Shared Blanket

A howling wind pierced the house and Winter shivered. No, it was nothing compared to Atlas’ winter winds, but after having gotten more used to the mild Valian winters, it was piercing. Pretty much the entire city was closed down at this point due to the intense snowstorm. Normally, Vale wouldn’t close down for a winter storm, but this was a whiteout blizzard. There wasn’t much anybody in the city could do without severely risking themselves. Honestly, she was glad. She didn’t want to go anywhere. All her meetings had been moved online for which she was thankful. They had all ended hours ago and she sat on the couch, a hand resting on her pregnant belly. She still couldn’t believe she was having a third child… For so long, she had thought she would only ever have children against her will. But no… This one was her choice, just as Lilac had been. She probably wouldn’t have anymore after this, though. Pregnancy was hard enough and she didn’t want to be responsible for another little life after this one. She did enjoy the baby stage to some degree, but by the same token, it was incredibly stressful. Having a lifecompletelydependent on her like that… She really did enjoy it, but it also made her nervous because so much could go wrong and the child could die. Thankfully, they weren’t in a historical era with high mortality rates for both mother and child. The SDC had helpedsharplydrop those rates off in Atlas over the last couple decades due to her care which she was grateful for… Vale is where she’d always have her kids, though. She wouldneverexpose them to Atlas until they weregoodand ready. Especially not Lilac. She wouldneverexpose a young girl to Atlas without having given her numerous lessons in the culture and the tactics that were employed. Qrow came over to her, two mugs of hot chocolate on a tray and a blanket draped over his arm. She smiled at him and he smiled back. He wrapped the blanket around her and sat the hot chocolate on the table, then handed her one of the mugs. He settled down with her under the blanket and kissed her temple. “Today’s quite the day, huh?” he asked. Winter nodded, nursing the hot mug in her hands. It helped warmed her through. “Yeah, it really is. It almost rivals the fierce Atlassian tundra.” It was crazy just how intense this storm was… Storm of the century, really, as far as Vale was concerned. Qrow laid a hand on her abdomen and smiled. “I can’t wait until our third is born.” She nodded and smiled warmly. “Yeah, same.” She really couldn’t wait to meet the soul they had created together. It would be a precious moment, and she would do anything she could to protect this little soul, just as she had done with the other two. They were the future of the SDC and she would do anything in her power to make sure it didn’t revert to the path Gelé had set for it. No, nothing would prevent her from stopping the SDC from repeating its history. She rested her head against Qrow’s shoulder, taking a sip from the mug. She wrapped the blanket around them tightly, letting the wind howl as loudly as it wanted to. Despite its ferocity, it would never penetrate their hearts.