Everything Stays: In the Future

A Calm Morning

Amber slowly opened her eyes to the world around her, taking in the sunlight from outside directly onto her face. She let out a bit of a loud yawn as she felt three arms around her, one of which was metallic. However, she knew these arms all too well, the warmth they came with. She turned her head upward to see the owner of the first two arms, her mother, Yang. Her arms weren't as buff as the other one wrapped around Amber, but she knew her mother was one of the strongest people alive. Nothing could beat her.

Then there was the much more buffed up arm. Amber also knew this arm and its holder, her father, Fred. She admittedly loved being carried by her father places, made her feel like she was at the top of the world and knew she would be safe and nothing could hurt her. After all: You can't beat Frederic Scorch, you can only slow him down.

Turning her head a bit more, Amber could see that one arm was wrapped around her while the other was running through her mother's hair. Fred caught sight and placed a finger up to his mouth, silently telling her to stay quiet. Amber nodded and backed up a bit closer to her mother and let the woman hold onto her tighter. She could feel a shift on the bed as Fred sat up and leaned down and pecked her forehead.

Fred: Go back to sleep. Ok?

Amber nodded with a small yawn and tried to get back to sleep. Fred leaned back and was about to kiss Yang's cheek as well, the woman turned quickly and got him into lip lock. Both have had "morning make-out sessions" for years now as part of the daily routine. However, this one was cut short due to the awkward position and other factors.

Fred: I'm going to find Stark.

Yang: Ok. Later.

Fred: Not later. Now.

Fred reached over across the bed and grabbed a blanket knitted for him and Yang after their wedding by Ruby and Evie. However, for some reason it seemed that no matter what the case, whenever some put their head on that blanket, it was lights out for at least an hour. Which made it the perfect tool to use to get out of here. Fred gently picked up Yang's head despite her protest and slipped it underneath her head and let it crashed onto one another.

After a few seconds, Yang was out again allowing Fred to slip out of there room and into the living room to assets the damages from last night. Looking out into the yard, Fred could see severely branches and leaves scatter all over the place. He could also see one or two chairs from their patio were knocked over, so no major damages from last night.

Fred then walked into his office to get a good view of the shed. Like before, very little damage as compared to other places around Patch. Deciding now would be a good time, Fred made his way to the front of the house and up the stairs to see if he couldn't find Stark. After walking upstairs, he turned and found the TV in the game room on to some Saturday morning cartoon. Walking up to the couch, Fred saw Stark passed out on there, clearly to tired to even try to get up.

Stark had a bad habit of getting up at 5 or 6 in the morning and going to sleep at 11. Now that would be normal for someone older than he, but Stark was still only 8 years old. So that wasn't the best of plans, especially for him. Fred rolled his eyes, a bit of annoyance on his face. Fred left the room and went into Stark's and grabbed a pillow and a blanket also made by Ruby once again. Stark was predicted to grow to be at least 6'4" tall, so Ruby planned accordingly and made the thing 6' 6" long, just to cover up his entire body as he got older.

Like with Yang, Fred softly lifted Stark's head up and placed down on one of his pillows and wrapped the blanket over his body and pecked his forehead before going back downstairs. Once back down there, Fred walked on over to a cabinet and pulled out a cook book written and self-published by a good friend and ally, Lie Ren. Flipping through the book, he found Ren's recipe for chocolate chip pancakes and quickly began to work.

Fred was able to get this morning's breakfast tackled no problem. With no noise, came peace and quiet. Of course, everyone had a stressful week. Elementary school seemed more rough than he remember as Stark would usually complain about teachers and or the work load which he would then unleash onto his parents or sister, making Amber a bit upset at being Stark's metaphorical punching bag.

Yang had been on a week long mission so that was stressful already. Fred had to deal with it all and tried to keep the peace between them all. Despite that, he was happy peace had somewhat returned. Of course, he would have to clean up the yard today so that was something.

As Fred let his thoughts drift, he felt two arms wrap around his waist. He glanced down and saw they were Yang's of course. He rolled his eyes and continued to work.

Fred: Whatever happened to you getting some rest?

Yang: Woke up again. She has your kicks.

Fred: Don't know if that's a good or bad thing.

Yang: Damage outside?

Fred: Manageable. Could have been worse.

Yang reached over and grabbed some chocolate chips from the bag and placed them in her mouth, not chewing them.

Fred: Not this again.

Yang shrugged and smirked a bit. Fred rolled his eyes and wrapped an arm around her and kissed her, letting his tongue invade her personal space. Yang would do this sometimes as a way to keep flirting with Fred and getting him flustered. While it was annoying, it was also cute, at least in his eyes. Finally, after getting at least half of the chips into his own mouth, Fred pulled back and swallowed them as Yang swallowed the rest of hers.

Fred: That is still gross.

Yang: So are you.

Fred: Wow...real funny joke. Must have taken you years to think of.

Yang: Ok wise guy.

Yang walked over and began to get the table set for everyone with Saturday morning breakfast. Before she could walk past Fred again, he stopped her.

Fred: Go back to sleep. You just came back from that mission and you don't need to over work yourself. Ok?

Yang: I want to help.

Fred: I know you do. But please. Just rest.

Yang: (Sighs) Ok. Only for a few minutes. You know the second she smells pancakes, she's running in here.

Fred: She gets it from you.

Yang: I know.

Yang kissed Fred's cheek and walked back over to their room. A few minutes came and went until at least an entire five tall stack of pancakes were finished and pushed to the side for consumption later on. And surely enough, a few minutes after the pancakes came out, Amber came in running and overly excited for the food with Yang trailing behind her.

Stark later came down and enjoyed the family in morning breakfast. As they were all eating, Fred could tell Yang was drifting in and out of sleep every few seconds to the point where he himself began to feed her.

Stark: Dad?

Fred: Yeah, kiddo.

Stark: Is mom ok?

Fred: Yeah. She's just tired. How about you you and your sister head upstairs and play for a bit. I'm going to get her back to bed.

Stark and Amber agreed and after they brought over their forks and plates, ran upstairs to get out of the way. Fred himself continued to eat and once he was done, cleaned up the table and looked back to Yang, asleep in her chair. He walked back over and picked her up and carried her out into their room and laid her down on the bed. Fred laid down beside her and pulled the sheets up and began to spoon Yang. All in all, it was a nice quiet morning...until the kids begin playing video games in which case peace is officially dead.