Title: Word of the Day v. FFIV
Author: Garnet Eyes
Archived: fanfiction .net, livejournal .com
Last Updated: 25 Sep 2011
Summary: 26 July 1999 edition.
Rating: K+
Characters/Pairings: Cecil, Ceodore, Kain, Cecil x Rosa
Author Notes: antediluvian, adjective;
1. Of or relating to the period before the Biblical flood.
2. Antiquated; from or belonging to a much earlier time.
noun;
1. One who lived before the Biblical flood.
2. A very old (or old-fashioned) person.
Disclaimers: Final Fantasy IV is owned by Square-Enix and I in no way, shape, or form profit off of my writing. This is simply for my own pleasure, and may at any time be removed and/or modified as I see fit.

...

Kain didn't normally speak his mind anymore, the years having tempered his more outlandish behaviors. Even though he didn't say it out loud, though, he couldn't help but think possibly strange thoughts. Cecil spent a lot of time with his son and clearly adored the infant, more often than not forgoing his armor so that there were no sharp edges on which the inquisitive youth might harm himself. It wasn't unusual for the seven month old to be lying against the young king's chest, pale blonde head nuzzled into the crook of Cecil's snowy white neck, fast asleep and completely unaware of his surroundings. Frequently, the paladin could be found in that position in various rooms at various times throughout the day. His left arm always supported his child, leaving his right hand free for the possible need to take up a quill and write a missive or sign a document or any other simple daily task or duty.

Certainly, the young king could have handed his son over to a nursemaid or some such, but Cecil would never have settled for letting someone else take care of his child. Rosa, for all that Kain would have thought that she would make a wonderful mother, had gotten progressively more disgruntled with having to take care of a child until she'd all but washed her hands of Ceodore about four months after his birth. Apparently, not all women enjoyed the child that marriage was sure to produce. She didn't even seem to mind that the infant was losing his imprint of her and more often than not went to Cecil instead, even going so far as to screech an unending, unholy wail until his father picked him up, at which point he stopped crying nearly instantaneously. Ceodore took a long time to calm down if anyone else tried to hush him, including Rosa.

The king didn't practice his sword work as often as he used to, what with his son to take up all of his time along with his duties as ruler. Cecil wasn't weak by any means, but Kain had noticed that the difference in their strengths was becoming more and more defined. The dragoon didn't mind that, but he was almost positive that his reason for not minding was entirely wrong in every possible way. Although Kain had teased the younger knight a lot in their youth, it was becoming more and more difficult to separate the little gibes from the current reality of their way of life; Cecil was not behaving in a way becoming of a man, whether he knew it or not. He did all the things a wife was meant to do, and he was happy to do them. That wasn't normal; Kain would've been happy to have a son, but he wouldn't have had any qualms with turning over the squirt to nursemaids to raise to a reasonable age if he had been in Cecil's position. All of that early care was woman's work, and there wasn't a thing that a man could do to mold such a small child into a responsible man. And yet Cecil was still interacting with the youth, still raising his son as Rosa was meant to, and clearly took special glee in every silly little accomplishment that Ceodore had. Although Kain refused to say it out loud, he was now quite convinced that the paladin would make someone a very nice wife some day.