disclaimed

Homecoming

"Shh, Riku," Cecil whispered, holding his 17 month old son to his chest, hoping that the teething toddler would settle down for his nap soon. However, as soon he heard the doorbell ting, Cecil knew that getting the young boy to go to sleep would be much more difficult now. With a sigh, Cecil looked at his older son, Sephiroth, who was sitting on the nursery floor playing with toys. Deciding that the five year old would be fine for a few minutes, the man hitched Riku up a little better in his arms and made his way out to the door.

"Can I help you?" he asked, opening the door. There stood a man, fairly tall with blond hair that was longer than Cecil remembered it ever being. The chiseled face was fuller than it had been, and the man seemed older than he had ever appeared before. But as always, Cecil recognized the ghost for what it was: an older version of the love he had lost. He had thought that these hallucinations would have stopped, but even now, over six years later, they were still happening and looking more realistic then ever.

"Cecil…" the deep voice resonated through Cecil's entire body, it was just as strong as that last day he had heard it, but this was something new. Normally these ghosts never spoke. What was so different about today?

"Kain…" Cecil tried to ignore the sharp stab that ripped through his heart at the name. He had avoided saying it as much as possible as if the name would summon the haunts more often. The apparition then did something that none of them had ever done before. It chuckled.

"I'm home, Cecil," the tall man whispered, stepping forward and laying a single hand against Cecil's cheek. Gasping at the unexpected touch, the shorter male jumped back at the touch.

"Kain? But I thought that you were dead…" Cecil gasped, still trying to understand what exactly was going on. How, after six long years, did someone come back from the dead? Nothing was making sense anymore. Why were these phantoms still torturing him so? Hadn't he suffered enough at the mercy of these demons?

But as he looked into those deep blue eyes, Cecil noticed a distance there that had never been there before, and it caused his heart to go out to the other man. Something had definitely happened over the past six years. Now, Kain was home. With no warning, acting on pure emotion, the silver haired man threw himself into the other man's arms, his free hand reaching up to tangle in silky blond locks that felt the same as he remembered. Part of him wanted to know that this was real, and a part of him was desperate to feel it again. After so long, Cecil pulled the taller man in for a rough kiss that held so much passion. Kain was definitely real.

At the sound of a loud and whiny wail, a stunned Cecil pulled away from his one time lover, looking down at his still fussing son. "Who do we have here?" there was that deep voice that cut through every veil on Cecil's soul as Kain reached down and fingered the fine tufts of silver hair that covered the child's head.

"This is Riku. Kain, I think you had better come in." Cecil's own voice fell at the reality that just suddenly assaulted him. How would he ever be able to choose? He felt so conflicted at the moment. To think, only five minutes ago, his only worry was if his son would ever settle down for his nap.

Kain nodded as the smaller man ushered him into the house, leading him to the living room and gesturing to the couch. As the blond man passed by Cecil, a strong hand was placed on his shoulder, squeezing gently. There was no doubt. This definitely wasn't another dream. It was completely real. Kain was here and alive. When the tall man sat down on the plush couch, Cecil instantly went to sit next to him, sitting as close as possible to the other man. Strangely enough though, as soon as he did, his young son reached out and whined for Kain, an action that drew another chuckle for the man. Kain reached out and took the normally shy boy from his father and held him close, the fussy toddler settling down almost instantly.

"Oh god, Kain. I can't believe that you're back. Where have you been? We all thought that you were dead," Cecil whispered, placing a hand on Kain's thigh.

Stiffening up at the question, Kain knew that he wouldn't be able to hide anything from Cecil. Taking a deep breath in, the blond began the story of what had been happening to him for the past six years.

"Well, I'm sure you all heard about the plane carrying my detachment going down on my first deployment," Kain's quiet voice trailed off, as he was unable to meet Cecil's eyes. Instead, he looked down at the young boy who had fallen asleep in his arms. Hearing a hum from Cecil prompted Kain to continue, "I know that the reports said that there were no survivors, but there were. Three of us. But of course, our plane had gone down in enemy territory. We were captured and held prisoner. Cecil, you can't even imagine what I went through." At the quite tone of voice, the silver haired man reached his own hand over and took Kain's into his own, squeezing it in support.

"You don't need to tell me about it now, Kain. Tell me when you're ready. But, why was there no media coverage on your rescue or your return?" Cecil whispered, unable to help the small smile that developed at the sight of his youngest son being held by Kain.

Taking another deep breath, the blond man just shook his head, "No, I've been under psychiatric assessment for nearly a month now since I was rescued. They believed that the emotional trauma that I've endured would not be helped by media coverage. Besides, I wanted to be able to tell you myself that I am still alive."

Once again, Cecil couldn't help but smile at the warmth he felt fill his heart at Kain's words. But the sight of Riku asleep on the other man's lap caused that smile to drop instantly. "Kain, I think that there is something you should know…"

"Cecil, sweetie! I'm home!" A voice rang through the house, causing the two men to look up. As soon as they did, they were greeted by the sight of a young woman wearing pink nurse's scrubs.

"Rosa?" Kain asked, slightly surprised.

Seeing the long missing man sitting next to her husband, Rosa stopped dead in her tracks. With the fact that her son was fast asleep on Kain's lap, it had the lone female flabbergasted. How was this possible? Everyone thought that Kain was dead. Not that him being alive was a bad thing. "Oh, heavens, Kain. Welcome home. We've missed you so much. Here, let me put Riku in his crib, and then we can all talk. Cecil, is Sephiroth in the nursery?" Rosa's smile never faltered as she gave Kain a tight hug before taking the sleeping boy off of the blond man's lap.

"He is," Cecil nodded, unable to meet either set of eyes that stared at him. This was something that both blondes noticed. Rosa then smiled at both of them as if sensing the tension, leaving the room to give the two men some privacy.

"You and Rosa?" Kain asked, trying to hide the pain, hurt and betrayal in his voice.

Cecil nodded before covering his face with his hand, "I had no idea how to cope with your death. Rosa was such an important friend to both of us, I somehow felt closer to you through her. About a year after we heard that you were dead, we had our first son Sephiroth. At first the sex was just a way to comfort my sorrow, but then it grew. Then, two years ago, just before we found out that Rosa was pregnant again, we got married. Now, I just don't know what to do…" Cecil trailed off, unable to look at the blond man.

Kain just sighed, standing up. "That's alright. I understand. You've moved on." There was an odd tone to Kain's voice that Cecil couldn't ignore.

Unable to watch the blond man walk out of his life again, the silver haired man shot a hand out to stop his former lover. "Wait!" Cecil cried, "You can't leave. Not now that I finally have you again."

"But you have Rosa and a family now. There is no place for me in your life for me." The words were quiet and it was because of that quietness that Cecil could hear the hurt and disappointment in the taller man's voice.

"That's not true and you know it, Kain. I've never stopped loving you. Yes, I have Rosa and the boys now, but I have never forgotten what we had. I haven't moved on Kain." Cecil's voice was sincere and pleading as he finally was able to turn Kain around to look him in the eye. As soon as two sets of deep blue eyes met, the taller man knew that Cecil was telling no lies. "Right now, I'm being forced to make the hardest decision of my life. I love you, Kain. But I love Rosa too. I can't abandon my sons either. I can't choose." Each whispered word brought the two men closer and closer together until they were standing chest to chest. "Please, don't make me choose. I love you both."

Kain's arms wrapped around the shorter man, able feel the mild tremors going through Cecil's body. Who was he kidding? There was no way he would be able to give up this man. Cecil had captured his heart when he was 14, and the thought of the silver haired man had been what had gotten him through those six years of hell and torture. When Cecil's arms tightened around him as well, it drew a breath of relief from both men as they just stood there holding one another.

Someone cleared their throats, causing both men to look up. "Rosa…" Cecil trailed off, seeing his wife leaning up against the door frame, still wearing her hospital scrubs.

"It's alright, Cecil." All she did was smile that gentle smile of hers, "I know that you always have and always will love Kain."

"But, I love you too," Cecil whispered, holding one hand out for Rosa to take as the other remained wrapped around Kain.

"I know, sweetie. And it wouldn't be fair to make you choose between the two of us." Her voice was just as quiet as she stepped forward and took her husband's hand, looking over at Kain.

"Rosa…" this time it was the blond man's turn to trail off.

"What are you trying to say?" Cecil questioned, confused as to his wife's words.

Rosa just laughed lightly, "If I tried to keep you from Kain, it would be as if he was dead all over again. I can't and won't put you through that. So, maybe…we can try all being together?" as soon as the words left the blonde woman's lips, both men turned to the lone female with wide eyes.

"What?" Cecil whispered in disbelief. What was Rosa trying to say?

"Just hear me out," Rosa insisted, "Cecil and I will never have what you and him have, Kain. Just like the two of you will never have what he and I have. I think that we should at least try. I believe that it might be able to work out for us."

Cecil looked at his wife with wide eyes before looking up at Kain. "Kain?"

The blond man looked down at his one time lover, before looking over at the girl he had grown up with. "I am willing to give it a try." Anything for his Cecil.

Rosa smiled, "I believe that this is going to be the start of something good." She then leaned in and gave her husband a short peck on the lips before turning and planting one on Kain's lips as well. When she saw the surprised look on the blond mans face, she giggled. "Well, we should all get used to sharing."

Giving a small smile, Cecil looked up into those endless blue eyes, "I think I can handle that too." It was now Cecil's turn to place a kiss on a still stunned Kain's lips. When he pulled away, he looked over at his wife. "So, while we're sharing, do you want to tell him, or shall I?"

Rosa beamed before reaching out and grabbing Kain's hand and placing it on her own stomach. "Papa Kain, meet the newest member of our ever growing family."

Smiling, Kain rubbed the barely bulging stomach, "Family, huh?"

The story of Sephiroth and Riku's parents. Poor Kain. The guy comes home to find out that his straight father has turned gay and his gay lover has turned straight. It's good to see it all still works out for him.

Just to let you guys know, we had to make some *revisions* to A long Car Ride to Wierdsville, Tender Moments, and Summer Sushi Supper. We had to fix a few major mistakes lol.

If you like this story please check out some of our other stories from our Family Tree Universe in our archives :) And as always, if you would like to see where the pairings and family lines came from please go view our deviant art page, http :/ crymsonpahoyhoy . deviantart . com /, minus all of the spaces ;) The deviations are called FF KH Family Tree.

P.S. Oh please, oh please, oh please review! It will make us want to write more if you like it :D