To Everyone: Teehee, some many guesses. Well, you'll just have to read to find out the answers. I'm happy that more and more people are getting into my stories. I've been so busy with school and college courses that I don't have a whole lot of time to update but thanks for staying with me.
Oh yeah, sorry I forgot to mention that all of Rinoa and Squall being in highschool, and from this chapter on is the events leading up to the bad thing that Squall did.
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Rinoa's father gave Squall a job and for the time being, Rinoa stayed at home. She stayed at home to take care of Julie. Her mother made a habit of dropping by twice a week. She showed her how to take care of household chores and the baby. "If you ever need any help at all, call me, honey," Julia said. Rinoa exercised when she could to bring her weight back down until she reached her goal. Selphie and Quistis made a habit of either calling or coming over to update her on what was happening at school. Usually they came together but sometimes they came separately. "So," Selphie said, "how are things going?" She had come with Quistis who was focused on the baby.
Rinoa said, "I can't say things are easy but we're getting along okay, I think. Mom insists on paying for our groceries for a while."
"Oh that's nice. My mom finally got rid of Rick."
"Cool. How'd she do that?"
"Threw his stuff out and changed the locks. She's working on getting a restraining order too. I got a part-time job now so I can help her keep up with the bills and everything."
"You still dating that one guy? Irvine, right?"
"That's right. Yeah I am, infact he was going to take me out on Sunday. You got any plans for the weekend?"
"Not really. Squall will probably be tired from work so I'll probably try to get him to relax a little. Let him get some rest and whatnot. I want to get a job so I can help out too but right now, I can't," Rinoa said. Selphie nodded.
"Can I hold Julie?" Quistis finally asked.
"Sure. You could've asked before. Support her head." Quistis took hold of the baby in her arms like Rinoa told her to. Julie gurgled in her sleep.
"She's so tiny. She's got your face and hair."
"She has Squall's eyes too."
"What does Squall think of her?" Selphie asked.
Rinoa said, "He held her a lot the first two days but since then he's been busy, you know… I feel bad though 'cause my parents insisted on paying for the hospital bill. I know they're just trying to help us but I feel bad taking their money. They ignore my refusals though."
Quistis said, "That's nice of them to help you out,. My dad would disown me if I were in your situation. I'm not sure what my mom would do. I'm sure she'd be mad though. I don't know if they'd help me out or not…"
"My mom wouldn't be able to afford to help me," Selphie said. "I'd probably end up giving it up for adoption. That would be really sad too. I know it's better for a baby to be put up for adoption when you can't take care of it but I'd feel like I was giving up on it if I did that."
"Yeah, I know what you mean."
"What about you, Quistis? Any boyfriends?" Rinoa asked.
"No. I've looked but they are hardly any guys worth going after."
Selphie said, "There's someone that likes you."
"Yeah but you wont tell me who it is."
"That's right. I promised so I can't."
"Fine then. I don't care anyway."
"Yes you do."
"No I don't."
Rinoa said, "Don't argue, you guys. Well, Selphie, do we know this person? Is he a friend of ours?"
"Yep and kind of," Selphie said. "But I'm not going to tell you who it is. Not even if we play hangman."
"Hangman? Why would you play that?"
"It's my way of telling people stuff without actually saying anything. If they lose before they figure it out though, then that just sucks for them."
"Oh. Are you guys going to stay 'til Squall comes home?"
"Not today. We'll come by another day and visit with him if that's okay."
"That's fine. It'd probably be for the best. He might not be in the mood to visit anyone today. I can talk to him about it and let you guys know if you like."
"Okay we can do that." Quistis handed Julie back to Rinoa and got ready to leave. The two said their goodbyes to their married friend before walking out the door. Rinoa was left alone agin with a sleeping baby. Squall wouldn't be home for a couple more hours. So she would have to find a way to entertain herself until then. She fixed up a bottle for Julie just in case and started to clean the house. Never in her life had she imagined herself doing housework for a husband when she should still be at school, learning. The thought of going back to finish high school even with a baby had crept in her mind. There was no way she would be able to keep up with homework and a baby though. It'd be too stressful. She didn't want to burden her mother with a baby either. It was Rinoa's responsibility, not her mother's. She wished that Squall could go back to high school too, but they needed the money and he was stressed enough already. She sighed as she washed dishes, trying to concentrate on what she was doing.
Squall got off work around six. He knew that Rinoa was expecting him home but that's not where he was headed. Zell had called him a half hour ago to invite him to go out. They decided to meet at a restraunt in town. Squall wasn't all that that anxious to get home anyway. He wanted to have a peaceful night when they didn't need to get up to tend to a screaming kid. He wanted to be able to spend time with Rinoa and then go to sleep without being interrupted. He missed the nights he had with her. He missed a lot of things.
Zell was waiting at a table when Squall got there. Zell said, "I didn't order anything yet. The waitress should be coming by again pretty soon. Sit down."
Squall took a seat across from Zell. He looked down at the glass of water that was always set out whether you wanted it or not. He took a sip of it but the lack of taste didn't make his dry mouth feel any better. When the waitress came back, Squall ordered a drink right away. He asked for a beer and Zell raised his eyebrows up in surprise. Zell ordered a drink too then the waitress left. She didn't question Squall's age, she just seemed to assume. Squall gulped it down the instant he got it. He felt relaxed once it settled in his stomach.
It was late when Squall arrived home. He fumbled with his keys to open the door. The lights in the living room were out which meant that Rinoa had already gone to bed. The baby was hopefully asleep by now. He locked the front door and quickly trudged upstairs to the bathroom. When he was ready, he crawled into bed next to Rinoa. She rolled over to face him. "Squall," she mumbled, "where have you been? I waited for you."
"Zell invited me to go eat with him," Squall said.
"You should've called. I wouldn't have cared."
"I know. I'm sorry. Next time I'll call, I promise." He kissed her on the cheek. "Is Julie asleep?"
"Yeah she is. She went out fast tonight."
"And she'll be up early in the morning, I'm sure. So what'd you do today?"
"Selphie and Quistis came to visit for a while. Do you want them to come by and see you some time?"
"I don't know. Maybe."
"What do you mean 'maybe'?"
"Well, they're more your friends than mine," Squall said. She didn't say anything because she wasn't sure what to say. That was true though. Squall wasn't really close to Selphie or Quistis. He pulled Rinoa close to him and kissed her forehead. She smiled as she rested her head on his shoulder. Both of them fell asleep only to be awakened again by the noise of Julie's crying.
"I'll get her," Rinoa mumbled wearily. She got out of bed and walked over to Julie's crib. She took the upset baby downstairs to fetch her bottle. Squall growled to himself as he rolled over in bed. It's not that he hated his daughter, he just wanted one peaceful night. Ever since she was born he hasn't had a good night's sleep and Rinoa would still refuse his advances even if Julie was sleeping. He was so frustrated with it all. Then there was his lousy job. He assumed that the only reason it was good paying was because his boss was Rinoa's dad. He hated working in that fucking office all day. It was the same thing over and over again: fill out forms for this, that, and the other thing. How could anyone enjoy a job like that?
Rinoa calmed Julie down before going back to bed. Squall's back was turned to her but she knew he wasn't sleeping. She knew that he was mad. "It's okay," she said. "I took care of it."
"When are we going to get some time to ourselves? I want to be able to do things without having to worry about a baby all the time," he said.
"I know. I promise we'll go somewhere together. But I want to get through this first year, okay? Then we can go on a little vacation or something for a few days. I promise. We can go where ever you want to go." She draped her arm over his chest and tried to get back to sleep.
In the morning, Rinoa woke up to an empty bed. Julie was still asleep so Rinoa snuck downstairs. It was a Saturday and Squall didn't usually work then. If he did, he worked late but she didn't remember him telling her that he had to. The house was pretty much empty and there was no note lying around so she figured he went off to do something real quick. She busied herself by making breakfast for Julie as well as herself. The sound of Julie's cry signaled that she was awake. She changed her child's diaper and dressed her before feeding her. "Julie," Rinoa cooed. "Are you awake? Hm?" Julie made a happy squeal for an answer. Rinoa tried to smile despite the tears welling up in her eyes. She wasn't sure why but she suddenly felt very sad. She wished Squall was there to comfort her. She didn't have any idea where he might be.
Fujin opened her door to see Squall standing in the hallway. Her and Rajin shared an apartment to make it easier on the couch watching TV. Fujin told Squall to have a seat. Squall sat down next to Rajin.
"So how have things been?"
"Okay I guess. Could be a lot worse than this. I just get stressed, you know. I can't say it's been easy- not that I expected it to be, but…"
"How is the baby? Julie, right?"
"Yeah. She's fine. She's been healthy if that's what you mean."
"And Rinoa?"
"She's pretty good too. Selphie and Quistis visited her not too long ago. I'm sure that cheered her up. I bet she gets tired of being stuck in the house all day."
"I bet," Fujin said. "We should drop by for a visit some time. We've been busier than hell trying to keep money in our pockets, you know. Hopefully one of us can start college pretty soon. Get a better job and all." Squall nodded. He knew that Rinoa wanted to finish high school and he felt bad for that. He also knew that no matter what he did, he couldn't really make it up to her. "Well," Fujin said, "if you guys need anything at all, let us know."
"We'll be fine," Squall insisted. "No need to worry. I just want a peaceful night to ourselves, you know? Rinoa wont even let me kiss her in front of the kid. It gets irritating after a while."
Rajin said, "She's protecting Julie's fragile little mind, you know? Doesn't want her to see you two like that, you know? Might scar her for life, you know?"
"Kissing her would scar Julie for life? Plus the kid's asleep when I try anything so… I guess it doesn't really matter though."
Fujin asked, "Wont she be turning one this year?"
"Yeah. In about a month she will."
"And Rinoa will be turning eighteen too. That's so weird. No offense to you two or nothing but it is. Then it'll be your turn. What you going to do for Rinoa's birthday? 'Cause if you want, we can take care of Julie for you. It's up to you guys of course."
"I'm not sure what we're going to do yet but I'll keep that in mind. I'll probably take her out to dinner or something. I should pick out a present for her pretty soon. I've been saving up for that and Christmas. Christmas will be impossible…"
Rajin said, "We should have a Christmas party, you know?"
"Yeah," Fujin agreed. "That'd be cool. We could invite all our friends and have a little get together. You could bring Julie if you wanted."
Squall said, "No. When you decide when you're going to have this party and where, let me know. Maybe we can leave Julie with Rinoa's parents. I should get going. I was going to go to Zell's too."
"Well, we'll see you later. I'll probably drop off a present for Julie on her birthday. Is there anything that you guys need for Julie or should I just buy her a toy or something?"
"A toy might be good. Nothing expensive though, okay? I'll see you guys later."
"Bye," Fujin and Rajin said simultaneously. Squall shut the door behind him as he left. He dropped by Zell's house for a few moments. Mrs. Dincht opened the door for him when he arrived.
"Hello, Squall," she said. "How have you been?"
"Fine," Squall responded.
"I suppose you're here for Zell. Come in, come in." She shut the door behind them then called Zell downstairs.
When he came downstairs, he said, "Hey, Squall. What are you doing here?"
"Just came to talk," Squall said. He followed Zell back upstairs to his room.
"What'd you want to talk about?"
"I don't know." He really didn't have anything to say. Last time they saw each other they hardly said anything to one another, even though that was the point of them meeting up. "I was just over at Fujin's house. She was talking about having a Christmas party for all of us. That might be fun. It'd give Rinoa a chance to get out of the house. I'm sure she's tired of being stuck there all day."
"Probably. I would be. Why don't you take her somewhere?"
"Don't know where to take her. She pretty much refuses to go anywhere without Julie. I thought she'd want a break from the kid but apparently she doesn't. Well, she hasn't said anything about it anyway. I guess I shouldn't worry so much."
"Yeah," Zell said. "Have you seen Quistis or Selphie lately?"
"No but Rinoa has. Just yesterday actually."
"Oh. Did they tell Rinoa anything?"
"What do you mean?"
"Nevermind, it's not important. How's Julie doing?"
As much as Squall loved his daughter, he got tired of the conversation always shifting to her when people didn't know what to say. He didn't have much to tell them about her so what was the point? He always ended up repeating the same answers over and over again. She wasn't even a year old yet. All she does is cry, eat, and sleep. There wasn't much that he could say. "She's fine," Squall said dryly. He tried to think of a way to change the subject. "How have you been doing? Anything new?"
"Not really," Zell said. "I was thinking about maybe asking Quistis out."
"Really? That's interesting. How long have you been thinking about that?"
"A few days. I talked to Selphie about it. She gave more of a surprised reaction than you did." Zell laughed a little. "I don't know if that'd be a good idea though, you know?"
"I know. Sorry I can't give you any advice though."
"I don't fear rejection or anything like that. I'm just afraid she's going to screw around if she does go out with me."
"Ah."
"Yeah I think you know what I mean. She flirts with everybody all the time. It pisses me off but there's not much I can do about it. I don't know. I might ask her, just to see what she says."
Squall said, "You could try it. She might be different when she's actually dating someone too."
"I hope so."
When Squall finally came back home, Rinoa was trying to get Julie to take a nap. She glared at him anytime he tried to talk to her. He eventually gave up. She wanted to yell at him for just leaving her like that. She needed a break! But, at the same time, she didn't want to start a fight with him. Julie cried as Rinoa rocked her back and forth. It seemed nothing would calm the screaming child and Squall just sat on the bed with his head in his hands.