Lightning had heard the stories from her co-workers. So, she knew that this moment eventually would come.
She just wasn't expecting it this soon. It was only two weeks ago that Serah and Daniel were released from the hospital.
Perhaps it's just a one off, she thought tapping the kitchen counter.
But what if her suspicions were right? What if it was happening to her baby sister? How often was Lightning wrong? Never. She was never wrong if you don't count the times she was.
Without any further hesitation, Lightning grabbed her phone from the counter and called her sister.
The phone had rung four times before a drowsy voice answered. "Hello?"
"Serah. It's me. Listen, are you okay? Feeling fine?"
"Claire, stop worrying." Serah spoke while yawning. "I'm perfectly fine."
She walked through the archway connecting the kitchen to the living room. "Are you sure?"
"I had a baby." Another yawn. "Not surgery."
"Yes, I know that." Lightning stood next to her new couch which was currently occupied by a half naked blonde. "I'm just asking because a few minutes ago, your husband walked into my house, wearing only his robe and boxers, asking where the diapers were before collapsing on my couch."
There was a slight pause on the line. "Did he break your couch?"
That hadn't been the response Lightning was expecting. "No, he didn't. But tha…"
"Then what's the problem." Either Serah wasn't fully awake or Snow has a habit of walking into someone's house half naked.
"The problem is that a half naked Snow is sleeping on my couch." Lightning had never thought she would ever say my couch, Snow and half naked in the same sentence before. There was a faint cry in the background. "Serah?"
"He's crying again." The tired mother began to weep. "Why won't he stop? All day and night. He just won't stop crying. I feed him. I burp him. Change his diapers." Serah spoke not giving Lightning a chance to speak. "Diapers! Snow went out to get diapers, but he hasn't come back. Do you think he's dead somewhere?! I don't have the strength to be a single parent!"
Rubbing her temple, Lightning foolishly tried to soothe her sister's worries. "That's what I have been trying to tell you. Snow is sleeping on my couch."
She almost could hear the gears turning in Serah's head. If only they were turning in the right direction.
"Why is he there?! Are you two having an affair!?" Staring at her phone in disbelief, Lightning could still hear her clearly mentally unstable sister rave on. "How could you? You're my sister! We have a child together!"
Using the voice normally reserved for ill-behaved soldiers and the NORA members, Lightning was determined to end this ridiculous conversation, which she regretted ever having. "Serah! I am not. I repeat. Not! Having an affair with Snow!" She glanced down at the snoozing giant. He must have fallen into a deep sleep not to have woken up.
Lightning took a deep breath before continuing in the calmer tone. "Now, listen. You go take care of Daniel, and I'll pick up the diapers and bring them over. Okay?" The line went silence. "I can't see you nod, Serah."
"Okay. I am sorry." Lightning's heart nearly broke hearing how fragile Serah sounded.
"It's okay. I'll see you soon." To Lightning's relief, Serah hanged up.
The signs were there: yawning, denial, crying, delirious behaviour and Snow's current state.
It was what she had feared. Her sister and brother-in-law were the victims of sleep deprivation.
There was only one thing Lightning could do. She had to watch Daniel for the day while the two tired parents got some shuteye. Fortunately for them, Major Amodar had strongly insisted that Lightning would take the next few days off. Threatening to have her salary cut was a little excessive.
Lightning placed the phone in her pocket. "Right. First things first."
She had intended to leave Snow where he was, but seeing a droplet gathering at the corner of his mouth changed her mind. There was no way she was going to have her new king behemoth leather couch ruined by man drool. It was her favourite piece of furniture after all.
With a quick jerk of his arm, Snow landed flat on his face. The growl indicating that he was awake brought a smile to Lightning's face. Seeing him in pain never got old.
The drowsy Snow squinted at the pink haired blub. "Serah? Wait, Lightning? When did you arrive?" It was only when Snow took a look around the room; he noticed that his clotted, purple coloured living room was replaced with Lightning's black and white colour scheme. "How... how did I get here?"
"You don't remember coming here, do you?" Snow shook his head. "You left to get diapers but along the way you ended up on my couch."
Snow didn't seem to notice that his robe was open and was showing off all, thankful not all, of his manly glory. Either, he was too sleepy to notice, or he just didn't care that he was in his mangy two day old boxers face-to-face with his sister-in-law.
Unfortunately for Lightning, she had seen worse.
'Truly what is it with men and not changing their underpants?' Lightning thought of her eight weeks at training base. A chill went down her spine when Fredrick Perkins and his lack of personal hygiene came to mind.
"I guess I have to go to the store then." Snow slowly walked towards the front door, but was stopped by Lightning as she grabbed his arm causing him to him stumble backwards.
"Wait a moment." Lightning steadied the big buffoon from falling. "The only place you're going to is my bed."
Snow stared at his wife's older sister before his eyebrows shot up. "Light! I understand that you might feel lonely…" Lightning's eyebrow arched. "…but I'm happily married with Serah."
Snow felt a hard smack on the back of his head. "I didn't mean it like that!" She let out a deep breath. "You and Serah clearly need to sleep. I am offering to watch Daniel for the day. So, the two of you can rest." Snow nodded at Lightning apologetically.."Now, get to bed before I knock you out right here."
As Snow ventured up the stair to her queen-size bed, the annoyed soldier wished she had listened to Serah and made her spare room to a guest bedroom rather than an office. Hindsight is always 20/20.
The idea of Snow sleeping between her soft cotton sheets displeased her immensely. First thing tomorrow Lightning was going the burn them. Maybe the mattress as way.
Taking her phone out, she dialled Hope's number. It was still early in the morning which meant Hope would be just arriving to work.
Grabbing her keys, Lightning left her house just as the phone was answered. She left out the pleasantries and went straight to business. "Hope, could you meet me at Serah's in twenty minutes?"
"Sure. Is everything already?" Hope's concerned voice come through the receiver.
"Everything is fine. I'll explain when we meet up." Lightning slowly backed her velocycle out of her driveway trying not to hit Snow's truck. She couldn't figure out how he was able to drive in his state.
She estimated the whole trip wouldn't last long, but how wrong she was.
Lightning never knew there were so many types of diapers. And the sheer number of different brands was over whelming. Every shelf in the aisle was full of diapers.
How was that possible? Was there such a high demand for them? Sure, they were going through a baby boom period, but the amount of diapers implied that everyone was having a baby. And last time Lightning checked she wasn't having a baby.
It took five minutes for Lightning to sieve through the selection till she found the nappies she needed. And of course that actually meant she watched what the parent with the month old baby took and grabbed the same.
But the real problem came when she stood in front of the baby formulas. With no parent in sight, Lightning knew she was in it for the long haul.
Was she going to take a powdered formula or a liquid one? One with more iron in it or one with more calcium? And what about the potassium one? One that helped to promote a healthy digestive system or the baby's immune system?
The idea of forget about the whole formula was alluring, but she didn't know if Serah bottled her breast milk or not. It wasn't something Lightning had ever thought she needed, much less wanted, to ask.
After the painstaking progress of comparing the different products, she finally narrowed it down to two liquid formulas and chose the one with a smiling baby on it. Packaging never lies. Right?
It might have taken her over forty minutes, but Lightning finally arrived at Serah's and Snow's two-story home.
At first glance externally their homes were very similar, which she assumed was the reason Snow ended up at her place since he had to drive by it to get to the store. In his confused state, Snow must have thought it was home.
The noticeable difference between the two houses was that Lightning didn't have a shed next to hers. Almost certainly Snow hadn't noticed it was missing.
Lightning parked her velocycle beside the GC sedan in the driveway. Noting the vehicle was empty; Lightning took the groceries and headed inside.
Even thought the houses were similar architecturally, the interior couldn't be any more different.
While Lightning's had a military feel, the Villiers-Farron's screamed 'Warning! People live here!' as soon as you walked through the front door.
The Villiers-Farrons had something hanging off of every wall. There were paintings of different landscapes, pictures of family and friends, and there was even a Pulsian artefact dating back before the War of Transgression hanging in the living room. No one had yet to find out where Serah had gotten it.
Lightning was more of a minimalist, enjoying the simpler designs. The cream coloured walls were bare, except in her office where she hanged all of her gunblades she had collected over the years. Whatever pictures she had were safely hidden away in her bedroom or office.
In the living room Lightning found the two remaining residents and Hope. Sitting on the couch was Hope enjoying a cup of coffee. In the middle of the room, gently rocking the sleeping baby in her arms, stood Serah.
"Claire!" Due to lack of sleep, Serah had big bags under her eyes. The mentor and subordinate nodded to each other. "What are you doing here? Hope came to visit. Isn't that kind of him?"
Lightning placed her purchases on the ground before walking over to her sister. "I told you over the phone that I'll be over." She slowly took Daniel into her arms. "I want to you go up stairs, packs some clean clothes for Snow and yourself." Lightning glanced down at Serah's messy shirt. "And perhaps change your shirt, as well. Hope is going to drop you off at my place where you'll be spending the day."
Before Serah started protesting, assuming she had the energy to, Lightning guided her towards the stairs in the hallway. "Don't worry, I'll watch him."
After some hesitations and a stern look from Lightning, Serah finally headed up to her bedroom.
Once back in the living room Lightning grabbed the wooden rocker, Snow had made for Daniel, from the floor and sat it on the coffee table. Placing the now woken infant in the rocker, Lightning saw Hope walk back in the living room after putting the formulas into fridge.
"You want me to take Serah to your place?" Hope had only arrived ten minutes before Lightning had, but it was enough time to see Serah needed help. She had asked him twice if he wanted something to drink as he was drinking his coffee.
Lightning give a nod as she rocked Daniel back and forth. "Afterwards I want you to take a small team of four and do a sweep of the perimeter of the construction site. There was a sighting of a group of goblins yesterday evening. The construction is already behind schedule due to Snow's paternity leave. We don't need them delaying the build any more than it is, just because someone can't build a fence correctly."
Hope would be lying if he said he wasn't excited about getting the chance to fight again or even getting to lead his own team. It wasn't like he hadn't seen enough action before, because he has seen enough as an l'Cie. However for some time now, he has been acting more like Lightning's secretary then a member of the Guardian Corp.
Being given this opportunity meant Lightning trusted his skills as a soldier and, more importantly, his leadership skills. That meant more to him than any medals or awards.
The nineteen year old still hadn't grown out of idolising Lightning. It was the reason why he enlisted into the Guardian Corp, as soon as he turned eighteen. Under Lightning's wing, he was promoted to corporal in less than six months and then to sergeant ten weeks ago.
"Will that be all?" Watching as Daniel enjoyed his ride with great enthusiasm, Lightning gave Hope a nod.
Hope excused himself as he went to his car. He had taken Lightning's morning mail and brought it with him just in case. No doubt they were more requisition orders. It has always amazed Hope how often people lose something of importance such as keys to the armoury or once even a transport vehicle.
Upon return, Hope placed the small pile of envelopes on the coffee table.
As they waited for Serah to come down, Lightning and Hope spoke about work and, well, work. Several minutes into their conversation it was obvious Serah wasn't coming down.
"Watch him." Lightning headed up to the master bedroom where she found Serah leaning against the door of the large wooden wardrobe with her shirt over her head. At first it seemed like she had somehow gotten her right arm stuck, but the light snoozing told Lightning, Serah had fallen asleep while dressing herself.
Being given a light shake, the startled Serah shouted. "Daniel!" With her sister's help, Serah finally got her shirt on.
Placing her head on Lightning's shoulder, Serah wept. "I'm a horrible mother! He doesn't love me! He'll never love me! All he does is cry!"
Wrapping her arms around her little sister, Lightning tried to comfort her. "Don't be silly. He loves you. He's a baby; he'll grow out of it. "
"He always cries when I hold him. He never cries with you." Lightning patted Serah's back.
"He wasn't crying when I came in." Serah's weeping stopped. "You're a terrific mother to Daniel. His eyes light up when he sees you." Lightning thought was best not to mention that he lit up whenever he saw something pink regardless of shape.
Serah looked straight into Lightning's eyes to if she was lying. "Really?"
Lightning wiped the tears underneath Serah's puffy eyes. "Serah, I wouldn't lie about something like that." She glanced at the duffle bag on the bed. "Did you pack already?" Serah nodded.
Lightning grabbed the bag and headed down the stairs with Serah in tow. She informed Serah about the towels and food in the fridge, and ensured the worried mother that Daniel would be fine under her care.
How difficult could it be to watch her nephew for a day? She was the infamous Lightning Farron, who single-ha…with the help of her friends took down the evil fal'Cie, Barthandelus.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Lightning's confidence didn't waver as Serah told her a detailed description on how to care for Daniel.
Now, when Lightning had told Hope to watch Daniel, she didn't mean the two should have a staring competition. But that was precisely what she found in the living room.
Lightning cleared her throat, which resulted in Hope's defeat when he looked up. Almost as if he knew he had won, Daniel let out a cheery giggle.
It took some more persuasion till mama bear agreed to abandon, as Serah had put it, her young. The final push was when the evil aunt, as Serah had put it, threatened to have her minion, as Lightning had put it, tie Serah up and drag her there.
Finally alone with Daniel, Lightning decided to have a look at the pile of mail.
In his rocker, the curious baby tried to grab the unknown white blob held by the pink blob which looked like mommy blob but didn't sound the same. Despite his best efforts, the white blob was just out of his reach.
'Confounded holding device! Just a little more and then it will be mine to drool on!' Daniel giggled menacingly. 'Oh! Something shiny!' Forgetting his aunt's mail altogether, he began to reach for the keys on the coffee table.
Obvious to the inner thoughts of her nephew, Lightning sieved through the mail. 'Great more requisition orders.'
An envelope with Amodar's handwriting caught her eye. Much to Daniel's disappointment, Lightning dropped the rest of the mail on top of the keys in order to open Amodar's letter.
According to the letter Lightning was going to be considered for captain once the construction of the base was done. Although, promotion meant a bigger pay rise and more days off, not that Lightning would ever use them; it also meant more paperwork.
It was the one thing that Lightning didn't like about her work. Always preferred field work over desk work.
Perhaps she should fast track Hope into officers' training. That way he could take some of the paper load off of Lightning. He always did seem happy behind a desk.
A/N: It will be just Lightning and Daniel from here on until it isn't anymore.