The Child of Our Flesh

Rescued

◊ Vincent's POV ◊

What did I ever do to deserve this? Why must my life be full of such struggles? I felt the movement of the bodies lying next to me. So they aren't dead… A groan confirmed this conclusion. The next sound I could hear was scraping of blades followed by a female scream. Reno shot up and pulled Rude with him.

"Sorry Valentine, we gotta get outta here yo!" Him and Rude disappeared within seconds. They never were exactly friends of mine. Silence filled the empty room again until I heard a familiar voice.

"Vincent? Hey….Its me Cloud let's go, lets get out of here." Is that really him? I've had many illusions like this… My eyes fully opened as I felt a hand wrap around my wrist and yank me into a standing position. I stumbled forward, but Cloud steadied me before I could fall.

"Reeve's waiting in the Shadow Fox. I've got to get you home before Vinaya has a breakdown." Cloud said as he practically dragged me along.

"Vinaya…" Her name escaped my lips before I could even think to say it.

Once we finally exited the building Cloud let me rest on the grass and handed me a canteen filled with water. It was refreshing to taste another liquid besides my own blood. We then continued down a dirt path until we reached Reeve's Shadow Fox. Reeve flew out of the back of the vehicle and helped me in. How degrading it is to be seen in such a weak state…. But I want to get back to her I don't care about anything else right now.

"Vincent, how do you feel? You should call Vinaya now and tell her you're on your way home." Cloud said twenty minutes into the drive. I then realized something I had left behind. Vinaya's flight car….

Cloud returned the belongings of mine that he found including Cerberus. I felt as if I had regained so much strength by just holding that gun. I put my cloak on although I still had no shirt. I grabbed my cell phone and found Vinaya's number.

◊ Vinaya's POV ◊

I looked down and saw that name again on my cell phone's screen. Damnit Cloud I wish you wouldn't use his phone…

"Cloud did you find Vincent yet?"

"This is not Cloud." Not Cloud...?

….. There was a long silence before I could speak again. "Vincent….."

"Vinaya." He replied in a shaky voice. Tears ran down my cheeks, but my voice was steady as I spoke again.

"You're ok? Are you coming home?"

"Yes I'm on my way home now…. I'm ok." I smiled and wiped my tears away.

"Oh thank goodness! How far away are you? Are you hungry? Oh and by the way I have big news to tell you when you get here!" I laughed afterwards. I grinned as excitement consumed my body. I immediately ran into my room and picked out a khaki skirt and a pretty black blouse. I should at least try to look decent for my man's return!

I heard him sigh softly. "I'm still a few hours away, but yes I am quite hungry actually. Is this news that can be spoken over the phone? I'm not so sure I can wait."

"Vincent since when have you been this impatient. Of course you'll have to wait! So in a about an hour and a half I'll order your favorite, ok?"

He chuckled softly. "I've missed you so much Vinaya. I can't wait to…." He paused and I heard him mutter some unfriendly words to the people around him before he continued in a quieter voice.

"I can't wait to see you again. I know it's only been a month or so but at one point I honestly thought I'd never see you again."

"Yeah Vincent I know. These past few weeks I was sure you were dead."

"I'd never leave you." The tone of his voice was so smooth and seductive. I was already ready for a round two of our last night together.

"Well I'll let you go, hurry and get here! Are you on my flight car?"

"Nn…. Vinaya… the flight car…I…"

"Its ok, Vincent. You're ok and that's all I care about."

"Hm."

"Alright, I'll see you soon bye."

"Goodbye."

I threw on my new outfit and called Tifa to let her know Vincent was coming back. She sounded just as excited as I was and thought it would be a good idea to let everyone know he was coming back. Not even thirty minutes later I had everyone at my house except for Vincent, Cloud, Reno and Rude.

"So Vinaya…I heard you were…." Yuffie paused and got close to my ear. "Pregnant." She whispered. I shot Tifa a look and receive a shrug. Didn't I tell her not to say anything to anyone!?

"Come on everyone's gonna find out soon enough." She laughed and opened a bag of chips. Barrett was in the kitchen frying fish. Cid stood outside on my porch smoking a cigarette while Shera sat in the swing.

I turned back to Yuffie and smiled slightly. She threw her arms around me and squeezed. "Yay another baby!! Ooo don't wanna squeeze too tight. Hehe."

I laughed softly. "Vincent doesn't know yet, so don't say anything to him. I want to tell him while we're alone."

She closed her lips with her fingers as if zipping a zipper. I laughed again and went to the door as I thought I heard a truck pull up. My heart jumped when I saw the Shadow Fox sitting out in front of my house. I ran outside just in time to catch a glimpse of a weary looking Vincent being helped out of the back of the truck.

"Vincent." I ran up to him and threw my arms around him. He grunted and fell back against the Shadow Fox, unable to support my weight. "Are you ok?"

"Just a bit tired…." He without even looking at me, let go of me and walked slowly into the house relying heavily on the rails as he walked up the porch steps. Was he not excited to see me? I followed him inside the house and watched him walk past his excited friends into his bedroom and shut the door. I ripped the door open again and closed it behind me.

"Is something wrong?" I slowly walked up behind him and sat down on his bed when he sat down. "Oh! Your hands." I took both of his human hands in mine, but he quickly took them away and unbuckled his cloak throwing it aside.

"Why is everyone here?" he finally asked. "Vinaya I just want to be alone with you right now." He looked into my eyes for the first time then down at my lips. I didn't waste anytime taking advantage of the time to kiss him. He welcomed the kiss and put his left hand on my thigh.

"They're your friends, they were just as worried as I was." I placed my hand over his on my thigh. He sighed and stood again. He grabbed his black pajama pants and black T-shirt and headed to the shower. I waited for him in the kitchen as I sat a plate with a slice of pizza on it in the spot he used to always sit in.

After about ten minutes I heard his deep voice in the living room saying "I'm fine" to someone. Yuffie skipped into the kitchen right after Vincent did and tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around and glared at her causing her to back away quickly and poke her lip out at him. He glared harder then turned to me.

"Vincent what's the matter?" I used the most gently and soft voice that I owned.

"Yeah meanie, what's your problem?" Yuffie put her hands on her hips and stomped her foot.

Vincent ignored both of us as he took a seat and ate his pizza. Yuffie gave up trying to get his attention and completely left the house. I then quietly apologized to everyone and they left as well. I returned to the kitchen to see Vincent staring at his empty plate.

"Hey…." I said gently. I shouldn't have expected him to come home all happy and cheery like nothing had happened. I had no idea what he had been through in the past month. "Want some fish?" I looked over at the pile of fried fish sitting on paper towels in on an oven tray.

"Sure…" he mumbled I placed a piece of fish on his plate and set a bottle of malt vinegar on the table along with some tarter sauce. Vincent used neither as he ate the fish slowly.

"I'm sorry, I should have known you were gonna want some alone time when you first got back. I…just got so excited…"

"It's fine. I'll be fine. What was it that you wanted to tell me?" Vincent pushed his plate aside and stared across the table at me. As I looked back into his crimson orbs I noticed that there was something definitely wrong. His eyes were slightly sunk in and his face seemed so much thinner. There were terrible dark circles around his eyes and a bruise on his cheek. The knuckles of his right hand had awful looking scabs over what must have been nasty open wounds.

"Umm….I… lets…lets talk about you first. What happened? Are you sure you're ok?" I reached out and gently touched his right hand. He jerked his hand back and turned away from me.

"Vinaya…please I don't want to think about it right now. Can we…"

"Hi Vincent." Priya said as she slowly walked into the kitchen wearing her pink pajama shorts and a white T-shirt. She stood near him looking up at him cautiously.

Vincent glanced at her and greeted her only with a soft "Hi." She continued to stare at him then all of a sudden latched onto his arm.

"It's fixed now. Vincent were you at the hospital?" I watched him force a smile as he nodded.

"I'm not sick anymore."

Priya giggled. "Yay!" she then looked down. "So, are you gonna leave us now?"

Vincent shook his head no and looked back up at me. I smiled at him not receiving one in return. How am I supposed to tell him I'm pregnant with him acting like this?!

"You look really tired, Vincent. You should probably get some sleep. I'm gonna shower then uh…I'll join you."

He nodded as he stood and set his plate in the sink. He passed by Priya without even glancing at her or saying goodnight. She stared at his departing figure with a confused look.

"Why's Vince so sad?"

"I don't know…" I sighed and turned off the kitchen light. I saw Priya off to bed then showered and entered Vincent's room. He was lying in his bed under the covers with his lamp still on wide awake. His eyes quickly met mine as I entered his room and shut the door behind me. He rolled over to face me as soon as I got under the covers with him.

"I owe Cloud my life. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be here. I couldn't even keep my promise to you…." Vincent frowned and his eyes left mine.

"Oh Vincent…you're only human. Literally now…" I laughed softly and put my fingers under his chin forcing him to look up at me. "You kept it though didn't you. You're here now, and you're ok."

He nodded and threw his arm over me pressing my body against his. He kissed my forehead and snuggled into his pillow closing his eyes.

"Oh and by the way I'm pregnant." I said nonchalantly.

Vincent's eyes snapped open and his head shot up. "What?!"

I giggled. "You're gonna be a daddy, Vincent."

Vincent didn't say anything but stared at me with wide fiery eyes, his jaw was dropped open and his whole body was tensed up. I giggled again and kissed his open mouth forcing him to close it and kiss me back. He pulled away quickly to ask.

"Excuse me, Vinaya, but did you just say you were pregnant?"