Chapter Two

Shera and Cid had left Tifa and Cloud with the thought of what Rufus was planning. Cloud saw that Tifa was just sitting in her chair looking down at the floor. He walked over to ask her what was wrong but didn't think she'd want to hear anything he had to say. "Cloud?" Cloud was startled at the sound of her voice and asked,"What is it?" Tifa got up and rubbed her stomach. "Can we really raise a child in this world the way it is now?" Cloud looked at her and put his arm around her. "Of course. This kid is going to have the two most loving parents in the world. Noone would dare mess with that." Cloud saw the hint of a smile on Tifa's face and kissed her. "We'd better get ready for our doctor's appointment." Tifa kissed him back and walked upstairs to get ready.

A short time had passed and Tifa came back downstairs. She had grabbed her purse and began looking through it. "What are you looking for?" Tifa looked at Cloud and stopped what she was doing. "Just looking for my keys." "These keys?" Tifa looked over at Cloud and saw that he was holding her keys in his hand. "Right. Well let's go." They walked out the door and were suprised to see Marlene and Denzel standing before them. "What's up?"

Denzel looked at Marlene and seemed to want to say something but couldn't until Marlene nudged him. "We were wondering how the honeymoon went."

"It was fine. Does your father know your out here Marlene?"

Marlene looked at Cloud and said,"Yes. We told him we were coming to check up on you."

Tifa looked at Cloud and then back at Marlene and Denzel. "Were fine. We are kinda in a hurry though."

Marlene and Denzel took the hint and said goodbye. Cloud opened the car door for Tifa and she smiled. "Still a gentlman I see."

It had taken about an hour to get into the inner city limits where the doctors office was. "You couldn't find anything closer Cloud?"

"Not a good one."

Tifa looked at Cloud and continued driving. They hadn't really said anything else to eachother until they reached the doctors office. The waiting room had not helped matters. It looked as if their were ten parents ahead of Cloud and Tifa. One by one they saw the expectant parents entering and exiting. Cloud was relieved that Tifa seemed to have calmed down so he knew she wouldn't snap at him again. It took about another hour before they were called into the office. The doctor entered and immediately began asking questions. "How far along are you?"

Tifa thought for a moment before answering. "About a week."

"I'm glad you've gotten in to see me this early. Have you checked out any pregnancy books?"

"No. We've been so busy trying to get a nursery together that we haven't had the time."

The doctor gave a look and continued her inspection of Tifa. "It's too early to do an ultrasound at this stage but after the first seven weeks I can schedule one for you."

"That sounds fine."

The doctor motioned to Cloud and asked him to step outside while she did the prenatal exam.

About an hour later Tifa emerged and had a smile on her face. "What is it?"

"You found the right doctor. Thanks."

They left the doctors office and went right over to the 7th Heaven. The bar had been booming even in their abscence and they saw Barret hard at work mixing drinks. He waved to Tifa and Cloud and offered Tifa a drink. "I can't drink."

"I've never seen you turn down a nice cool margarita. Is everything ok?"

Tifa looked at Cloud and said,"Yes. In fact things are perfect. It's just that in my condition drinking is not good."

"Your condition? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just that I'm pregnant."

Barret nearly dropped his mixer. "Really? I see you've wasted no time. Congratulations." He gave Cloud a handshake and gave Tifa a hug. "When are you due?"

Cloud looked at the paperwork the doctor had given them and said,"Looks like sometime in May."

Rufus had taken a liking to the structure of the Pagoda after the first week but was still angered by the musings of Godo. He had made it a point to come visit Rufus each day to give him stern warnings about releasing Leviathon. Rufus had finally grown so tired of it that he had banned Godo from even entering the Pagoda. Tseng walked in and immediately handed Rufus a report. Rufus looked pleased as he scanned over the file. "Excellent. About how much longer?"

"I'd say about three months. There's a lot of rock leading down into Leviathon's chamber."

"See if you can accelerate the time table."

"Will do sir." Tseng left and Rufus immediately looked out one of the windows in his office. He was pleased that he was making this much progress and was even more pleased that Avalanche hadn't interfered...yet.