Okay, this chapter doesn't really have a very big point in the story, but I like it. It's cute...:)It actually was very difficult to write...but I think it turned out okay. Only one more chapter to go and this story will be all posted. :) I hope you're enjoying it! (P.S. If you read Zanarkand A-East, you will notice a small connection. Very minor, but it's there!!!)

10. Tidus and Yuna's New Bundle Of Joy

"Wow, how long does this usually take?" Rikku asked impatiently. She was rather chilly due to the fact that she was still in her thief dressphere and the hospital seemed to have cold air sweeping through it. She would've changed, but she was wearing her moogle pajamas before she morphed into her Thief Dressphere and she didn't want to walk around in her moogle slippers. Therefore, she was stuck in the bikini top and short skirt as she paced back and forth in the waiting room. Although she tried to pretend that the baby was the only thing on her mind, the statement that Gippal said to her a few hours ago rang clear in her head. He was going to ask me to marry him…I'm 18 years old, I'm not ready to be married yet… She looked up at the clock and groaned. "We've been waiting for almost three hours now and we haven't heard anything!"

"It takes a long time, Rikku," Wakka said as he pointed to Lulu. "It took a while for Lu too, you know."

"Sometimes it takes women up to 24 hours in labor before they have the baby." Rikku's jaw dropped at Lulu's information. "It's not an easy process to go through. Believe me."

"Yuna has battled Sin, Shuyin, and some of the worst things Spira has ever spit out, not to mention the fact that she lost her true love for two years," Rikku started, motioning with her hands as she spoke. "You think she would be able to go through any process easily after going through those."

"Patience, Cid's girl," Gippal said as he motioned her to sit down next to him. She was slightly hesitant to sit next to him because of the awkward feeling was haunting the both of them. "Patience."

"Why are you so calm?" She asked as she got over the awkward feeling and plopped down where Gippal had his hand.

"Well, for one thing," he said, grunting as he pulled his hand out from underneath Rikku's rear. "I'm not the one in labor or Tidus right now, which I'm thankful for because I'm sure he's not going to have much of a hand left after this. Secondly, I'm happy you didn't spaz on me because I called you Cid's girl."

"I'll admit it, I do like that nickname," she confessed with a smile. "I know you call me that just to get on my nerves, but it's cute."

"Yeah, and thirdly, I just have a lot on my mind."

"Oh really?" She asked as she hugged her knees. "Like what?"

"I wouldn't sit like that, Rikku," Lulu advised as Rikku looked up at her. Rikku looked back down at the way she was sitting and realized that everyone in the waiting room could see clearly up her skirt, and she knew that she was wearing minimal underwear. She blushed as she put her feet on the ground and crossed them at the ankles. Lulu nodded in approval as Gippal laughed.

"That just added a few new things in my head," Gippal made clear as Rikku blushed a deeper shade of red.

"Well, um, wh-what were you thinking of before?" She asked as she tried to get back on topic. Gippal smirked at her and she motioned him with her hand to speak. "Please hurry before my embarrassment kills me."

"What am I thinking? Well, the first thing is how stupid I am for making a machina model of you." He exhaled as he shook his head. "Not only that, but I made her love me so much that she got on a ship and followed me to Luca."

"Love can be like that sometimes," she said as she looked around the waiting room. Nooj, Leblanc, Paine, and Baralai all went to the cafeteria to get everyone coffee since it was almost four in the morning. "Besides, Leblanc had a statue of Nooj made up, so I guess it's not that unusual."

"Now you're comparing me to her?" He groaned and Rikku giggled. "Anyone but Leblanc, please. It was bad enough that the Rikku machina called me 'Gippaly-Wippaly.'"

"What's the matter?" Rikku said as she started to speak in baby talk. "Gippaly-Wippaly doesn't like his new nickname?"

"Rikku, I swear if you ever call me that again, I'll shave your head, make it into a wig, and sell it." Rikku gasped as his threat and clasped her hands over her mouth. "That's what I thought." He laughed at her as Nooj and the gang came back with coffee, creamer, and lots of sugar.

"Oh yay, the Farplane in a cup," she exclaimed as she poured several containers of creamer and even more sugar into the cup. Well, we're joking around again, so I guess I can assume that means that things are okay between the two of us? She asked herself as she reached for the stir stick and gently swirled around the contents that were now in the paper cup.

"Hey, Rikku, do you want a little coffee with your condiments?" Baralai asked as Rikku shook her head.

"No. Where's the fun and sugar in that?" Everyone laughed at her as they sipped their coffee. But still…Me? Married? I'm not ready to settle down like that…But I do miss his arms around me…I miss the way he used to look me in the eyes and whisper sweet things in Al Bhed as we were lying on his bed…

"Hey guys." Rikku looked up from sipping her coffee to see a very exhausted looking Tidus standing in the doorway, realizing that everyone else noticed his presence as well. It only took about 2.4 seconds for everyone to start throwing questions his way.

"How is Yuna doing?"

"How's the baby?"

"Is it a boy?"

"No, they obviously had a girl!"

"It's a boy, isn't it?"

"No, I told you! They had a girl!"

"How are you feeling, brudda? You look beat."

"Is Yunie okay? And the baby? She's all right too, right?"

"How about we let Tidus talk."

"What's its name?"

"Her name! Get it right!"

"Can you still move your fingers or did Yuna break them off?"

"Can we see it?"

"No 'it!' She's a girl!"

"Guys, guys," Tidus said with a weak laugh as he put his hands up. "Yuna's doing fine. She's tired, but she's fine. And also, heh, to answer your question Gippal; yes, my hand's a little sore, but that's my role in the labor process. And the baby, it's a—"

"It's a girl, isn't it?" Rikku interrupted as she bounced on her toes and looked at everyone else. "I knew it was a girl."

"Yes, to Auntie Rikku's delight, it's a baby girl," Tidus said as Rikku shrieked. She leaped into Tidus' arms, almost knocking him over. "I knew you would be happy."

"I'm elated! I'm ecstatic! I'm thrilled! And all those other wonderful synonyms of the word 'happy!'" She blurted out as she let go of Tidus and latched herself onto Gippal. Um…maybe I shouldn't have jumped back to Gippal…She thought as she swallowed and uncomfortably looked up at him. Thankfully, he wasn't even looking at her. But wait…that could be a bad sign too! Maybe he wants me to get off so by not looking at me he's giving me a sign…

"Wait, wouldn't the baby be Rikku's second cousin?" Paine asked as Gippal stopped her.

"Let the blonde be happy." Gippal whispered as Paine chuckled. Gippal wrapped his arms around Rikku, so her negative thoughts flew right out the window and she concentrated again on her new baby cousin.

"So, what's her name, daddy?" Rikku asked, emphasizing the word 'daddy.'

"Daddy, huh?" Tidus said as his smile lit up the whole room. He softly chuckled at the thought of it. "I'm a…daddy."

"That shock stage takes a while," Wakka acknowledged as he gave Tidus a hearty pat on the back. "I know that one from experience, ya?"

"Don't listen to him, Tidus," Lulu added with a chuckle. "He's still not over the shock stage."

"Name?" Rikku whispered as she let go of Gippal and gently elbowed Tidus in the stomach. "Hint hint! Insert baby's name here!"

"Oh yeah, her name." He said as he proudly smiled some more. "We decided to name her Ariana."

"Pretty!" Rikku said as she started to bounce again. "I really like it!"

"That was her mother's name, if I'm not mistaken, wasn't it?" Lulu asked as Tidus nodded. "Oh, that's sweet. It's a beautiful name."

"It means 'one who shall rise like the sun' in Al Bhed," Baralai pointed out, receiving a few amazed 'huh's' from everyone else in the room.

"Kinda sounds like her mommy, wouldn't you say?" Paine noted and everyone chuckled.

"Coincidental?" Tidus asked as Lulu and Wakka shook their heads. "Fate it is."

"Hey, when did you start knowing so much about the Al Bhed, B?" Gippal asked Baralai, who only gave a short laugh.

"I've been doing my research," he replied as he wrapped his arm around Paine. "I can hold my own when it comes to knowledge of the Al Bhed."

"I'm impressed." Gippal said as he patted Baralai on the back.

"Can we see her?" Rikku wanted to know as Tidus half shook, half nodded his head. "I don't get it. What does that mean, Mr. Indecisive?"

"Well, you can't hold little Ari yet, but you can see her through glass as they get her wrist band on and stuff," he clarified as he motioned them to follow him toward the glass wall. "I want you to pick her out."

"That one," Lulu said instantly as she pointed through the glass. "The second one in."

"Wow, that didn't take long. Was that just a good guess?" Tidus asked.

"No. I can tell she's yours. Look, she has Yuna's nose and your eyes," she tapped Tidus on the nose for emphasis. "She's beautiful."

"Ten fingers, ten toes," he said as his eyes started to tear up. "I did my first fatherly duty by counting."

"She's big," Paine indicated in disbelief as she looked at the baby. "I didn't expect her to be that big since she's almost three weeks early."

"Yuna and I were worried all throughout the taxi ride," he admitted with a sigh. "And during most of the labor as well. But, thankfully, she's 7 pounds, six ounces, healthy, and can come home in a few days."

"It's a shame you're going to miss the signing," Nooj said as Tidus put his hand to his forehead. "No, don't worry about it. Believe me, if didn't have to be there, I wouldn't be."

"Oh, Ari," Rikku exhaled as she tapped the glass. "That's right, Auntie Rikku is going to teach you all kinds of fun things when you get out of there! Yes, she is!"

"Do you mean the same fun things you taught Vidina?" Wakka asked as Rikku looked at him.

"Whatever do you mean, daddy Wakka?" She said as she pretended to be flabbergasted. "I personally like how he squeals in happiness every time he hears Auntie Rikku's name!"

"Squeals? So that's what you call it, ya?" Wakka said as he looked down at Vidina. "I would prefer to call it a high pitched, glass breaking, shriek."

"He's gotten really good at it, Rikku," Lulu added as Wakka rolled his eyes. "Wakka loves it, don't let him fool you."

"When can we see Yuna?" Wakka asked as Tidus shrugged. "Was it a hard labor?"

"No, but she's really worn out. I wouldn't be surprise if she's sleeping right now." He looked as his baby girl through the glass and smiled. "If you guys come back tomorrow you will be able to see Yuna and probably hold the baby."

"We'll leave then, and let you and Yuna get some rest," Lulu said as she gave Tidus a large hug and kissed him on the cheek. "Congratulations, Tidus. She's beautiful."

"Thanks, Lulu," he said with a chuckle. "I'll pass the message on to Yuna as well."

"Please do." Everyone then took their turns of hugging and congratulating Tidus for the new baby.

"I'm glad she's a girl," Rikku said honestly when she gave her hug to Tidus, who only laughed. "Although I would've been happy if it would've been a boy, but not as happy."

"I'm happy that it's a girl too," he said as he held her close to him. "She'll grow up looking just like her mommy. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yep, see ya then!" She then hopped off toward the others, leaving Tidus alone to stare at his new baby girl.