What If

Family

Rose-Xiao Long

"Take that, two hands, Ruby," Summer gently reminded the girl, passing her the large bowl of cookie dough. Ruby's eyes widened as she took the bowl carefully in her little hands. With slow, methodical steps, she carried the bowl to where Yang stood on a stool to reach the counter. Yang scooted over to make room for Ruby, setting the bowl down and helping her little sister onto the stool.

"Put the dough on like this," Yang said, using a spoon to scoop out globs of dough and placing it on the tray. Ruby copied her sister's motions and soon they had two rows of evenly spaced cookies.

"You girls done with that?" Summer asked, coming over to examine their work. "Okay, now we just put them in the oven and wait for a while." She took the tray over to the oven, Yang and Ruby scampering after her and watching her movements in fascination as she set the tray on a rack and closed the oven door.

"How long until they're ready?" Yang asked, grabbing onto Summer's skirt.

"Thirty minutes, then we'll have twelve fresh cookies to eat." 

"But that'll take forever," Yang sighed, watching Summer dejectedly.

"Time will fly, you'll see," Summer reassured her with a smile. "Want to play a game until then?"

"What kind of game?" Yang asked as Summer picked up Ruby and took them into the living room.

"Well, how about Hunters and Huntresses? I'll be the Grimm, and you and Ruby will be the Huntresses," Summer offered and Yang's eyes lit up. 

It was the kind of game that took the whole house, and with two very competitive daughters, it was no surprise to Summer when in their rough housing, Yang accidentally shoved Ruby, giving the toddler a scrape on the knee. Ruby burst into tears, wailing so loudly they missed the sound of the oven beeping, and as Summer was dabbing at the scrape with a wet towel, Yang complained of a burning smell.

"What do you mean?" Summer questioned before it suddenly clicked and she sprang to her feet, rushing out of the bathroom into the kitchen where she found the whole place full of smoke. Throwing open the oven door, she found all twelve cookies burnt to a crisp. Placing the ruined cookies on the stove and turning the oven off, Summer turned to find two pairs of horrified eyes staring at her.

"But the cookies..." Yang's voice was quiet and on the verge of tears, but Summer held up a finger to stop her.

"So maybe there's no homemade cookies, but that doesn't mean there's no cookies at all," she soothed, and Yang tilted her head in confusion.

"How can there still be cookies when they're burnt?"

"Get dressed and I'll take you and Ruby to the store to pick out whatever cookies you want."

Yang's eyes immediately lit up, and taking Ruby's hand, she dragged her sister up to their room to get dressed.

Belladonna

"Can I help, Mom?" Blake asked, poking her head into the living room to see her mother surrounded by pamphlets for tomorrow's peaceful protest, organized by the White Fang. 

"Of course, dear," Kali said, patting the space next to her. Blake stepped carefully to the room and plopped down next to her mother who handed her a stack of colorfully printed pages. "Can you fold them like this?" Kali asked, showing Blake one of the pamphlets already folded into three pieces.

"Like this?" Blake said, trying it out on one of the pages Kali gave her.

"Yes, just like that," Kali said with a smile when Blake handed her the neatly folded pamphlet. "Just make a little pile right there next to you."