Title: A moment in time

Author: Psycho D-Girl/Psycho Babble/Pho

Archived: ,

Rating: R

Pairings: Cloud/Reno

Feedback: reviews are good

Story notes: Slash, MPreg

Status: WIP

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the FF characters, they are the property of squareenix.

"Clean up your own fucking mess! I'm tired of picking up after you!" Reno Sinclair glared across the kitchen at his boyfriend Cloud Strife. Cloud just looked at him for a moment and then glanced at the cup on the table that was the cause of Reno's outburst.

"What's gotten into you lately? It's just a cup, I'll wash it when we get back. We're already late for work," Cloud said, walking out of the kitchen and the house where they lived. He didn't see Reno's eyes darkening or hear the words that the redhead muttered under his breath.

"Don't need to have a damn physical," Reno snapped; before he to slammed out of the house.

(line breaker)

Reno sat at the kitchen table, hands wrapped around a lukewarm cup of coffee; a burning cigarette dangled from his lips. Cloud came in and stopped when he saw Reno.

"Feeling better?" He asked.

"I'm pregnant," Reno said. Cloud stared at him.

"Yeah, very funny, Reno," he said.

"I'm not kidding," Reno finally looked up at him.

"Had the yearly physical today. They took blood and urine tests. I had them check three damn times...there is no mistake," he took a long drag from his cigarette. Cloud collapsed into the chair opposite Reno.

"How is this possible?" He asked. Reno shrugged, took a slug of coffee before answering.

"The doctor has worked for Shinra for years now; he said it was possible that the mako you have running through your system did this," Reno looked at Cloud and Cloud looked at Reno; both were silent for a long time.

"What do you want to do?" Cloud asked.

"Fuck, I don't know," Reno said.

"The doctor gave me the name of a specialist that also works for Shinra...not sure if we should trust him or not..."

"They seem pretty accepting of us, that we're together I mean," Cloud said quietly.

"Yeah...but this is a different. How many guys you know that got knocked up by their boyfriends?" Reno asked; smiling crookedly. Despite the situation they found themselves in; Cloud snorted a laugh at that.

"I don't know about you; but I don't know anything about pregnancies, or delivering babies," he said. Reno stubbed out his cigarette and let out a sigh.

"Don't remind me...what the hell have we gotten ourselves into?" He asked.

"You want to keep it?" Cloud asked, his tone carefully neutral.

"What kind of question is that?! Of course I want to keep it," Reno sighed

"Look I know how weird this is...hell I'm the one who's pregnant; but this...however it happened, it's happened, if you don't want that then I guess I'll find a place for me and the baby...when it comes,"

"No...I mean...yeah, I want this baby to. We can do this...it's just....unexpected, y'know?" Cloud looked Reno in the eye.

"No kidding," Reno snorted.

(line breaker)

Reno held tightly to Cloud's hand as the two sat in the doctors office. Both of them nervous as hell. The doctor came in and closed the door behind him; he held a file in one hand. He took a moment to settle himself behind his desk.

"How are we feeling, Mr. Sinclair?" He asked. Reno glanced at Cloud, before looking to the doctor.

" 'We're' doing ok. What's wrong with the baby?" He was worried, after having received a call the day before from the doctors receptionist asking them both to come in. He placed one hand on his growing belly; he was already seven months gone and he felt huge. The doctor flipped open the file and laid it on the desk in front of him.

"Hmm?" He turned some of the files pages.

"She's growing a little bit to fast,"

"That's all?" Cloud asked, unable to hide his relief. The doctor put his elbows on the desk, and steepled his fingers in front of his face.

"Not quite," the doctor paused for a moment before continuing.

"Physically her body is growing to fast; this could cause problems later on. Her lungs are not keeping up with this growth, which will put strain on her heart even before she's born,"

"Is there anything you can do?" Cloud was worried now and he knew Reno was to.

"We could wait for nature to take it's course; hope that the rest of her catches up. I believe that's the best course of action, at this stage if we try any kind of operation while Mr. Sinclair is still pregnant it might bring on early labor and then we'll have to do a caesaren once that happens and it will most likely be to early and she won't survive. Let things proceed as they are, if necessary once she's born she may have to stay in an incubator for a while," The doctor shook his head.

"I'm sorry I don't have better news. From this point on I want you to come in for weekly checkups "

"Thank you," Cloud stood up and helped Reno up and the two headed for the door. Cloud turned back.

"You said it was a girl?"

"That's right," the doctor nodded. Reno and Cloud left the office together. In the elevator on the way down Cloud grinned at Reno.

"We're going to have a daughter," he said quietly; happily. Reno's brow was furrowed.

"Didn't you hear what he said?! I should have known something like this would happen. We were to complacent. This isn't natural and now she's going to die!" Rano nearly shouted. Cloud pulled his lover into a tight hug.

"No! She'll be alright, she'll be fine. Look who she has for parents. How can she not be?" He murmured into Reno's hair.

"I don't want to loose our baby," Reno said.

"I promise we're not going to," Cloud said, hoping like hell that fate would not prove him a liar.

(Line breaker)

They had decided a few weeks before that only Cloud and the godparents would be at the hospital for the birth of Ki'ara; a name that they had finally chosen. While Reno had been taken away to have the caesaren; Cloud paced the waiting room. Elena; Ki'ara's future godmother had arrived minutes after Cloud had brought Reno in. Vincent Valentine had arrived had arrived only an hour ago. Cloud and Reno had both decided he would make a very good godfather to Ki'ara. Vincent stood silently in the corner, watching Cloud pace.

"Sit down, you wearing a hole in the carpet isn't going to do anyone any good," he said quietly. Cloud glanced at him, before turning to walk back in the direction of the door, just as the doctor calm in. He smiled at Cloud.

"The delivery went off without a problem. Mr. Sinclair is now resting in a private room," the doctor said. Cloud exhaled a huge sigh of relief.

"What about the baby?" He asked.

"She's in an incubator in the nursery ICU, being checked by a paedatrician, but i don't think there's much to worry about now. We had trouble getting her to breathe once she was born, but she should be okay now. Would you like to see her?" The doctor asked. Cloud nodded and he, Elena and Vincent followed the doctor to the nursery. At the door to the nursery the doctor turned to them.

"It might be best for Mr. Strife to come in alone," he said. Elena nodded, put one hand on Cloud's arm.

"We'll wait right here, Cloud," she said. The doctor pushed the door open and led Cloud into the room and over to a small crib where a baby was patiently watching a female nurse dress her in a yellow outfit. The nurse smiled at the doctor.

"She's in good health, Doctor. Doctor Singh checked her over and aside from her being unable to breathe right at first, nothing's wrong. Would you like to hold her?" The last part directed at Cloud. His eyes widened and he seemed to shake and nod his head at once. The nurse gently lifted the infant from the crib and placed her into his arms. Cloud held her closely to his chest, feeling her tiny wriggling body before she settled down and lay still, gazing up at him calmly.

"You can bring her to see Mr. Sinclair if you wish. Unfortunetly he didn't get the chance when she was born due to the problems she was having. No doubt he's worried about her," the doctor said. Cloud walked carefully out of the room. True to her word Elena was still waiting outside with Vincent. Elena leaned over to look at the baby and smiled. The three all walked to where Reno's room was. Again Elena touched his arm.

"Vincent and I will give you and Reno some time alone with her," she said, before the two left. Cloud pushed the door open with one hand.

"Up to having two visitors?" He asked. Reno was laying back against the pillows, his face a little paler than usual. As soon as he saw Cloud and their daughter he sat up a little.

"Is she alright?" He asked worriedly. Cloud smiled as he sat down on the edge of Reno's bed.

"Reno, I'd like to introduce you to the most beautiful baby in the world. Ki'ara, this is your mother, Reno," he said. Reno slapped his arm.

"Father! Let me hold her," he took her into his arms. She stared up at him, her mouth opening into a little 'oh'.

"Hello, beautiful," he murmured quietly.

"She has your hair and eyes," Cloud said quietly. Reno was smiling down at her. For her part she was looking from him to Cloud. Then she grabbed a handful of Reno's bright red hair and stuffed it in her mouth. Cloud laughed, as Reno pulled his hair out.

"None of that," he said. She yawned hugely and her eyes drifted closed.

(Line breaker)

Cloud was moving around the kitchen, making toast and coffee and trying not to be late for his job as a delivery boy. At least he worked for himself so it wasn't really a problem. Ki'ara was almost a month and a half old and currently she was screaming and crying and Reno was trying to make her stop. She'd been like that for over a day now as well as not eating or sleeping. Reno was taking her to the doctor later to have her checked up.

"See you later, Reno, gotta go!" He called up the stairs and was out the door. Reno was still upstairs with the baby. He'd changed her nappy, tried to feed her, held her, rocked her. He was out of ideas and her crying was getting to him. He laid her gently in her crib.

"Please stop," he said to her. She just seemed to scream louder, her face bright red. He sighed and went downstairs to get some coffee and a slice of toast. The doctor appointment wasn't for another hour. He ate his toast and drank the coffee slowly as his daughter continued to scream. After a while he slammed the coffee cup down on the countertop and stomped up the stairs. He stood in the doorway of the nursery for a moment, before going over to the crib and staring down at Ki'ara. He clenched the railings of the crib with his hands.

"FOR FUCK SAKE JUST SHUT UP!" He yelled. Suddenly the house was filled with nothing but silence, as she stared up at him in surprise, her mouth frozen open mid scream. Then she started screaming again, even louder this time, if that was possible. He released the railings and lifted her gently out of the crib.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," He murmured gently, as he held her screaming, wriggling form against his shoulder.

"Come on, we have to go see your doctor,"

They arrived at the doctors office less than half an hour later, just in time for their appointment. The receptionist had him fill out a form and take a seat while he waited. Ki'ara still screaming loudly. After just a few minutes Reno was called into the doctors office.

"Sorry about the noise," Reno said a little loudly. The doctor smiled pleasantly at him.

"In my line of work I'm used to it," he said. He took Ki'ara from him and did doctor things to her, checked her breathing and heartrate. Then he took some blood and other tests and sent them to the laboratory. Reno was glad he worked as a Turk and the weight of the name Shinra.

"Should be back within the hour hopefully, you can wait if you want to," the doctor said, making notes in a file.

"Yeah, we'll wait," Reno lifted Ki'ara from the bed the doctor had put her on and took a seat again in the waiting room. A while later the receptionist approached him.

"The doctor wants you to contact Mr. Strife and have him meet you at the hospital," she said. Reno glanced up sharply.

"The hospital? Is it really that bad?" He asked. The receptionist shrugged and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I don't know. I was just told to tell you about Mr. Strife. They're waiting for you to get there, they have everything set up," she went back to her desk. He pulled out his phone out of his pocket as he left the waiiting room and left a message for Cloud to meet them.

"Cloud!" Reno called as soon as the blonde walked through the door.

"What's going on?" Cloud asked instantly. Reno shook his head, holding their daughter carefully in his arms, she still screamed and now that Reno looked at her properly he could see that there were darkened circles under her eyes and her tiny fists clenched and waving. The doctor came in and quietly closed the door behind him.

"Please lay on the bed Mr. Strife, and Mr. Sinclair take a seat near him with Ki'ara," he said. Cloud stayed where he was.

"But She's the one that's not well...right?" He asked. The doctor looked from Cloud to Reno.

"No one told you?" He asked.

"Told us what?" Reno asked. The doctor opened the chart.

"Your daughters doctor called me, the test results indicate a lack of mako materia in her system. It causes severe joint pain and headaches," he said. Cloud nodded, he knew from experience what that was like. Cloud frowned, looking at the tiny screaming bundle in Reno's arms.

"Can't you just give her some materia?" He asked. The doctor shook his head.

"That won't work. Her body is unable to process a pure form of materia. Luckily she is the same blood type as you, Mr. Strife, so a direct blood to blood transfusion should work. So let's get that started now," he said. Cloud climbed up on the bed and laid down, looking at Reno and Ki'ara as they sat down in the chair next to the bed. The doctor set up the equipment, putting a needle into Clouds arm first and then one into Ki'ara's.

"We'll try for half a pint first, then after an hour another half," he said. Cloud nodded silently as the blood started to flow from him to Ki'ara. She still screamed loudly. The doctor's beeper beeped loudly and he looked at it.

"I'll be back shortly," he said and left them alone. Reno looked down at Ki'ara in his arms.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered to her.

"What are you talking about?" Cloud asked him. Reno glanced up at his lover.

"I...yelled at her, told her to shut up, she was making so much noise and I couldn't take it anymore," he mumbled an ashamed look on his face. Cloud lifted one hand and cupped Reno's face.

"It's okay, you didn't mean it, right?" He asked.

"At the time I did, but I didn't know what was wrong with her, I just thought she was making noise cos she's a baby," Reno said.

"Exactly, how were you...we to know this?" Cloud asked.

"I guess you're right," The redhead said. Just then the doctor came back.

"Sorry about that," he checked the equipment and turned it off.

"Okay, that should be enough, let's see if it helps," he said.

"Now there's something else," the doctor opened the file again.

"We're going to have to do this every two weeks. Until she's at least six months old, after that we'll review it, see how things progress,"

"How long will she need blood transfusions for?" Reno asked.

"At least until she's in her pre-teens; after that her body may develop it's own ability to process materia. If it doesn't any form of materia could give her Mako poisoning. But if she never does then she will most likely need these transfusions the rest of her life," the doctor replied.

"Can you give us a while alone?" Cloud asked. The doctor nodded.

"I'll be back in about an hour to continue the transfusion," he said.

"Dammit," Cloud snapped loudly, as soon as the doctor had left. He sat up on the bed.

"This is all my fault. What the hell were we thinking?!" He asked.

"This isn't you're fault. Like you said to me earlier, how were we to know?" Reno asked him.

"I should have known something like this could happen, I mean look at me! This damn materia I have to take and now Ki'ara's the one suffering for it!" Cloud was pissed off at himself mostly for this. Reno glanced down at the screaming infant he held in his arms.

"We can't change it, no matter how we want to. Would you really rather that we didn't have her?" He asked. Cloud huffed out a noisy breath of air and his shoulders slumped.

"No, but I don't want to see her in pain either," he said. As if to prove his last statement wrong Ki'ara's wailing suddenly ceased, replaced by tiny gasps for breath as she started to calm down. The angry flailing for her arms and legs stopped and she wriggled in Reno's arms. One hand reached out and grasped her tiny fingers around one Cloud's bigger ones. He moved his other hand to trace a finger gently against her cheek tenderly as she fell asleep.

"I don't know, but it seems to me that she doesn't mind all that much," Reno told him, leaning in to kiss Cloud lovingly.

"She'll be alright...we'll be alright, okay?" The redhead stated. Cloud grinned in that way that melted Reno's heart as he nodded.

"Yeah, we'll make it," he said.