Disclaimer: Although I don't own Irvine or Final Fantasy VIII, I do own
little Toby.
Author's note: My hand hurts from typing so much before I let it heal. I hurt if when I fell down a few days ago. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this. For those of you who don't know;
thoughts '...'
spoken words "..."
~*~*~*~ lapse in time
________ change in pov
Unexpected Organization
No matter how hard she tried, there was no way that minute and nearly invisible wrinkle was coming out; regardless of how many times she pulled at it. She sighed in defeat and leaned against the wall. In reality it was just a distraction she'd come up with to stall herself. All she really had to do was knock on the door. Sure it was still early, but her Irvy would be up. She cast one last glance down the empty corridors before she quickly reached out and rapped on the door. She pulled her hand away and placed it at the small of her back in a nervous gesture.
'What if I just woke Toby up?' She began to worry. She tapped her foot lightly on the floor as she waited for a response. When she received none, she made sure no one was looking, and pulled out a copy of Irvine's key card. She inserted it and waited while the door slid open. The sight before her was heart rendering. Irvine was asleep but only halfway on the bed, with Toby sprawled out between him and the wall. She stood in a dumbfounded shock as she stared at them.
As carefully as someone with Selphie's grace could, she walked around his room. She knew he wouldn't mind her being there but she still didn't want to wake him. The little jars sitting on the edge of his dresser caught her attention. They looked worn, if it were possible for glass jars to look that way. With the tips of her fingers, she pulled at the label on one of the more worn looking jars. Part of the label peeled off in her hand and she stared at it blankly. Her first impulse was to check the expiration date, then to make sure the seals were still good. It was odd, they didn't look like something he'd just bought. She carefully sat the jar back down and then cast Irvine a glance to make sure he was still asleep. Selphie opened every drawer, searching for something undetermined. Quietly stepping past his guitar she looked in the closet. What few belongings he had; a few changes of clothes, a SeeD uniform, and his arsenal of rifles, were of no use in caring for a baby. She stopped at the rifles. They would have to be moved. He might be a father, but it was obvious he still had a lot to learn. She secured the closet doors with his desk chair to insure that Toby wouldn't be able to get in, and then hurried out of his dorm. Inwardly, she knew something like this was going to happen. She had a lot of planning to do.
Selphie rounded the corner of the dormitory hall and main hall, sliding a little sideways and nearly taking out another SeeD in the process. He yelled something to her, but she ignored it. She had to find who she was looking for before he went on duty. She ran as fast as her short legs could take her. She hadn't run like this since her SeeD mission when she had to cover for Nida and ended up pulling him out of a tight situation. Walking out of the cafeteria, alone like always, was the person she needed to talk to.
It was aggravating that she had to rely on other people because most of Garden just thought she only cared about throwing festivals and parties. She wasn't taken seriously anymore. Sure Squall was respected and admired by nearly everyone in Garden, but she wouldn't be able to get his help easily. Quistis would be so absorbed in her work that she would inadvertently blow her off, and Rinoa was busy wrapped up with caring for Squall. Who did that leave to help her. It surely wasn't Seifer or Zell, those two couldn't stop competing and fighting with one another; as odd as that sounded. She was left to rely on one of the most unlikely people. Balamb Garden's own late blooming flower. The most unlikely SeeD candidate that somehow managed to make SeeD, and spent most of his energy trying to avoid notice.
"Nida!" She cried out, startling the reserved young man. He stood staring at her as if he were debating on making a run for it. She came to a sudden stop in front of him, nearly knocking the coffee from his hands as she leaned on her knees to catch her breath. He stared at her suspiciously as he held his cup out of her way. She panted a few more seconds as she tried desperately to catch her breath.
"Selphie?" He asked in a concerned tone. He glanced from side to side as if checking for her pursuer. "Is something wrong?"
"I need you help," She regained some of her composure and straightened her dress as she stood up. He looked uneasily at the elevator. "I promise I won't make you late." He cast her a skeptical look. She tilted her head to the side. He and Quistis were a lot alike, except where she became annoyed whenever her schedule was disrupted, he became paranoid and nervous. There was something psychologically wrong with him, at least that's what Selphie thought anyway.
"I need to get to the bridge," He tried to avoid her.
"Nida! I need your help!" She cried out. "Remember on the mission you told me that if I ever needed anything anytime you'd help?" She thought back to the mission where they'd been ambushed by two soldiers just off the shore and she prevented one from slitting Nida's throat open. She'd always remember the look in his eyes, he wasn't scared. It was just stoic disbelief. What scared her was that he was almost daring the soldier to do it. He'd been relieved whenever she saved him, but from what she'd seen, she really wondered about him. Maybe he just wasn't afraid of death, who knew?
"What do you need?" He asked, bringing her from her thoughts. She looked up at his black eyes that looked back at her expectantly.
"Have you heard that Irvine has a son?"
He nodded. "Just about everyone has; courtesy of Xu."
"Okay, Irvine needs help," He narrowed his already squinted eyes.
"What's wrong? Is it the baby? He's not sick is he?" Nida's sudden concern shocked her.
"No, no," Selphie quickly answered. "It's just that Irvine doesn't have anything to care for him, except three jars of food." Nida narrowed his eyes again, but his facial features began to soften.
"He has nothing. No diapers, clothes, a crib, nothing?" Nida raised a brow in disbelief. Selphie shook her head. "Give me four hours. I can get some people together."
"What are you planning?" Selphie was very curious, not only had she not come up with a plan yet, but Nida had beat her to the punch and taken a lead position. "Irvine will deny he needs help. I think its a pride or self reliability thing."
"Then don't ask him," Nida was shocking her even more. "How old is he?"
"Toby? He's 15 months I think. Why?"
"Get a hold of your friends, and tell them to go shopping," He glanced at his watch and winced. "If I know Quistis, she'll want to be the practical one and get a crib. Tell her she can't. That's my department."
"Oh! It could be like a baby shower!" She exclaimed and began hopping around. "But how do we get it in his room so he can't object?"
"Create a diversion, a distraction; I don't know. Just make sure that he's not there between noon and two." Nida was beginning to fidget uneasily. "I have to go." He hurried off, settling for throwing his coffee away so he could run. Selphie checked her own watch. He had thirty- six seconds before he would be late. "Oops," She said to herself.
________________________________________________________________________
Three and a half hours later.....
Irvine answered the phone while keeping a close eye on Toby. The boy was obsessed with his hat. Irvine grinned as Toby pulled it over his head again.
"Hello?" Irvine asked, causing Toby to turn his head quickly and fall down. He'd been trying to walk all day, and Irvine wasn't going to miss it because of a phone call. "I'm kinda busy," Irvine groaned when he realized it was Zell. 'Its not my fault he's been confined to his room. It was him who repeatedly broke the Doc's orders, trained and infected a few of his injuries.' Irvine thought to himself. "Look, I can't just come runnin' like I used to. Kids change things," Irvine protested. Toby, now infatuated with his father's raised voice, staggered across the room and clamped onto his leg. Irvine stood in complete shock. "Haha! Yeah! That's my boy!" Irvine shouted, momentarily forgetting all about Zell who was on the phone. The receiver fell from his hand and landed on the floor, shattering in the process. Irvine ignored it as he scooped his son up and tossed him up in the air. Toby's smile reflected his own as he held him in a tight hug. Irvine knelt down and sat him on the floor again. He then ran across the room, near his open door, and sat down on his knees. "Come on Toby," He encouraged. "Come to Daddy."
When Toby shakily found his feet and staggered a few steps forward, Irvine reached out for him. The little boy giggled loudly as he ran as fast as his chubby legs would allow and fell into Irvine's lap. Irvine began laughing loudly as well as he pretended Toby knocked him over. The cowboy rolled onto his back, his son on his chest, and was now lying part of the way out into the hall. Irvine stopped laughing when he realized that he was staring up at a suprised and slightly disgusted looking Seifer who just happened to be walking by. Sitting on his stomach, Toby tried to lean back to see Seifer's face. He finally succeeded and Seifer rewarded him with a smirk as he slid something into his trench coat's pocket. Irvine watched in shock as Toby tried to imitate Seifer's smirk.
"Toby!" Irvine tried to stop him, but it was obvious he wasn't listening. "Stop it Almasy! You're teaching him bad habits!" Irvine decided to try and get Seifer to leave. To add to Irvine's suprise, Seifer bent down and looked Toby over.
"You're all right kid," He squinted his emerald eyes and smirked again. Toby mimicked him and then Irvine realized why. Max had had eyes like Seifer's and they did resemble one another.
'Just great,' Irvine thought to himself. Seifer stood deftly and stalked down the hall, leaving Toby watching him leave.
________________________________________________________________________
Zell hung up the phone in disbelief. "He hung up on me."
"SUPRISED?" Fujin asked sarcastically as she kicked her legs up on his desk.
"Now what do I do? Selphie'll flip out if I don't get him out." Zell tried calling again. "Damn busy signal." Fujin cast him a brief glance as she tossed a roll of medical tape at him.
"BANDAGES.....NOW," She ordered and rose as to answer the knock at the door. Behind her, Zell groaned but did as he was told. The door opened to reveal Seifer standing there. He looked a bit disgusted to see Zell, but quickly recovered.
"No one knows about this," He warned under his breath as he pulled a small box from his pocket and placed it in her hand. She looked down at it and then nodded.
"AFFIRMATIVE."
At her response, he snubbed up his nose and shook his head at Zell before leaving. Fujin turned to face Zell who had his eyes narrowed at Seifer and rolled her eyes.
"IMMATURE," She grumbled as she picked up the things that she had to take to Nida. She sat them down, thinking better, and poured out one of Zell's many duffel bags.
"What?" Zell stopped short. "Oh, I get it." Fujin cast him a skeptical glance before shoving two boxes and then the small one Seifer'd given her inside the bag. Heavy footsteps stopped outside the door, causing Fujin and Zell to turn and stare.
"I'm not interruptin' are we?" Irvine asked.
"No way man!" Zell greeted his friend happily as he replaced the gauze on his left forearm.
"NEGATIVE," Fujin answered and lifted the bag to her shoulder as she left. Irvine gave Zell an apologetic look and Zell shook it off.
"She's got a mission to prep for. She was leaving anyway," Zell explained as he motioned for them to come in. "Leave the door open. This room has been making me claustrophobic." Irvine slowly lead Toby in by the hand, avoiding looking at the inflamed lacerations on Zell's unwrapped arm. "Whoa!" Zell exclaimed. "You can walk little dude!"
Toby hopped around in excitement at Zell's tone. Irvine looked worriedly from Zell to his son. He was too easily influenced.
"I'm tryin' to raise him to be somewhat normal!" Irvine chided Zell.
"Ah," Zell complained as he finished wrapping his arm. "Normal's so boooring," Zell exaggerated the last word as he hoped from the desk and dropped to his knees in front of the father and son.
"Zell!" Irvine shouted.
"Zul!" Toby mimicked his father. Both SeeDs stared down at the baby in disbelief.
************************************************************************
Verdanii - Thanks for checking this fic out. Twin boys? I thought you were 15? *shrugs shoulders* Congrats either way. I had a friend who had twins when she was 16....
Son of Sephiroth - I've always wanted to give him a past so I guess I did with this one huh.
aratcorien - I tried to get this out as fast as I could, but with an injured hand it was hard to type as fast as I was thinking.
Pretty Green Eyes - No! You can't have him!
Zencreation - Here you go.
Dark Topaz - Hopefully I can get faster again.
Rinoa36 - *smiles* That's good.
Ameli Stoncius - I'm glad you're into it so much. Thanks for referring to me in your fic credits as well! I better get to read about Dante in your next chapter. *shakes finger*
************************************************************************ Slumps in chair. Thank God I'm done with this chapter. I was determined to get it out today. I hope you guys like it. If you don't I'll cry. Seriously. Please review and let me know what you think.
Author's note: My hand hurts from typing so much before I let it heal. I hurt if when I fell down a few days ago. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this. For those of you who don't know;
thoughts '...'
spoken words "..."
~*~*~*~ lapse in time
________ change in pov
Unexpected Organization
No matter how hard she tried, there was no way that minute and nearly invisible wrinkle was coming out; regardless of how many times she pulled at it. She sighed in defeat and leaned against the wall. In reality it was just a distraction she'd come up with to stall herself. All she really had to do was knock on the door. Sure it was still early, but her Irvy would be up. She cast one last glance down the empty corridors before she quickly reached out and rapped on the door. She pulled her hand away and placed it at the small of her back in a nervous gesture.
'What if I just woke Toby up?' She began to worry. She tapped her foot lightly on the floor as she waited for a response. When she received none, she made sure no one was looking, and pulled out a copy of Irvine's key card. She inserted it and waited while the door slid open. The sight before her was heart rendering. Irvine was asleep but only halfway on the bed, with Toby sprawled out between him and the wall. She stood in a dumbfounded shock as she stared at them.
As carefully as someone with Selphie's grace could, she walked around his room. She knew he wouldn't mind her being there but she still didn't want to wake him. The little jars sitting on the edge of his dresser caught her attention. They looked worn, if it were possible for glass jars to look that way. With the tips of her fingers, she pulled at the label on one of the more worn looking jars. Part of the label peeled off in her hand and she stared at it blankly. Her first impulse was to check the expiration date, then to make sure the seals were still good. It was odd, they didn't look like something he'd just bought. She carefully sat the jar back down and then cast Irvine a glance to make sure he was still asleep. Selphie opened every drawer, searching for something undetermined. Quietly stepping past his guitar she looked in the closet. What few belongings he had; a few changes of clothes, a SeeD uniform, and his arsenal of rifles, were of no use in caring for a baby. She stopped at the rifles. They would have to be moved. He might be a father, but it was obvious he still had a lot to learn. She secured the closet doors with his desk chair to insure that Toby wouldn't be able to get in, and then hurried out of his dorm. Inwardly, she knew something like this was going to happen. She had a lot of planning to do.
Selphie rounded the corner of the dormitory hall and main hall, sliding a little sideways and nearly taking out another SeeD in the process. He yelled something to her, but she ignored it. She had to find who she was looking for before he went on duty. She ran as fast as her short legs could take her. She hadn't run like this since her SeeD mission when she had to cover for Nida and ended up pulling him out of a tight situation. Walking out of the cafeteria, alone like always, was the person she needed to talk to.
It was aggravating that she had to rely on other people because most of Garden just thought she only cared about throwing festivals and parties. She wasn't taken seriously anymore. Sure Squall was respected and admired by nearly everyone in Garden, but she wouldn't be able to get his help easily. Quistis would be so absorbed in her work that she would inadvertently blow her off, and Rinoa was busy wrapped up with caring for Squall. Who did that leave to help her. It surely wasn't Seifer or Zell, those two couldn't stop competing and fighting with one another; as odd as that sounded. She was left to rely on one of the most unlikely people. Balamb Garden's own late blooming flower. The most unlikely SeeD candidate that somehow managed to make SeeD, and spent most of his energy trying to avoid notice.
"Nida!" She cried out, startling the reserved young man. He stood staring at her as if he were debating on making a run for it. She came to a sudden stop in front of him, nearly knocking the coffee from his hands as she leaned on her knees to catch her breath. He stared at her suspiciously as he held his cup out of her way. She panted a few more seconds as she tried desperately to catch her breath.
"Selphie?" He asked in a concerned tone. He glanced from side to side as if checking for her pursuer. "Is something wrong?"
"I need you help," She regained some of her composure and straightened her dress as she stood up. He looked uneasily at the elevator. "I promise I won't make you late." He cast her a skeptical look. She tilted her head to the side. He and Quistis were a lot alike, except where she became annoyed whenever her schedule was disrupted, he became paranoid and nervous. There was something psychologically wrong with him, at least that's what Selphie thought anyway.
"I need to get to the bridge," He tried to avoid her.
"Nida! I need your help!" She cried out. "Remember on the mission you told me that if I ever needed anything anytime you'd help?" She thought back to the mission where they'd been ambushed by two soldiers just off the shore and she prevented one from slitting Nida's throat open. She'd always remember the look in his eyes, he wasn't scared. It was just stoic disbelief. What scared her was that he was almost daring the soldier to do it. He'd been relieved whenever she saved him, but from what she'd seen, she really wondered about him. Maybe he just wasn't afraid of death, who knew?
"What do you need?" He asked, bringing her from her thoughts. She looked up at his black eyes that looked back at her expectantly.
"Have you heard that Irvine has a son?"
He nodded. "Just about everyone has; courtesy of Xu."
"Okay, Irvine needs help," He narrowed his already squinted eyes.
"What's wrong? Is it the baby? He's not sick is he?" Nida's sudden concern shocked her.
"No, no," Selphie quickly answered. "It's just that Irvine doesn't have anything to care for him, except three jars of food." Nida narrowed his eyes again, but his facial features began to soften.
"He has nothing. No diapers, clothes, a crib, nothing?" Nida raised a brow in disbelief. Selphie shook her head. "Give me four hours. I can get some people together."
"What are you planning?" Selphie was very curious, not only had she not come up with a plan yet, but Nida had beat her to the punch and taken a lead position. "Irvine will deny he needs help. I think its a pride or self reliability thing."
"Then don't ask him," Nida was shocking her even more. "How old is he?"
"Toby? He's 15 months I think. Why?"
"Get a hold of your friends, and tell them to go shopping," He glanced at his watch and winced. "If I know Quistis, she'll want to be the practical one and get a crib. Tell her she can't. That's my department."
"Oh! It could be like a baby shower!" She exclaimed and began hopping around. "But how do we get it in his room so he can't object?"
"Create a diversion, a distraction; I don't know. Just make sure that he's not there between noon and two." Nida was beginning to fidget uneasily. "I have to go." He hurried off, settling for throwing his coffee away so he could run. Selphie checked her own watch. He had thirty- six seconds before he would be late. "Oops," She said to herself.
________________________________________________________________________
Three and a half hours later.....
Irvine answered the phone while keeping a close eye on Toby. The boy was obsessed with his hat. Irvine grinned as Toby pulled it over his head again.
"Hello?" Irvine asked, causing Toby to turn his head quickly and fall down. He'd been trying to walk all day, and Irvine wasn't going to miss it because of a phone call. "I'm kinda busy," Irvine groaned when he realized it was Zell. 'Its not my fault he's been confined to his room. It was him who repeatedly broke the Doc's orders, trained and infected a few of his injuries.' Irvine thought to himself. "Look, I can't just come runnin' like I used to. Kids change things," Irvine protested. Toby, now infatuated with his father's raised voice, staggered across the room and clamped onto his leg. Irvine stood in complete shock. "Haha! Yeah! That's my boy!" Irvine shouted, momentarily forgetting all about Zell who was on the phone. The receiver fell from his hand and landed on the floor, shattering in the process. Irvine ignored it as he scooped his son up and tossed him up in the air. Toby's smile reflected his own as he held him in a tight hug. Irvine knelt down and sat him on the floor again. He then ran across the room, near his open door, and sat down on his knees. "Come on Toby," He encouraged. "Come to Daddy."
When Toby shakily found his feet and staggered a few steps forward, Irvine reached out for him. The little boy giggled loudly as he ran as fast as his chubby legs would allow and fell into Irvine's lap. Irvine began laughing loudly as well as he pretended Toby knocked him over. The cowboy rolled onto his back, his son on his chest, and was now lying part of the way out into the hall. Irvine stopped laughing when he realized that he was staring up at a suprised and slightly disgusted looking Seifer who just happened to be walking by. Sitting on his stomach, Toby tried to lean back to see Seifer's face. He finally succeeded and Seifer rewarded him with a smirk as he slid something into his trench coat's pocket. Irvine watched in shock as Toby tried to imitate Seifer's smirk.
"Toby!" Irvine tried to stop him, but it was obvious he wasn't listening. "Stop it Almasy! You're teaching him bad habits!" Irvine decided to try and get Seifer to leave. To add to Irvine's suprise, Seifer bent down and looked Toby over.
"You're all right kid," He squinted his emerald eyes and smirked again. Toby mimicked him and then Irvine realized why. Max had had eyes like Seifer's and they did resemble one another.
'Just great,' Irvine thought to himself. Seifer stood deftly and stalked down the hall, leaving Toby watching him leave.
________________________________________________________________________
Zell hung up the phone in disbelief. "He hung up on me."
"SUPRISED?" Fujin asked sarcastically as she kicked her legs up on his desk.
"Now what do I do? Selphie'll flip out if I don't get him out." Zell tried calling again. "Damn busy signal." Fujin cast him a brief glance as she tossed a roll of medical tape at him.
"BANDAGES.....NOW," She ordered and rose as to answer the knock at the door. Behind her, Zell groaned but did as he was told. The door opened to reveal Seifer standing there. He looked a bit disgusted to see Zell, but quickly recovered.
"No one knows about this," He warned under his breath as he pulled a small box from his pocket and placed it in her hand. She looked down at it and then nodded.
"AFFIRMATIVE."
At her response, he snubbed up his nose and shook his head at Zell before leaving. Fujin turned to face Zell who had his eyes narrowed at Seifer and rolled her eyes.
"IMMATURE," She grumbled as she picked up the things that she had to take to Nida. She sat them down, thinking better, and poured out one of Zell's many duffel bags.
"What?" Zell stopped short. "Oh, I get it." Fujin cast him a skeptical glance before shoving two boxes and then the small one Seifer'd given her inside the bag. Heavy footsteps stopped outside the door, causing Fujin and Zell to turn and stare.
"I'm not interruptin' are we?" Irvine asked.
"No way man!" Zell greeted his friend happily as he replaced the gauze on his left forearm.
"NEGATIVE," Fujin answered and lifted the bag to her shoulder as she left. Irvine gave Zell an apologetic look and Zell shook it off.
"She's got a mission to prep for. She was leaving anyway," Zell explained as he motioned for them to come in. "Leave the door open. This room has been making me claustrophobic." Irvine slowly lead Toby in by the hand, avoiding looking at the inflamed lacerations on Zell's unwrapped arm. "Whoa!" Zell exclaimed. "You can walk little dude!"
Toby hopped around in excitement at Zell's tone. Irvine looked worriedly from Zell to his son. He was too easily influenced.
"I'm tryin' to raise him to be somewhat normal!" Irvine chided Zell.
"Ah," Zell complained as he finished wrapping his arm. "Normal's so boooring," Zell exaggerated the last word as he hoped from the desk and dropped to his knees in front of the father and son.
"Zell!" Irvine shouted.
"Zul!" Toby mimicked his father. Both SeeDs stared down at the baby in disbelief.
************************************************************************
Verdanii - Thanks for checking this fic out. Twin boys? I thought you were 15? *shrugs shoulders* Congrats either way. I had a friend who had twins when she was 16....
Son of Sephiroth - I've always wanted to give him a past so I guess I did with this one huh.
aratcorien - I tried to get this out as fast as I could, but with an injured hand it was hard to type as fast as I was thinking.
Pretty Green Eyes - No! You can't have him!
Zencreation - Here you go.
Dark Topaz - Hopefully I can get faster again.
Rinoa36 - *smiles* That's good.
Ameli Stoncius - I'm glad you're into it so much. Thanks for referring to me in your fic credits as well! I better get to read about Dante in your next chapter. *shakes finger*
************************************************************************ Slumps in chair. Thank God I'm done with this chapter. I was determined to get it out today. I hope you guys like it. If you don't I'll cry. Seriously. Please review and let me know what you think.
