I Tried - Chapter 12

His Reason for Living

Reno found himself staying home a lot; perhaps most of it was due to his nightly time on the phone. "So that guy's still not come home?" He was referring to Cloud. Tifa had a long talk with the guy about two years ago and he had simply vanished without a trace. Reno growled, de-tangling himself from the phone chord.

"Yeah," she sighed, "he wanted to leave." She seemed so sad about the guy. Reno felt the urge to beat that Cloud kid senseless. She made herself sound hopeful. "Maybe you'll run into him, he wanted to be in SOLDIER."

"I usually steer clear of anything that smells like ShinRa. It offends my delicate sensibilities." They shared a laugh at that.

"Re, when's the last time you ate?" Tifa got to a more serious topic, perhaps because she was upset about Cloud. Reno guessed it was more that she was still worried about Reno himself, and he was doing a poor job dancing around the topic of their financial situation. Since he had told her about Bethany being pregnant Tifa had made it a point to call him everyday.

"I dunno, what day is it?" Reno watched his girlfriend suddenly make herself busy in the chapel, dusting the piano. Her plethora of questions surrounding Tifa bothered him. She'd asked everything from "how well do you know each other?" to "is she prettier then me?" What did Bethany think? That Tifa was out to take him from her? As if the thought had ever been in either of their minds. They were good friends, true, but they may have well lived on different planets.

"Not funny." Tifa replied; he could almost picture the brunette fighter putting a hand on her hip.

"Not try'n ta be, hold on will ya?" He cupped his hand over the phone. "Hey babe, why don'tcha sit down and let me take care of the rest a that?"

Bethany came in, barely starting to show; he could make the outline of a rounding stomach from within her tee-shirt. "I can get it."

Sitting the phone down, Reno crossed the room and put his hands on Bethany's shoulders. "Ya know I hate it when you act like this. You haven't got a thing ta be jealous of. She's just a friend, a very naïve friend. I couldn't love her like I love you. Understand?"

After Bethany allowed Reno to sit her at one of the chairs she leaned on the kitchen table, her nose wrinkled, like it always did when he called her on being difficult. "I know, but still, you two are so close. I sorta feel like an outsider…"

When she looked up, there was a phone in her face. "Well, you gotta fix that then." Reno barely let her register the fact that the phone was in her hand before he was leaving the church. "I'll be back in a few okay?"

Putting the receiver to her ear, she took a deep breath. If this was Reno's friend they were going to get along. "Hey, Reno stepped out for a few…"

Reno returned though the chapel doors, almost an hour later, holding a small bag of food. He blinked at Padre standing in the doorway to the kitchen, Mariah weakly leaning on his arm. He sat the bags down and peered in between their shoulders.

Beth was perched on the counter, leaning against the wall and spinning the phone chord in her fingers. "You're kidding me! Really? He never told me that!" that was followed shortly after by a peel of laughter.

Reno didn't have the courtesy of his older companions. He edged in between them. "What are you talking about?"

Bethany smirked, "nooothing."

Reno, immediately reached for the phone. "Whaddya mean nothing?"

Placing her foot on her boyfriend's chest Bethany stuck out her tongue. "I mean its girl talk and you can't listen in because it's about cute things you did when you were five."

There was silence in the room for a brief moment. Then Reno lunged at the phone. "Tifa!" He yelled, making an effort to gently take the phone from Bethany and failing. "I swear woman! What are you saying?"

Padre looked down at Mariah who was smiling. "You know?" She took a breath before continuing. "Sometimes I forget, their just teenagers."

"At least they remind us occasionally." He agreed.

"Wow, I didn't realize how bad my feet would hurt." Bethany muttered, leaning against Reno while they sat together on a bench. She watched his eyes travel from person to person, his hand twitched at the gun in his pants. He was on edge tonight, even though he knew this area was perfectly safe for a Fallen member. Bethany put her hand on top of her belly, and smiled a bit. Padre had mentioned that walking would be good for her, so after much persuasion, Reno agreed to take her with him to get Tifa.

Despite a long and arduous examples by both of them of the conditions she would be staying in, Tifa demanded to stay a few days before the tournament. Of course, her father thought she was staying at Chocobo Bill's. If he knew where his little girl was going, he'd most likely have been down to wring Reno's neck.

Bethany was excited to finally meet Tifa. After forgetting that Tifa was this woman that Reno knew, and realizing how deep their friendship was, she felt really silly for being jealous. Bethany was used to fighting for a place, she had spent (and was still spending to an extent) a long time getting Reno's group to accept her. The past six months had been especially hard, what with everyone thinking that she had intended to get pregnant.

That was a struggle in and of itself, honestly, being pregnant was the best thing that had ever happened to her, she wasn't going to deny it. She jumped when Reno stood up, almost falling over. "Hey, pregnant, no balance."

"Oh, sorry babe, can't sit still." Reno pinched the bridge of his nose; even from behind him she could tell his blue eyes were squeezed shut. Something about this evening had him upset, and Bethany was truly confused as to why.

"You aren't embarrassed are you?" She fished after a minute of silence.

Reno sat down, frowning. "No, but I'm worried about Tifa."

"Worried? What for? You said yourself she can beat you in hand to hand combat. You let me walk around here alone without a second thought." She hated the fact that she felt the constant need to compare herself to Tifa. Bethany knew that it was her and her alone that did that, no one else.

The corner of Reno's mouth lifted up, making his scar arch slightly under his eye. "You aren't Tifa. She's a good marital artist yeah, but she's never had her life threatened. She's never gone hungry, never even looked atta gun before. There's a big difference from being able to defend yourself like she can, and being a fighter like we are."

"I forgot." Bethany muttered, looking down at her stomach. "I forgot that we weren't normal."

His arm found its way over her shoulders. He kissed the top of her head reassuringly. "I got you; I don't care how strange I am."

Bethany closed her eyes, content to sit there until Tifa's train pulled in.

The train pulled in, the people began milling out slowly. There were a few suited people dotted here and there amidst the imposing sea of ripped clothing, burlap colors and extensive tattoos. Most looked nervous, feeling as out of place as they looked. Bethany was a little shocked, to see a Wutain man in a dark blue suit slide effortlessly among the slum people. She felt like he was watching them, but there was no way for her to prove it. "Ey, Reno, you see that?"

"Yeah, that's the guy that's always hanging around the other church outside of sector seven; he's come around to the bar too. Never does anything."

"But you see him a lot?" She responded, wondering what a man in a suit was doing hanging around in the slums.

Reno seemed to suddenly realize the oddity and blinked. "Now that ya mention it…" They both scanned the crowd again, but the man was gone, it was as if he'd never been there.

Reno stood, wondering if his point of view was the problem, before he could walk the crowd himself, he heard Tifa's voice. Spinning, he was just in time to catch her as she wrapped him up in a hug. "Re! How are you?!"

Bethany blinked from her seat at the bench. The young woman hugging her boyfriend was nothing short of beautiful. She had a curvaceous figure that her shorts and tank top did little to hide. Where Bethany, however had grown with her pregnancy, Tifa was obviously flat and toned. Before she could form a full comment however, the vivacious brunette was hugging her. "And you are Beth? I'm happy to meet you." She laughed to herself. "Of course, I feel like I already know you, Reno talks about you all the time."

Tifa extended her hand to Bethany, helping the other girl up. Then she slung a bag over her shoulder and looked around. She sniffed the air and frowned however, Tifa didn't say anything or complain. Instead, she adjusted the gloves on her hands. "Ready when you guys are."

Bethany and Tifa walked behind him, the two already talking quietly about baby names. Reno smiled to himself, Bethany didn't really have any friends that she could talk to about the little things like that. It wasn't as if Bethany wasn't social, it was simply that the mention of babies sent most of their friends running.

He hadn't given much thought to what they were going to do tonight. Viper and Tex had mentioned a party, but he didn't know if Tifa would be comfortable with the idea. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a purple bandanna. Reno halted immediately. Beth and Tifa both followed his line of vision. The Pirate's member was right in the middle of a drug deal. On Reno's territory.

"Re, please, you can't just let it slide?" Bethany asked, she wasn't worried, but she wasn't happy with the situation.

"You let one slide and they all come in, like big rats." He hissed. "This won't take long."

Placing a hand on Tifa's wrist, Bethany led the other girl to the corner of a building. "Whatever, Red Wolf."

The deal walked away, already touching the blunt to his lips. The Pirate flipped a few bills, smirking. When Reno cleared his throat, the man spun.

"So, where's my cut then?" Reno let his hand slide to the back of his pants, resting on the butt of his gun.

"Wolf! Ah, ah, cut?" He stumbled backwards.

"Yeah, Piper, my cut. You are on my turf, or did you miscount the blocks?"

Then Tifa yelled. Reno spun around to see two of Piper's buddies moving towards Tifa and Beth. The click of a gun chamber from Piper distracted him again. Piper was built like Reno, extremely thin. Though, unlike the red head, he was horrible in a fight. Shoving the gun to the side, Reno slammed his fist into Piper's nose. Even though the fight was over at that moment, Reno straddled the other boy and gave him another punch in the face for good measure.

Looking up, he watched Tifa spin kick another Pirate, Spinner, into the wall. The expression on his face was absolutely priceless before he slumped to the ground. Tifa, in between him and Beth, rocked from foot to foot. Beth's eyes darted up nervously, her hand covered her stomach and she reached for her own gun but halted.

The third man was the one that had Beth's attention. Both she and Reno knew that he was the dangerous one. Where Piper was laughable, Spinner a small obstacle, Jack was deadly. He had no qualms with shooting anyone where they stood, and he had the gun already drawn.

"Leave them outta this." Reno snapped, not drawing Jack's attention like he had hoped he would. Tifa was too far away to get a good hit in, and Beth wasn't going to risk drawing a gun on someone who's weapon was already out.

He laughed, green eyes flicking over to glance at Reno. "What's the fun in-" then someone tapped him on the shoulder. Jack made the mistake of turning his face directly into Tex's fist. Jack apparently carried the gun for a good reason, he had a glass jaw.

Tex nudged Jack with his foot. "Well what'sa fun in this?" He smirked at Reno, who already had his arms around Beth, her head against his shoulder. "Fancy meeting ya here! I was jus runnin ta fetch ya. Viper an me kicked some Pirates around a few minutes ago, and figured they weren't alone."

"You okay Vix?" Reno asked, ignoring Tex and the perplexed Tifa.

Bethany hugging Reno tighter. "Yeah babe, Tifa's got a killer left hook."

Tex crossed his arms over his chest and made a snort. "Hello? Love birds? I'm being dashing and charming over here!"

Reno and Bethany made an even bigger show of ignoring him.

It was then that Tex noticed Tifa. Hazel eyes widened a bit, then he removed his hat and bowed. "I'm dreadfully sorry ya had ta see that violence Miss. Let me assure ya it goes against ma nature." Standing he adjusted his hat back on his head. "Jus gatta be rough with these cretins. You must be new, ma name's Tex." He looped his arm over the brunette's shoulder. "If you need anything at all jus ask."

That got Reno's attention. Grabbing Tex by the collar he excused them both and drug the larger man a few paces away. On the way, he passed Viper, who looked smug. "Back in a second, watch them would you?"

Rolling his eyes as if he saw the whole interaction coming, Viper moved over by Beth and Tifa. "Hallo, yer Wolf's friend?"

Laughing, and still blushing a bit from Tex, Tifa nodded.

Viper lit a cigarette. "Whoa boy, Wolf's gonna have 'is hands full dis week."

"She leveled Spinner, I think she'll be fine." Beth pointed over her shoulder to the slumped Pirate. "In fact, I was hoping you'll hip toss Tex a good one for me?"

"Ooo, now I'd pay good money ta see dat." A deep laugh rumbled in Viper's barrel chest.

Tifa laughed with them both, feeling glad for coming. Sure it smelled bad and the plate looked like a burnt pizza, but these seemed like nice people. At least she wouldn't spend the week before the tournament bored.

Tifa and the tournament came and went with little else happening. A few months later, Reno found himself pacing in the waiting room of an abortion clinic. If he hadn't been as nervous as a ShinRa facing an audit he would have been taking in the irony of the situation. The woman's clinic wasn't exactly a proper birthing unit, but even with Reno's tournament money, it was all that they could afford.

Just when Reno thought he would go insane from waiting he was ushered into a back room. The nurse put her finger over her lips, urging silence, he nodded absently. The hospital smelled of something he didn't think he would have ever gotten used to. It was all disorienting. He pushed the pale, worn door open, poking his head in before coming all the way in and closing it behind him. Reno stood just inside the closed door, stunned.

Bethany seemed exhausted, but oddly contented with her situation. He edged closer to get a better look at the baby. He didn't know why he was so nervous. He didn't think at that moment he could have formed a sentence.

"It's a girl." Bethany smiled. The little bundle squirmed; fine red hair covered her head like a cloud. Her eyes were closed tight, little hands curled into loose fists. Reaching forward slowly, he pushed a bang from the baby's face. Her nose crinkled, but she didn't wake up. He then reached over and hugged Bethany tightly.

"She looks like you, Reno." What Bethany was feeling suddenly dawned on him. He couldn't imagine anything that could tear him away from them. How in the hell could someone leave this behind? Before he could think of something to say to her, Bethany lifted the child up to him. "Say hello to your daddy." She told the baby.

The sheer amount of emotion involved in holding their daughter for the first time overwhelmed him. He'd never held a baby before, and despite the awkwardness, he felt so undeniably right. "Hallo." He whispered, even though the child was asleep.

He didn't really know how long he stood there, holding the little girl. There weren't words to put together the feeling he had. It was as if, all of a sudden, there was something in his life worth everything. There was a reason for everything.

"I could watch you hold her all day." Bethany sat up, her hair matted to her head with sweat. There were bags under her eyes. She was obviously tired and drained, the exam bib was too large for her and rumpled.

Thus she was shocked when he blurted out, "you're beautiful."

There was a rap at the door; obviously it was time for them to go. Reno carried the baby, Bethany walked against him slowly. They would have to get a ride from Tex, there was just no way that the two- three now, he mentally corrected himself- were going to make it home without a ride.

While Bethany filled out some forms at the desk, Reno made the phone call. Tex had been waiting on them. "She okay?"

"Yeah man. I'm the one who's not with it." Reno laughed. "She just, it's like something got triggered inside. Something got turned on and I don't know what ta call it."

It earned a laugh. "Now there's a cute nickname, Trigger." Before Reno could say anything, Tex added. "An no, I will never take anythan serious. Life's too short man."

Reno hung up, muttering the nickname to himself. He moved next to Bethany, who looked a bit exasperated with the nurse.

Said nurse looked just as exasperated. "What name do ya want on the birth certificate?" he asked, tapping his chewed pencil on the desk.

Name? Shit, his last name. No one knew it; his mother had always insisted that he never tell it to a soul. It wasn't uncommon for kids in the slums not to know their last names, or to make them up later in life. To that end, Reno smirked. "Full name: Suzanna Mariah Capellarossi."