Aeris

As soon as Tifa heard the baby squeak she looked up at Cloud, "What does she look like?"

Cloud scoffed, "Bald and red."

The doctors wrapped the tiny baby girl in a blanket and showed her to Tifa. Their little Aeris was indeed bald and red. The infant squeaked and wiggled and stared at her mother. One of the first things Tifa noticed about her baby girl was her cleft palate, but Tifa wasn't severely upset. A cleft palate was easily fixed nowadays, and Aeris looked totally normal otherwise. A blessing.

Tifa smiled, "Hey, honey."

The obstetrician took tiny Aeris away to be cleaned and checked while Tifa's abdomen was sewn shut.

Mrs. Gainsborough watched the doctors take the mewling infant away and waited to see Tifa and Cloud. The latter came outside a moment after the doctors left and sat next to the older woman.

"Was the baby a boy or a girl?" Elmrya asked.

"A girl. You're sure you don't mind if we call her Aeris?"

Mrs. Gainsborough smiled, "Of course not. She wasn't just mine, you know. And I bet that Aeris would be squealing with joy if she was here right now."

Cloud nodded, "Probably."

"Was anything, um…wrong with little Aeris?"

"Not really. A cleft palate, but that's going to be easy to fix."

"Oh, thank heavens. I didn't want another scare like you had with the boys."

Cloud sighed and shook his head, remembering all too clearly.

They sat in comfortable silence until Tifa was brought out, then walked with her gurney back to her room to wait on Aeris.

"Moooom!" Zack cried as he ran into the room, sweeping his walking stick skillfully in front of him, "You said you would wait until we got home from school!"

Angeal trotted into the room behind his twin and knocked Zack in the back of the head, knocking his glasses loose, "Mom can't control when she has Aeris, stupid. He was crying like a baby when he found out that you were having her," the six-year-old said with a snicker.

"I was worried!" Zack defended. He pushed his thick, green-tinted glasses far up his nose.

Cloud held a finger to his mouth, "You'll be in so much trouble if you wake your mother."

Mrs. Strife chuckled and shook her head, thinking it funny that Cloud scolded his sons for acting the same way he used to. She turned back to Elmrya and they continued talking quietly.

Zack clapped his hands over his mouth, "Sorry, Dad," he said through his self-made muzzle. "Hi, Oma! Hi, Aunt Elmyra!" he added.

Angeal snorted and shoved his twin playfully before greeting his grandmother and aunt as well.

The amber-haired boys walked over to their dad. Zack looked up at him with big green eyes, "Can I see Aeris?"

Cloud shook his head, "Not right now. Aeris had something wrong with her lip and she's getting it fixed."

Angeal cocked his head to the side, luminescent green eyes looking at Cloud curiously, "How can you have something wrong with your lip?"

"She had a hole in her top lip, so they're sewing it closed," Cloud explained.

Zack's jaw dropped, "Why?! That's so cool! You wouldn't have to open your mouth to use a straw and you could-"

Cloud flicked his son in the head, "A cleft palate is very bad, Zack. And you need to be quieter."

Zack rubbed his temple and pouted.

Within the next half hour, Tifa woke up, several guests arrived, and Aeris was brought to meet everyone. Reno and Rude glanced at each other when they saw the stiches in Aeris' lip, but said nothing.

Barret laughed, "You finally got your girl, Spike!"

Marlene smiled, "She's so cuuute!"

Cloud smirked, "Thanks. Now maybe she can teach her brothers to play nicer."

Zack and Angeal laughed unabashedly before starting a mock sparring session. Tifa shot the boys a "Don't you dare" look and the roughhousing stopped immediately.

"So, her name's Aerith?" Yuffie asked, sitting down on the bed. "Figures."

"AeriS," Tifa clarified.

Yuffie raised an eyebrow, "Why Aeris? If you're going to name her after Aerith, than name her after Aerith," the ninja snorted.

Cid raised an eyebrow at Yuffie, "Didn't you notith that Aerith had a listhp?"

Mary Highwind giggled from her father's side.

Shera looked at her husband, "Cid, really?"

"Whaat? Mare thought it was funny, ya old prick. Didn'tcha, Mare?"

Mary giggled again.

Cloud dismissed the three Highwinds and nudged Tifa's shoulder, "Can I hold her?"

"Hmmmm…I dunno…" Tifa rolled her head around.

"Please?" Cloud said with a laugh.

"Okay," Tifa passed the blanket to Cloud, "You remember how to hold a baby, right?"

"Make sure to support the feet?"

"Other end."

"Oh, yeah."

As is usual for babies, Aeris got passed around so everyone could have a chance to hold her. She had almost made a full rotation before she started whimpering. Everyone started leaving then so Aeris could eat. On their ways out, everyone gave their final congratulations and compliments.

When it came time to pick Aeris' godparents, Cloud and Tifa asked Elmrya to be the godmother.

I've had the past few chapters ready for so long, it feels so good to finally get them out!