Work Text:
The kids were moving to Beacon and everything was worse now.
People are fooled into believing that their kids moving away and leaving the house free of their presence is a blessing but every parent knows that that is absolute bullshit.
Blake and Yang had been dreading the day worse than they dreaded their own death. Because they were both getting emotional over the thought of packing their kid's things up into boxes and that was last night whilst lying in bed together.
Now, they were actually faced with stacks of cardboard boxes and Yang’s truck waiting to be loaded outside, and they were both on the verge of a heart attack.
“Are you alright, hunny?” Yang asked, gently cupping Blake’s waist as she passed by. Stopping briefly to look her wife in the eye and make sure she was alright. And for as upset as Blake was, she really couldn’t be happier that she was going through this with Yang. She wouldn’t trade her for anyone in the world.
“Yeah, hun. I just…” Blake trailed off, sighing as she took a moment to glance around the spare bedroom. What long ago used to be such a cramped space filled with toys and two small beds for the twins before they started their endless battle of renovating their home. New bedrooms being built and the kids moving into them. “I miss when they were small. We were their whole world, you know?”
“I know, hun. But to be fair that was twelve years ago-“
“Please don’t remind me how old we are..”
“I’m just saying! It’s been a long time,” Yang reasoned, gently grasping her wife’s shoulders. “It’s not like they have to take everything. It’s just clothes and-“
“Yang, please stop talking. Just let me believe that their stuff is gonna still be here.”
“Okay…” Yang sang, heaving a box into the air and trekking downstairs. “If I get the boxes will you take the beers out back to everyone?”
Gods, the barbecue. She almost completely forgot that there was over twenty people in her backyard…that was actually rather alarming now that she thought about it.
“Who’s idea was-“
“Both of ours, hunny, we wanted a nice send-off for the kids!”
And, of course, Yang was not wrong. They had been planning out today for the last month, making sure every single person was completely free and would have no excuse as to why they couldn’t turn up today.
The entire extended family had to be here to say goodbye to their favourite kids for the foreseeable future and Blake would be damned if anyone missed it.
Despite the fact that today might be the most emotional day of her life, just on par with the birth of her children (she made a note not to tell Yang it was their wedding day so she could avoid her sulking)…it was a beautiful evening.
The end of summer had always been Yang’s favourite time of year. She managed to get Blake to love it just as much in all the years they had lived in Vale.
She remembered the first summer after they had moved in, they sat together in the yard one night watching the trees. Blissful silence between them as the cool breeze brushed by, their skin damp from the day and welcoming the subtle coldness of the night.
The best part was that it wasn’t cold outside. Not warm but not freezing either. Just perfect. It wasn’t too dark either, nor too bright.
The perfect golden sunset shone down on their yard, lightly guarded by the tree line yet still accented by their fire pit that Yang had been dying to light all day. It was gorgeous…and everyone looked happy from where she was standing.
Her kids looked happy.
That was the saddest part. Knowing they were truly, genuinely, ecstatic to be leaving. Blake knew it, Yang knew it, even Kyna’s ant farm knew it. The knowledge that they were excited didn’t lessen the sadness of the fact that they wouldn’t be around all the time. God, how was Blake supposed to adjust to the number of chores she wouldn’t have to do anymore?
No more yelling for them to clean their rooms or clean up their things from downstairs. No more bickering between the siblings and she or her wife having to intervene. Even the absurd amounts of laundry she had to clean and food she would make for dinner would lessen.
It was definitely an odd adjustment. Dinner for two used to be a treat but it was looking to be a daily occurrence.
She glanced down again from the window, watching Kade as he carefully navigated what looked to be a minefield of a conversation between both a drunk Weiss and Emerald. Blake chuckled at Kyna who was escaping alongside Ruby to go pester Jaune who had taken over Yang’s barbecue duties for the time being.
However, try as she might to find her, Kamari seemed to be missing.
Blake heard footsteps padding in the hallway, perfect timing for a question.
“Hun, do you know where Kam went?”
“Right here, mom.”
With a gasp, Blake spun around and chuckled bashfully. She hadn’t at all expected Kamari to be here of all places.
“Mom got stuck talking to Grandma and Grandpa in the front yard,” Kamari explained, drawing a laugh from Blake. It explained why Yang hadn’t come back yet, her mom was probably talking her ear off and insisting she fix them something to drink first. “Why are you still up here?”
“I was just making sure you’d packed everything you needed.” Blake shrugged, hoping her glassy eyes wouldn’t impair the excuse she had just made. “You know me.”
“Yep, and you worry too much.” And it was then that Blake noticed Kamari’s eyes were glassy too.
“Are you crying?”
“No,” Kamari sniffled. “Yes, but only because you’re crying.”
“I’m not crying,” Blake inhaled shakily, a tear forming at the edge of her eye. “Okay, maybe I am crying but why are you crying?”
“Because I cry when you cry.”
There wasn’t really room for any known explanation other than that. Not when Kamari had slammed into Blake’s chest and hugged her so tight that there was barely room to breathe never mind discuss what made Kamari bawl. She could only hug her back and pray that no one else could hear them both sobbing upstairs.
“I-I’m sorry f-for being so distant from you…” Kamari said through strangled cries. “I love you and mom so much b…but, I’m gonna miss you guys too.”
“I’m gonna miss you and your brother more than anything…” Blake wiped her face, lifting her head up as she sighed. Trying to compose herself. “I just want you to know that you can come home if you’re unhappy-“
“Mom…”
“I mean it, I don’t care how much lien we spend in sending you guys to Beacon, you don’t have to stay there if you’re not happy.” Blake stroked her daughter's cheek. “Just remember you can always come home…you can always come back here.”
“Of course, I’m gonna come back here, I’m not leaving for good,” Kamari laughed. It almost made Blake feel silly for the notion that her kids might never come home. But she couldn’t help it, it was one of those maternal, irrational fears.
“I just don’t know…how to live without you or mom around,” Kamari said. “And it scares me.”
“Gods, we did coddle you kids a little, didn’t we?” Blake laughed. Now that she thought about it, she and Yang were so eager to do everything for their kids but she wasn’t all that sure if they even knew how to do laundry. “I’m sure we can fix that a little.”
Kamari shrugged, wiping away stray tears. “I just don’t know when, where or how…I don’t know how to be in charge without you.”
“Well, that’s the thing. I’m not in charge anymore. I can’t tell you what to do or how to do it,” Blake said. “Sure, I can give you advice but I’m not the boss.”
“I’m just your mom.” Blake sighed as she hugged Kamari tighter. “You don’t need to know everything straight away. You’re gonna make mistakes.”
They both laughed.
“No, you will, I can’t count the amount of mistakes I made when I was sixteen.” That was a whole other conversation in itself. “You’re gonna get your heartbroken and you’re gonna hate everything-“
“Mom, this isn’t the pep-talk you think it is.”
There was a soft knock on the door, Yang appearing with a bottle of beer in her hand.
“I’m sorry but it’s really not hun,” Yang said from the doorway.
“Both of you lay off!” Blake chuckled. “My point is, no matter how bad it gets. No matter how tough things are, you can always come home if you need to.”
Kamari side-glanced at Yang and snickered. “Well, yeah, all my things are here.”
Yang, as helpful as ever, giggled alongside her daughter. Truly, the solidarity that Blake needed.
“Okay, moment’s over,” Blake said, sniffling as she let go of Kamari and began walking towards the doorway.
“Mom, don’t be like that…”
Rolling her eyes fondly, Yang stopped Blake before she had the chance to leave. Blake rolled her head back and let Yang hold her, turning her to face Kamari.
“Everything she said is true though, Kam,” Yang said, shrugging. “There’s never gonna be a point where you’re not welcome home.”
Kamari nodded, bashfully playing with the bracelet on her wrist.
“No, I know that…” Kamari says as she walks over, hugging them both. “And I love you both.”
There was a beat of peaceful silence. Not complete silence but a quiet that was far too serene to be overlooked. The sound of their family outside in the backyard having fun. People downstairs messing around in the kitchen. It was amazing…and Blake would miss moments like these that she was sure would become few and far between.
Blake chuckled. “Just think, as soon as you and Kade are out of here me and your mom-“
“Don’t even finish that sentence, I don’t want to know,” Kamari said, skipping out of the room and down the stairs.
Blake and Yang both burst into laughter, the blonde holding her wife closely as they leaned against the doorway.
“What were you even gonna say?” Yang asked in between howls of laughter.
“I was gonna say we can finally watch the real housewives of Vale without getting made fun of!”
Yang threw her head back, laughing harder than she had been before. Eventually, it got too much and she had to sit down on the bed. Completely overtaken by laughter.
It was a moment that made Blake realise, especially with all the complaints she could hear from Kamari to Kali from downstairs, that everything was alright.
That she was still their mom…and that lonely feeling would subside.