Number two... FYI, these are all gonna be totally varying lengths.


"What is all of this?" Tifa surveyed the kitchen, shifting Ayden in her arms. Rude had said he thought he smelled pancakes but dismissed it as wishful thinking. He was still dozing upstairs and Ilea had been asleep so Tifa had taken Ayden and come down to see if they had the ingredients to make pancakes.

Apparently they did.

"Happy Christmas, Tifa!" Marlene stated cheerfully. She was pulling plates out of the cupboard and setting them on the counter. Beside her, Denzel was carefully flipping a pancake.

"We thought it would be nice to make Christmas breakfast," the boy explained, smiling at his perfectly forming pancake. "Since you and Rude always have your hands full with the twins but you always try to make sure Marlene and I have everything we need."

Tifa grinned appreciatively. "That's really thoughtful, guys."

Ayden fussed at her, reminding her that he was hungry, too. She walked further into the kitchen and the baby made a noise. This caught Marlene's attention.

"Oh! Here." She went over to the fridge and rummaged for a moment before pulling out a small container. "I made up the twins' cereal already. I'll warm it up for you."

The twelve-year-old set to work and Tifa simply got out of her way. While the girl was heating up the baby cereal, the dark-haired woman watched both of her surrogate children go about preparing breakfast for the family. Sometimes she was shocked by how much they had grown since coming into her life.

Marlene was stirring the warmed up bowl when Rude entered the kitchen with Ilea. He glanced at Tifa, dark visible eyes silently questioning what he had walked into. The woman only smiled at him, taking the bowl Marlene handed her.

"Morning, Rude," Denzel called over from the stove.

The bald Turk smiled a little. "I knew I smelled pancakes."

"Yep!" Marlene confirmed, returning to the stack of plates she had been setting out when Tifa arrived. "Denzel got Riku to show him how to make them. They're really good."

"I'm certain they are." Rude joined Tifa at the table and placed Ilea in her highchair. There was plenty of warmed cereal for both infants and they ate happily, giggling and flailing their tiny hands around occasionally. Rude, realizing he was not needed either in the kitchen or the help feed his kids, simply sat and watched over the scene.

Marlene set the table around the four already at it, pausing to grin at Ilea when the baby laughed at her. As she interacted with her little sister, both Marlene and Denzel thought of the twins as their siblings, she asked, "Is juice okay or do you want me to make coffee?"

"I'm fine with juice," Tifa answered. Rude nodded in agreement and Marlene okayed them. She quickly retrieved four glasses and the juice container, setting it on the table.

Then she went back for butter and syrup. After a moment of routing around, she pulled them from the fridge, along with the grape jelly. Before bringing them over, she murmured something to Denzel and he nodded.

"You know," Tifa tried to give Ayden another little spoonful but he refused it, "I think I can safely say that Rude and I expected the two of you to be dying to tear into your presents."

"I think they still are," said Rude, noting the way both Marlene and Denzel jerked minutely on the word presents. "They're distracted right now but by the time breakfast is half-eaten, they'll be twitching in their seats."

Marlene looked hurt as she returned to the table with the toppings but it was obviously fake. Denzel snorted lightly, removing the last of his pancakes from the griddle. He then shut off the stove, did a quick clean up, and brought the large stack of pancakes over.

"And she remembers the grape jelly," Rude noted.

"Well yeah," Marlene stated in light sarcasm, sitting down beside the bald man. "How could I forget something as weird as liking jelly on pancakes?"

"It's not weird."

"Even Reno says it's weird." Denzel supported Marlene's statement, sliding into the seat next to her.

"Did Reno also tell you that he puts sugar on his?" Rude inquired, pouring out juice for everyone. "Not powdered sugar, regular sugar."

"Ew," the kids declared loudly. Tifa lifted an eyebrow at Rude and shook her head. That explained the redhead's unusual energy in the morning.

The twins were both finished eating and moving around in their highchairs happily. Tifa cleaned up the little bit of mess around them as the other three began taking their portions of food. When she was finished, she set the remaining baby cereal near the far end of the rectangular table and got her own breakfast.

Rude was already digging into his and after the first bite, looked over at Denzel. "These are really good, Denzel."

The wavy-haired youth grinned broadly. "Good. Riku taught me his top secret recipe and he said that I had it down perfect."

Tifa started on her own food and she, too, was impressed. She wondered how long Denzel and Marlene had to have been planning to do this but did not ask. It didn't really matter how much planning went into this little Christmas breakfast. Even if it had turned out badly, the thought behind it was all that counted.

They made small talk as they ate, mostly Marlene and Denzel detailing all of the things they had been learning over the past week. Marlene had gotten very involved helping at the healers ward and Denzel had gone back to his interest in engineering and civic development, often tagging along with Cid and Leon. It was great to hear how well they were doing and seeing how they were each beginning to come into their own as young adults.

As breakfast wound down, Marlene and Denzel both began taking not-so-covert looks toward the door. Marlene fidgeted in her chair and Denzel got that distracted look he got when he wasn't trying to think about something. As soon as the food was gone from their plates, they glanced at their guardians expectantly.

Rude chuckled lowly, not looking away from his last few bites of pancake. "I told you."

Tifa laughed, standing up. "We just know our kids too well."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Denzel asked darkly.

"Nothing bad," she assured him. Fixing her smile on both of the older children, she continued. "This was amazingly sweet, you guys. Thank you."

"Yes, definitely," Rude seconded.

Marlene and Denzel beamed. "You're welcome."

"Now if the two of you are finished," Tifa shared one of those knowing parental looks with Rude. "I suppose I can handle clearing the table if you want to start sorting through presents."

The pair grinned widely and got up. Marlene hugged Rude tightly before running around the table and hugging Tifa. Denzel only gave them both a bright smile which was as affectionate as he physically got with adults. They both affectionately kissed the twins before darting out for the living room.

Rude stood, gathering the dishes on his side of the table. When he came around, he paused beside Tifa and placed a kiss upon her. He smiled at her a moment and simply stated. "I really enjoy this family thing."

Tifa brushed the back of her hand along his cheek. "Me, too. Now we better hurry before they give themselves stomachaches containing their excitement."