Bedmates

Written by Doggiegal

Cloud had been here for New Year's Eve on request. Tifa and the kids had all but begged him to stay, and well…he couldn't help but give in. He would never admit it, but he was a sucker when it came to his make-shift family. He had zoomed over here on that motorcycle of his, fondly known as Fenrir, to join Tifa, Denzel, and Marlene in welcoming in the new year.

The kids had managed to stay up past midnight, as tradition dictated, but they were out like lights as soon as the bed problem was fixed. When the children had been properly tucked in their own beds and been read their bedtime story, they had protested, stating that they wanted to sleep with Cloud and Tifa. After unsuccessfully trying to work out some other alternative, they had finally consented to pushing two beds together, and the four of them had slept together peacefully.

Which, of course, explained why Cloud woke up with three other people sharing the same bed as him. At first, he had been shocked and confused, but looking over at Denzel curled up into him on his left, and Tifa on his right, with Marlene on the other side of him, he remembered it all.

And, to be honest, he realized that he didn't really mind having Tifa resting her head on his shoulder, or Denzel's legs intertwined with his, or Marlene's occasional soft sighs. In fact, this was actually quite comfortable.

"A gil for your thoughts?" a soft voice whispers, and he looks over to see that Tifa is up, albeit a bit groggy. He gives her a soft smile, something, she muses, that he should do more often.

"It's nothing," he mutters, and she does him the favor of not pressuring him into telling her. She knows there are things he is not quite ready to tell her, or anyone, for that matter. Tifa knows, and she is more than willing to wait for him…even if her feelings towards him are known solely to herself at this point.

"Aren't they adorable?" Tifa asks, tenderly running her hand through Marlene's hair, triggering something inside of Cloud that he couldn't quite name. Instead of trying to figure it out, he instead ruffled Denzel's hair and nodded. "Mmm…I should probably get up and make breakfast."

"Probably," Cloud agreed, but made no effort to move his arm from its place around her shoulders (how had that happened again? He wasn't quite sure), just as she made no effort to get up. Neither wanted to spoil the moment. Neither quite realized it at the time, but this was how they wanted things to be. One big family, through thick or thin.

Denzel opened an eye at the two adults, and Tifa leaned over Cloud to press a kiss to his forehead. Cloud had to bite his lip to distract him from the thought that Tifa felt good pressed against him; these thoughts were unnecessary and improper, especially in this situation. Instead, he smiled at Denzel, trying to ignore Tifa until she returned to her former spot.

"Have a good night's rest, Denzel?" The young boy nodded, sheepishly brushing his scraggly hair out of his eyes. His hero just shook his head, knowing that it would take a while for him to get back to his usual sleeping habits. As it was, the two children would probably be very tired later on today.

As if on queue, Marlene, the youngest of the four, yawned and shifted against Tifa, smiling contentedly. Tifa softly smiled at the young girl, greeting her kindly. Being a mother suited her well, Cloud noticed, and he couldn't help but imagine Tifa cuddling their own child. He shook his head; they were no more than friends. This was just wishful thinking.

Tifa ushered the two children out of bed before finally getting up herself, and as soon as she left his side, Cloud mourned the loss of her presence. "Go get dressed, you two," she ordered the children, who did just as she said because they knew the troubles they'd be in otherwise. She too made for the door, but before she opened it, she turned back around.

"Oh—I almost forgot. Good morning, Cloud." He just nodded in response.

Author's Note: Because I am crazy, I signed up to do 365 Cloti stories, one for each day of a year. This one's January 1st, of course. The prompt for this one was Good Morning

-Doggiegal