Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 8 and all related characters not owned by me. Owned by ye gods of Squaresoft. Praise be to Yevon! (Oops, wrong ff!)
~*Chapter 10*~
"Where the hell are they Squall? They were meant to be here two hours ago. My father's going to have kittens, I told him I'd be there for lunch." Rinoa fretted, hugging her knees close to her chest and rocking, a motion that had always held some small degree of comfort for her. Angelo licked her arm and she patted the dog absently.
He rose from the chair in the pub and strode across the room purposefully, taking both of her hands into his single leather gloved one. His other hand was used to tip her chin up so she would look into his eyes, to calm her and make her listen to his reasoning.
"Rinny, something will have cropped up. You know they're still officially on active service, maybe they've been hired. They'll be here as soon as they can. It's not like they'll have just forgotten. Go phone Caraway, explain the situation; tell him we'll be there as soon as we can. Trust me, he'll be ok, he can wait. He's waited for years, a few more hours aren't going to make a difference." He tried to reassure her, but his words of comfort fell on deaf ears. He silently vowed that they'd better not be doing anything unimportant.
She nodded and dutifully sloped off to call Caraway, he took the small cell phone out of his pocket and tried Selphie for the fifth time that day.
She answered on the first ring; "Hey Squally! We'll be there in five! How you doing? How's Rinny?" She chirruped
"Where the hell have you been? You're over two hours late!" He hissed.
"We lost Quisty and Zell. We found them though, after scouring the entire Garden! You don't even want to know what they were doing! Oh hey, we're here! Hurry up, we can't keep Rinoa's Dad waiting!" She laughed, oblivious to the annoyance in his tone. He hung up wordlessly, his hand moving unconsciously to his forehead. The hand was still there when Rinoa returned.
"What's up?" Rinoa inquired sweetly.
He moved the hand from his head to encircle her shoulders and started moving her toward the door. "Nothing. They're here. What did he say?"
"He said it's fine and just to get there whenever I can." She replied woodenly.
He stopped her and looked in her eyes, though she could remove emotion from her voice, she could never hide anything from him in those eyes. He saw terror.
"What's wrong Rin?" He asked gently.
"Nothing. I'm absolutely fine." She stated defiantly
"Liar." He breathed the word softly; she almost didn't catch it. She looked into his eyes and smiled sadly.
"That bad, huh? The truth is, I'm terrified Squall. What if he hates me for everything I did to him?"
"Then he's a fool. But he won't. Anyone who could hate you would have to be nuts."
She grinned at his attempts to cheer her and squeezed his hand. They spotted the Ragnarok and ran to board, every moment now seemed an eternity to her. She called back to him,
"No kissing in front of him, ok? He doesn't know about us yet, and I'd like him to get used to the idea before we start making out in front of him."
He grimaced at the thought of any public display of affection; it was not in his nature despite the changes, or improvements as she called them, in his character.
"Whatever."
~*~*~
Selphie had told them the journey would take around an hour, so Rinoa and Squall had headed off to the computer room to grab a seat. Of course, Rinoa's seat was Squall's lap and she laid his head against his chest, listening to the beating of his heart, the blood coursing through his veins. He had once said that his heart was beating only for her. The soothing motion of the rise and fall of his chest and the rhythm of his heart were like a lullaby and she drifted to sleep.
~*~*~*~
"Well, look at my little angel! Look how pretty Rinoa is in her birthday dress, Vincent!" Her mother's voice tinkled as she laughed, gesturing to her father to come over.
He smiled at his wife and squatted down to his daughter's side, chuckling her under the chin, making her squeal with delight. "My, my. I didn't realise I had married a Queen, but I must have to have such a beautiful little Princess as my daughter. Why did you pick blue honey?"
"I pick'd it cause it's pwetty! Would you like to kiss Angelo, Daddy?" She offered the small stuffed toy dog to her father. It was tattered and worn, but she refused to pick another. She was very loyal to those with whom she entrusted her love.
The little dress was a sky blue, taffeta, silk and chiffon layering together to make a special dress for a special little girl. She had insisted on wearing small, glittered angel wings to complete the ensemble, her mother had, as always, indulged her whims. Vincent took the small toy and nuzzled it before handing it back to his daughter. Julia picked her up and whirled her around the room, making her laugh.
"Did you have a nice birthday sweetheart?" Julia enquired sweetly.
"Yes Mommy, I had a lovely birthday. All my fwiends and a big cake and music and pwesents! Thank yoo for my dollies. They're bootiful, just like yoo!" The little girl replied in a sing song voice.
"You're welcome honey. But you're the most beautiful of all!" She tickled the little girl and she ran behind her father, giggling. He ruffled her hair and sat her on his lap.
"So how does it feel to be a big five year old Rinny?" Vincent asked in his deep tone.
She regarded the question with an air of seriousness and then broke into a smile. "The same as I felt yesterday!"
"That's a good answer sweetie. I have another surprise for you tomorrow, you were meant to get it today, but it never arrived on time. Is there anything you super dooper wanted for your birthday that you never got?" Her mother inquired.
"Well, I super dooper would like a blue bike…" her parents smiled over her head; this was the surprise Julia was picking up tomorrow, "but I really want a baby sister too!"
The room grew quiet and both Vincent and Julia reeled. Secretly, Julia was relieved. She had been waiting for the right moment and now…
"Well, Rinny. You're a very lucky girl." She announced. Vincent looked at her confused.
"How's that mommy?"
"Because I went to the doctors last week, and he told me that we're going to have another baby! I can't promise it'll be a girl, but…" Julia never got to finish, the little girl ran over and jumped on her, knocking the wind from her lungs in her rush to hug her mother.
"This is the best birthday ever! I can't believe yoo got me a baby sister for my birthday! I don't mind if it's a boy though, I'll be the best big sister ever! She squealed excitedly. Vincent came over and lifted his spirited daughter from Julia's lap.
"What a lot of excitement you've had today Rinny, lets get you to bed. Kiss mommy and say good night."
"Good night mommy, I love yoo and the baby! Night night Daddy, I love yoo!" she yawned sweetly, and padded up to bed, kissing them both as she left.
Julia looked worriedly at her husband; he hadn't said a word to her since she had broken the news of her pregnancy.
"Are you angry?" She enquired in a small voice.
"For the love of Hyne, yes, I'm angry! I'm angry you didn't tell me sooner! Julia, this is wonderful. Our family will be complete. How far are you?" He smiled at his wife with love in his eyes and kissed her tenderly, one hand caressing her tiny bump, noticeable now he knew about it.
"Just three months."
"We'd better get organised! So much to do and only six months to do it in!"
She laughed, "Calm down Vin, it's a while away yet."
He pulled her into his embrace and heard a small giggle as his lips met with those of his wife. He broke the kiss and looked to the top of the flight of stairs, seeing an angelic Rinoa sitting in pink pyjama's printed with moogles sitting on the top stair, giggling at them.
"Ooooooooh! Yoo and mommy were kissing!"
He smiled, "Rinoa Heartilly, bed, now. I'll come and read you a story if you're tucked in bed in five seconds."
He began a countdown and laughed as the little girl scampered off to bed. She loved story times with her daddy.
~*~*~
Rinoa padded down the stairs the next morning to see her father openly sobbing, his head in his hands, pulling at his hair. The house was quiet, the servants were nowhere to be seen and the little girl despised the uneasy atmosphere. He looked up to see his daughter and quickly tried to compose himself, wiping his eyes hastily on his sleeve.
"Good morning sweet pea." His red rimmed eyes ached with pain, glassy with unshed tears.
"Daddy? Why yoo cryin'?" the little girl could not keep the fear from her voice and her eyes welled with tears of sorrow for her father.
"Mommy went to get your surprise early this morning and she had an accident. The car was, was hit by a tree. It's very windy." He said absently, he couldn't believe this was real.
"Where's mommy? Where is she? I want mommy! Daddy!" The little girl was panicked, screaming.
He picked his daughter up and placed her in his lap. She lay her head against his chest, hearing the soothing sound of his heart still beating, blood still running through his veins. She rubbed her toy dog absently against his chin and he was thankful for the small comfort a tatty toy could bring. He smoothed her hair, a dry sob escaping his lips. Hyne, she was so like her. How could he go on? Reminded every day by his precious daughter of the two he had lost.
The girls voice was muffled by his chest, but he could make out, "Is mommy ok? Is the baby coming to see me?"
He calmed himself and spoke in a measured tone, emotion cracking his voice. "Mommy died an hour ago. The fairies have taken her to see Grammy and Pawpaw. Do you remember them?"
The child nodded, tears making silent trails down her cheeks. He continued, fumbling in his pocket, "She'll be happy there and she'll wait for us. Her and the baby. This is for you Rinoa. Mommy wanted you to keep it safe until you see her again. It's the ring I gave mommy the day we got married. It's too big now, but I've put it on one of mommy's chains. You can wear it round your neck till it fits your fingers."
He slipped the chain around her neck and the floodgates containing her grief opened. From her tiny body, came great, wracking cries of pure sorrow that shook him to his very core. Two hearts lay broken in that house, neither one ever fully healed. Neither could bear to lose another so dear, but the ferocity with which they guarded that dear to them caused them to lose one another. Irony, it seems, has a wicked sense of humour.
~*~*~
"Don't go!"
She awoke from the nightmare, wild eyed, fingers clutching desperately at thin air. Squall was holding her tightly, smoothing her hair to try and calm her. Tears of grief ran freely and her body convulsed with the effort of purging the unhappiness from her body. He was murmuring words of comfort into her hair,
"It's ok. It's ok Rin. I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."
