From the Mouth of Babes

Midgar could be a downright scary place sometimes, Barret Wallace thought to himself, but ain't nobody gonna mess with a guy with a gun grafted to his arm. Although the thought amused Barret, the thing that amused him the most was watching his adopted daughter, Marlene, skip several steps ahead of him, her bouncing pigtails making him laugh.

Marlene stopped and spun on one heel. "What's so funny, Daddy?!" She demanded, as she pursed her hands upon her waist. Her pouting expression made him want to laugh harder.

"You is!" Barret grinned at her causing her to pout even more. "Laughin' at how you seem ta' be in such a hurry t'get to the store!"

Marlene rolled her eyes, a habit that she had learned from Tifa. "I'm in a hurry, Daddy!" A grin finally broke through. "I finally saved up enough gil to buy Little Susie Shin-Ra!"

Barret resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the doll's name. It was bad enough that they were destroying the planet. Did they have to brainwash little girls by putting their names on dolls too?! Barret sighed to himself, but Marlene tilted her head to the side and frown.

"What'sa matter, Daddy?" Marlene walked over and pulled on his large hand. Barret just shook his head and knealed down beside her. "Ya know I don't like Shin-Ra dolls, honey…"

"I know, Daddy." Barret watched as Marlene nodded empathetically. "That's why I'm gonna rename her when I get her! She ain't gonna be a Shin-Ra once she gets home!" Marlene beamed with pride at her own solution.

Darn girl's growin' up too fast. She's understandin' more and more each day. Won' be too long 'fore she's really understandin' what Shin-Ra's doin' to the planet. She ain't gonna be a child forever, and Shin-Ra's makin' this world inta' such a dark place. The children are growin' up too fast. He forced a smile on his face to hide the sadness that he felt inside. In an act of pure impishness and impulsivity, he grabbed her by the waist and swung her over his shoulder.

"HEY!" She yelped.

"Hey nothin'." He grinned at her as she began to pound on his back. "So whatcha' gonna name 'er?"He grinned as he felt the pounding stop on his back. He could almost feel the wheels of her mind turning.

"I think I'm gonna name her…." Her voice trailed off. "SUSIE!"

Barret was glad she was turned the opposite direction as she would have seen him laugh again. "But her name was already Susie, ya silly!"

"Oh yeah…" Barret felt little hands claw at his vest until she was finally sitting upright on his shoulder. "Well, how 'bout June?"

"After yo' Momma?" Barret smiled.

"Yeah!"

"Suits me just fine, then." Barret grinned at her as he reached up at sit her back down at the sidewalk. As he sat her down, he noticed a group of old ladies staring at them. Prolly waitin' for the senior bus, he thought himself. However, he noticed one of the old ladies marching toward him.

"Marlene, you go in the store 'n get yo June doll, 'kay? I got somethin' I need ta' take care of out here."

Marlene looked at him funny, but hurried into the store. The old lady arrived right at Barret's feet as the door closed behind Marlene. "That child your's?" The gray haired woman asked impatiently, her fists clutched so tightly around her handbag that her entire upper body was shaking.

"Yeah, she is. What of it?" Barret brought himself to his full height. He didn't like to hit no old ladies, but if it came to protectin' Marlene, he'd go through hell, Shin-Ra, and high water.

"A man like you's got no business raisin' a child!" The old woman shoved her finger right into the middle of Barret's wide chest. "She doesn't need to be, "she shuddered. "Contaminated by your kind!"

Barret's eyes narrowed and said lowly , "You don' know nothin' 'bout me and Marlene." He looked behind her and saw that the other ladies were quivering in horror. "But what kind you talkin' about?"

"I know all about you men in the slums. You have your regular woman…maybe even someone you call a wife. But when the moon comes out, you go out finding any whore you can find…doing drugs with your…pals…robbing old defenseless women like us! Well, let me tell you, I've had enough of it! You men are nothing, but animals. All of you!"

"I ain't involved in none of that." Barret leaned in, his voice lowering. "I treat my daughter with respect. I don run around at night, pickin' up no whores and I definitely don't do no drugs. You got a lotta nerve comin' in and insultin' me…tellin' me how I should raise my daughter."

"But you know it isn't natural." The woman sneered. "She needs to be raised with a proper woman. Her momma, if you can remember who she even is...Men weren't given the parts to birth children, and they definitely weren't given the brains to raise them either."

Barret felt a pang deep within his stomach. I ain't gonna admit to her that I've thought 'bout that at night…at how many times I wish Marlene could be with her Momma…I ain't gonna tell her that out right, but damn it. "All a kid needs t'be raised "proper" is love and some discipline. Like I said, you don't know nothin' 'bout me and Marlene. An' I don care 'bout what's natural. I jus' care 'bout what works, a me and Marlene… we get along jus' fine."

Barret watched as her face melted in what seemed to be some form of sympathy. She withdrew her finger, slowly and looked him in the eye as she put a hand on his shoulder. "Look. I can see you mean well." She said softly. "But the fact of the matter is, I can tell you lead a hard life. I mean, no one should raise a child who has a gun on their arm."

Barret suddenly ripped his arm away from her. "I've had enough of this shit. You ain't got no right." He growled as he raised his gun arm to the air. The woman backed away, one foot and then another. Then, she nearly tripped over an uneven sidewalk. "First you complain' 'cause I'm a man…and THEN you complain 'cause I got a gun on my arm!" He realized he was yelling, but he didn't care. All of the women were scrambling away as fast as they could. "YEAH! RUN! 'CAUSE AIN'T NOTHIN' GONNA COME BETWEEN ME AND MARLENE!"

Between the rage and tears in his eyes, Barret groped for the nearest bench once he was inside the store. He rubbed his eyes on the back of his forearm, and stared at the ceiling for a good long while. He was glad that Marlene had taken some time in the toy isle, because he had to sort through. She didn't need to see her old man cry. "Old lady was some sorta' idiot…"He muttered to himself. "She prolly ain't got no children. She don' know what it's like." He flopped his good arm over his eyes. "I send Marlene to get some good schoolin'…I know I ain't exactly the best role model at times, but…" . He removed his arm and sat up. A nagging doubt chewed at the back of his mind. It seemed like no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't sit still. "But what if she's right…I mean…not 'bout all of it, but…" He glanced at the gun on his arm. "Guess many Dad's dun 'xactly have a gun on their arms." He muttered. "Marlene's never seemed to mind it…but what 'bout when she gets older?" He shook his head miserably. "And if I die fightin' the Shin-Ra, whose gonna take care of her? Can't quit this train I'm on, though, 'cause there are a millions of kids that Shin-Ra's hurtin' by killin' the planet. I dun want that lady to be right…"His head began to pound. "But maybe bein' with me isn't the best place for her…She's bein' raised in a bar, seen a lot of violence, and I ain't got no proper schoolin'.I can't even help 'er with her homework! That ain't no proper way to be raised. " Tears burned in his eyes once more. "I give her all I got, but it just dun seem like enough." Barret slammed his fist into the wooden bench, causing the wood to crack and splinter in several places. "It jus' ain't right…It ain't fair…" He squeezed his eyes shut. "I ain't gonna cry more…I ain't gonna cry…"

"Daddy, why are you crying?" An innocent voice came from beyond his eyelids.

Aww, shit. "I ain't cryin', Marlene. My eyes are just leakin'…." Yeah, like she'll believe that.

"Oh." Marlene shrugged. "So why are your eyes leaking?"

Why can't she be two again?! "'Cause somebody made me very angry, Marlene. When he glanced at her, and realized that she would never be satisfied with that answer, he said, "Dat lady said some mean things to me."

"I'm sorry, Daddy." Marlene looked down at her hands. "Hey! I know how to make you feel better. You can hold June!"

She extended the doll to Barret, who smiled appreciatively. "Aww…if that ain't the cutest. Thanks, Marlene. I really…" Barret cut himself off when he noticed the doll had a black face. "Marlene, are ya sure you want a black baby doll? Don't you wanna white one like you?"

Marlene looked at him confused. "What do you mean?" She looked at the doll, confused for a moment before she grinned. "They didn't have black dolls, Daddy. They had yellow and brown. I wanted to get a brown doll because I wanted one that looked just like you!"

From the mouth of babes…Barret picked Marlene up and swung her around in front of him. "Hey Marlene…got somethin' I wanna ask ya…" He felt a lump rise in his throat.
"Ya gotta be real honest, okay?" He watched as Marlene nodded her head. "Has there ever been a time that you wished that I wasn't your Daddy? Like you was scared or embarrassed? Like maybe you wanted to live with someone else?"

Marlene cocked her head to the side and then began to giggle. "Nope! I like my Daddy because my Daddy saves the world!" Barret felt all of the air that he had been holding in his chest quickly exhale. Marlene began to pull on his hand. "C'mon, Daddy! Let's go pay for this! I want to take June home!"

"Awright…" Barret climbed to his feet. He'd never been more proud of his little girl in his entire life. "Let's get June home."