keep a very close eye on her." Arslan declared. "I promise. I'll give you the paperwork now, and we'll get the necessary approvals first thing in the morning."

"I guess that's alright." Yang nodded. "You guys are sure?"

"We are." Velvet confirmed. Blake nodded her agreement. "For the record, I think you'd make a great mom."

"Until yesterday I wouldn't have doubted it." Yang sighed. "But thanks for the vote of confidence. It really means a lot."

"Welcome to your new home!" Velvet cheered. She opened the apartment door, allowing a giggling Summer to rush inside. As Arslan had indicated, finalizing the process had been very quick, and Summer had been given over to their care before midday. "I guess she likes it." Velvet ducked inside, followed by Blake, Yang and Winter who carried suitcases loaded with all of Summer's possessions.

Summer rushed around, exploring the new space. It was not quite a penthouse, but it was rather large. The main room was full of rich colors, mostly reds and browns, with mood lighting to further brighten the space. Her first stop was a tall, abstract stone sculpture. Yang and Winter had given it to the Belladonnas as a gift, mostly as a joke. It was pretentious and indecipherable, and Summer did not linger very long before moving on to the next curiosity. A life sized statue of a man towered over Summer. The bearded figure held a strange animal under one arm and his other hand was outstretched, clutching a can of beer. Summer took a closer look at the weird animal and laughed before moving on again.

"What the f...fudge...Blake?" Yang asked, standing before a wallhanging she had never seen before. The small tapestry depicted a multi-limbed deity surrounded by various patterns and geometric shapes. Bizarrely, what seemed to be monochromatic pictures of several female celebrities' faces were being held by two of the hands, with another pasted on its face.

"We got that on our honeymoon." Blake explained. "Velvs laughed for a good five minutes when we first saw it. There was no way we weren't getting it."

"The lady in the store looked angry." Velvet added.

Summer rushed up to Blake and tugged on her sleeve. "Miss Blake, where is the bathroom?" She asked.

"It's right in there." Blake pointed. "And you don't have to call me Miss Blake, just call me...hmm...actually, I don't know what you should call me yet."

"How about we go with aunt for now?" Velvet suggested. Blake shrugged but seemed to accept her decision. "Aunt Blake and Aunt Velvet."

"Okay." Summer agreed.

"You can go to the bathroom." Velvet noted. "You don't have to wait for permission."

"Okay." Summer nodded. She rushed toward the door.

"Do you need help?" Blake asked.

"No!" Summer called back as she slipped inside.

"She's painfully cute." Winter cheered. "Just say the word Yang. I'm ready to take her home right now."

"Yeah...I still need to think about it." Yang sighed. She glanced at the clock, a novelty design with all the numbers replaced by fives and the slogan 'It's Five O'Clock Somewhere' accompanied by a wine glass on its face. "How about I make us some lunch?"

Winter knew Yang was dodging the question, but now was not the time to push. Blake and Velvet knew it too and looked to Winter for guidance. When she did nothing they took her lead. "That sounds lovely." Velvet smiled. "All the excitement has me pretty hungry."

After lunch, the group played a few board games, then Summer sat down to do some drawing. The few hours they had spent together had already been quite fun, but the night was young. Shortly after getting to the apartment, Blake had asked Summer if she minded meeting a few of her new guardians' friends, and the little girl had agreed. The quartet had already planned to have their friends over to meet Summer, and with her consent it was decided to go ahead.

There was a knock at the door and Blake got up to answer it. As soon as she turned the knob it burst open, Nora charging in with a box in her hand. "I brought cake!" Nora cheered.

"Cake?" Summer gasped, looking up from her artwork.

"Yeah, we thought we'd have a little party to celebrate you coming home with us." Velvet explained.

"A party, awesome!" Summer giggled. "I love parties!"

"Well, Summer, meet Nora." Blake introduced. Sun and Pyrrha followed Nora in, much more subdued in their demeanor. "Sun and Pyrrha, Summer."

"Hello." Pyrrha smiled.

"Hey." Sun said.

"You're hair's really pretty Pyrrha." Summer praised.

"Thank you." Pyrrha blushed.

"Why is your shirt open?" Summer asked Sun.

"So everyone can see my abs." Sun explained. Summer did not seem to understand. "Uh...it was too hot."

Summer jumped up and rushed over to Nora, who was placing the cake box on the kitchen table. "What kind of cake is it?" Summer asked.

"That's a surprise." Nora chuckled.

"Once everyone's here we can start eating it." Velvet noted.

"There's more?" Summer asked. "You have lots of friends."

"I guess we do." Velvet laughed.

"Knock knock." Raven said, walking through the still open door. Glynda rolled her eyes.

"And here they are." Velvet declared. "Summer, meet Raven and Glynda."

"You look like Yang." Summer observed, looking at Raven. "Are you sisters?"

"Oh, you little charmer." Raven chuckled. "I'm Yang's mommy."

"If you're Yang's mommy, and Yang's sister was my mom...does that make you my grandma?" Summer asked.

"She giveth and she taketh away." Glynda smirked.

"Oh, no." Raven groaned. "I'm not Ruby's mom. I…"

"Can I call you grandma anyway?" Summer asked, an innocent smile on her face.

"I'd like it better if you called me Rave." Raven replied.

"Okay Rave." Summer giggled. "So, can we eat the cake now?"

Blake laughed. "Sure."

As the others finished off the last of the cake, and Summer answered questions about herself, Yang slipped away, ducking into Velvet's art studio. When she emerged she was carrying a rectangular object hidden by wrapping paper. "What's that?" Summer asked, noticing Yang.

"What kind of party would it be without a present?" Yang chuckled.

"A present?" Summer gasped. "For me? But it's not my birthday or anything."

"It's still a day to remember though." Velvet noted.

"Here you go." Yang placed the object in front of Summer. "Be careful opening it."

Summer smiled and knelt before the present. Taking Yang's warning very seriously, she found an edge in the wrapping paper and slowly pulled at it. The covering fell away, revealing a painting of a forest that featured trees with red leaves. "Wow...it's really pretty." Summer declared. In awe, she carefully examined the work. "I love the color."

"You like red huh?" Blake asked.

Summer nodded. "It's my favorite color." She confirmed.

"Your mother painted that." Yang explained. "She loved red too."

"A lot of the gifts I got in the orphanage were red." Summer added. "The color just makes me feel so...so warm!"

"I'm glad you like it." Yang smiled. She was glad Summer had not asked where it had come from. Yatsuhashi had actually gifted it to her years before, but with no place to put it in the orphanage, Arslan had been forced to keep it in storage. Yang was still not sure how she would explain that situation to Summer. Yatsuhashi did not want Summer to know he was her father, but Yang did not want to lie to the girl. At some point she would have to figure something out, but that was a problem for the future.

"We'll put it up in your room." Velvet suggested.

"Cool!" Summer smiled and nodded.

"So Summer, are you an artist too?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah!" Summer cheered. "I love to draw and color. Those are my drawings on the fridge!"

"I draw stuff too, but Pyrrha never puts my stuff on the fridge." Nora complained.

"Because you're an adult, and her art is better." Pyrrha teased. "Plus, your preferred subject matter isn't appropriate for public display."

"What do you like to draw?" Glynda asked.

"Animals, Miss Glynda." Summer replied. "And people too. Everything I guess."

"Oh, you don't have to call me Miss Glynda." Glynda laughed. "Call me grandma."

"Okay grandma!" Summer giggled.

"Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself?" Raven chuckled. "You don't even have kids."

"I have plenty of children, crazy, crazy children." Glynda smirked, casting her glance at those around her.

"It's hard to argue with that...mom." Pyrrha joked.

The action moved from the kitchen to the lounge. Blake turned on the TV, some cartoons for Summer, and the little girl watched the brightly colored characters intently as the adults chatted. "You know, I was expecting Summer to be bouncing off the walls." Sun laughed. "I guess that's what I get for hanging around kids who literally spend their time bouncing off the walls. Hmm...maybe Summer would enjoy parkour…"

"Parkour?" Summer asked.

"Sun, swear to God, I will cut you." Yang warned.

"Alright, alright." Sun backed off. "She's still a little young for classes anyway."

"You're not going to be like this with our kids, are you?" Pyrrha sighed.

"Of course I am." Sun smirked. "Their training starts as soon as they can walk."

"You're having kids too?" Summer asked. "Are you adopting?"

"Oh, no, we're having them...naturally." Pyrrha explained.

"Wanna' feel our bellies?" Nora asked.

"Bellies?" Summer tilted her head in confusion.

"That's where the baby's growing!" Nora exclaimed.

"Both of you?" Summer asked.

"Yep, Sun gets to be a double-daddy." Nora cheered.

Summer hopped onto the couch between Pyrrha and Nora. With one hand on each she rubbed their bellies, giggling. Nora cackled as tiny fingers tickled her, while Pyrrha smiled and sighed contentedly. "They're gonna' know who their parents are." Summer sighed. "I wish I knew who my dad was."

Yang gulped, casting her gaze downward. Winter stepped up to save the day. "Maybe one day honey." Winter encouraged. "You never thought you'd find out who you mom is, but that happened. It could happen for your father too."

"Yeah!" Summer exclaimed. "I hope so!" Yang breathed a sigh of relief.

"Here, have a candy." Nora reached into her pocket, producing a crinkling sound and pulling out a gummi bear. Summer eagerly took it and popped it in her mouth, happily chomping on the gooey candy.

"Thanks for the save." Yang whispered to Winter.

"No problem." Winter responded. "You'll need to figure out what you're going to tell her eventually."

"Yeah, I know." Yang groaned. "Just another decision I have to make…"

Yang battled through another night in which her sleep was fitful at best. Solstice Modeling had nothing scheduled for the day, so she would get to spend it at home with Winter. She considered going to visit Summer again, but decided they both probably needed a break. Summer could use a day without her overly-emotional aunt hovering over her, and Yang could use some emotional rest. Unfortunately, there would be no rest for Yang. No matter what she did, her mind always returned to Summer, and Ruby.

An object on the table kept drawing Yang's attention, as if it were shouting at her. The photo album Yatsuhashi had given her was the 500 pound gorilla in the room. There was simply no ignoring it any longer. "Hey uh...Winter...you got a minute?" Yang asked, walking up behind Winter.

"What's up?" Winter asked, looking away from the newspaper.

"I wanted to look through the album." Yang replied. "It probably wouldn't be a great idea to do it without your support."

"Oh, alright." Winter nodded. She folded up the paper and put it on the table. "Are you sure you're ready?"

"I'm not sure about anything anymore." Yang sighed. "But I can't stop thinking about it. At this rate it'll drive me nuts whether I look or not." She grabbed the album and sat on the couch beside Winter. "I flipped through it when he gave it to me...but I wasn't really paying much attention. Every time I saw Ruby's face...I just had to keep turning the pages."

"Well, let's take a good look at it, together." Winter suggested.

"Here goes nothing." Yang opened up the album. The first images were group shots, Ruby and her friends. Yang had seen most of them before. They were probably taken in the first few days of orientation. Soon the group of people in the photos narrowed, now down to Ruby's closer friends, her inner circle. "I wonder if they all knew. I guess there wouldn't have been any hiding it after a while."

"I'm sure they did everything they could to help out." Winter encouraged.

"She looks so happy." Yang observed. In every photo Ruby was smiling, sometimes laughing. Even as a noticeable bulge began to grow in her belly, she looked like she was having the time of her life. Maybe she was. Yang came to a photo that was far different from the ones around it. It appeared to be in a doctor's office, with Yatsuhashi and what looked like a doctor at her side. Yang looked closer. It was Ruby, looking at an ultrasound, Summer already well formed in her womb. There was a joy on Ruby's face, but also a sadness in her eyes. She must have known by then that she would be giving Summer up for adoption. She could see it in Yatsuhashi's face too. He was smiling, being brave for his love, but there was pain evident in his expression. Yang turned the page, back to pictures like the others. A now obviously pregnant Ruby was wearing pajamas, sitting in Yatsuhashi's lap, one arm around his waist and one around his neck as he hugged her from behind. "He looks so young."

"What do you mean?" Winter asked.

"When I met him...if I didn't know better I'd think he was in his mid thirties." Yang explained. "The stress and guilt must have aged him terribly." She shook her head. "I wonder how I avoided the same fate. Maybe it was because I was keeping it together for Ruby." She pressed on. Ruby's belly continued to expand and Yang knew the end was near. Then she turned the page one more time. The mix of seemingly random shots gave way to a single, full-page photograph. "Oh my God…" Yang gasped.

"They all look so happy...but not happy." Winter noted.

The photo showed Ruby lying in a hospital bed, baby Summer in her arms and Yatsuhashi at her side. "It was the only time they got to be a family." Yang choked. She realized she was crying. She flipped the page again, to one last image. It was Ruby, her smile forced, suitcases in her arms. It must have been right when she was leaving for home. "I...no wonder."

"What?" Winter asked.

"When Ruby got home, she seemed so down." Yang groaned. "I get it now. I finally get it. I thought it was because she was sick but...she'd just had the happiest time of her life, and she knew it was over. She knew it would never be the same. No matter what she did, whatever happened, there would always be that guilt and regret."

"But she still had all those wonderful memories." Winter countered. "I'm sure those never left her."

"I only ever wanted her to be happy." Yang wept. "I thought the cancer made her suffer...but she was suffering already. And I had no idea. I didn't fix it, I couldn't."

"Yang, you did everything you could." Winter declared. She pulled Yang over, allowing her to sob into her shoulder. "You gave everything to make Ruby happy, and even if it was only for a few months, your sacrifice allowed her to experience such joy. I'm sure she was grateful, more than you know."

Yang continued to sob. "I...but...why did it have to go so wrong?"