Oh my goodness! It's been so long since my last update! I left you all hanging and I feel just awful! D: How long has it been? Since November? *checks calendar* Oopsies! Three months!?
Ah! Anyways, enough of my fretting up here, the story's down there :)
Enjoy! (PS Fanfiction as being difficult, so no italics or centered text this go round)
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~X[Chapter 26: Vivacious]X~

It had been a week since the accident that one rainy morning. Apparently from doctor's orders, a week's rest was not good enough for the young ravenette. They had stated he had taken some massive damage, and it was even a miracle he escaped with the wounds he had. The concussion and the nearly broken ribs were the most serious of his injuries. If he hadn't been wearing his helmet -The thing was battered to bits and unusable now- then the young twenty-three year old would have perished with the motorcycle.

Zack was becoming restless, a week of nothing but laying around in bed and doing nothing! He needed to get up and run around, do some training! God knows how out of practice he was. Also, he didn't like having Aerith and Cloud run around and wait on him hand and foot every time he needed something. He wanted to start doing things for himself again. Sure, the first three days of rest felt great, but now his back always felt sore from laying down all day. It was never like him to stay in one spot for very long. The ravenette had never been very good at sitting still.

Right now, he was laying in bed early on the morning. The digital clock displayed the time of seven o' six, but the sun did not shine in through the window due to the blinds being closed and the curtains being drawn in. Over on his right side, Aerith was sleeping peacefully next to him with the covers pulled up to her chin. Taking his time, Zack mad sure to carefully scoot out of bed. As soon as he stood up and got a good stretch, an abundance of energy just came rushing back to him.

He felt as if he could take on the world today, excluding the headaches he got from the concussion from time to time. Cautiously tip toeing his way out of the room, he made sure to shut the door behind him so any noise made downstairs would not wake the sleeping brunette. A sly smile spread across his face as he made his way down the stairs. He didn't understand why the doctors ordered two weeks of bed rest, he felt perfectly fine with just one!

As he touched the cool wooden floor, he could hear the faint noise of the television from not too far away. Pausing in his escapade, he let loose a drowsy yawn and another stretch before advancing towards the living room. Zack saw a familiar tuft of golden blonde hair poking up from in front of the couch and he knew Cloud was watching cartoons. He quietly snuck up behind the blonde, a devious smile pulling at the corners of his bow shaped lips.

"Good morning!" The ravenette cried as he leaned over the couch and wrapped his arms around the young seven year old.

Cloud seemed to jump from fright in his father's hold, but when the familiarity of the voice registered in his brain, he whirled around with a big smile on his creamy white face.

"Good morning, Daddy!" The little blonde exclaimed, a bright and happy glow scintillating behind his eyes. "Are you feeling better?" He added on as the ravenette climbed over the couch and flopped down next to the boy.

"Oh yeah, much better!" The twenty-three year old responded, giving his son a playful noogie.

"Hey!" Cloud interjected with a big laugh. He nudged his father's fist from his head and giggled a bit, the cartoon becoming ignored by this point.

The little blonde was overjoyed to see his father doing much better. No more than a week ago, he had been in tears fearing that he was going to loose the most important person in his life. If he had lost his Daddy, he wouldn't know what he'd do. He wouldn't be able to handle loosing so many people close to him. His sisters, his mother, everyone he held dear had always been stripped from him.

"Hey you, what are you thinking about?" Zack inquired, pulling his son into his lap and holding him tenderly.

"Mm, nothing." Cloud spoke softly, lightly shaking his head as well.

"It doesn't sound like nothing to me." The ravenette nonchalantly responded as he nuzzled his face into those soft blonde spikes below him.

A hum of contentment echoed in his own ears when he heard the boy almost purr from the tender affection being given to him.

"Anyway, I was thinking of doing some training this morning, would you like to assist me?" Zack spoke up, pulling his face away from his son's impossible hair.

"Yeah!" Cloud exclaimed, leaning his head back to look up at his father's face, hovering above his own. A big and bright smile was etched onto his little face.

The ravenette removed the boy from his lap and stood up promptly afterwards. He stretched once more, giving his lax muscles one last chance to wake up fully.

"What do I get to do?" The blonde asked, excitement brimming in his voice. He was eager to help his Daddy start training again.

Before any more words could be exchanged in the still morning air, Cloud was swooped up into Zack's arms, then held high in the air above the ravenette's head. "Think of this as doing pull ups, except I just get to toss you into the air." The SOLDIER spoke with a big smile plastered on his face. So for the next ten minutes, that's what they did.

When Aerith woke up and saw this, she smiled at first, then scolded Zack for not resting like he was told to do. After many pleading apologies, the young ravenette was forgiven and allowed today to be his usual self. He just had to lay off on the training for today. Something was beginning to change in the young brunette girl though. There was this glow about her that seemed to brighten her personality and appearance, and the tiniest little bump was now visible on her stomach, signaling that the little baby inside was beginning to grow.

The ravenette had been overjoyed to discover this, and even the little blonde was growing excited. Life was turning around now. Everyone was healthy and happy and the family continued to grow.

Cloud couldn't wait to meet his little sibling... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: And there you have it! There's chapter 26 for you guys! Sorry it was kinda short, but I figured this would be a good place to end it for the night. :3 Anyhow, let me know what you thought of the chapter, okay? You guys and your responses get me all hyped and motivated to update quicker! Just sayin'! ;) Well, as always...

Toodles!
~Zimithrus1