"Tifa, all I'm asking is that you just eat something..." Cloud had somehow calmed Tifa down, but she still simply poked occasionally at her breakfast, her eyes red and sore from the tears. Cloud sighed and looked at his wife with sorrow. "I don't think Tifa will ever be the same..." He rubbed his eyes. "Tifa, I know that you're hurting about what happened, but..." He stopped himself before he said anything stupid. 'There's gotta be something that'll cheer her up' "Do you wanna go for a walk? Just you, me, and Alex? You know, just like we used to?" Tifa stopped poking at her breakfast. Cloud decided to follow up. "Come on, you remember how we used to walk around Nibelheim with Alex on my shoulders? And he would giggle and giggle until he got the hiccups?"
Tifa looked at Cloud directly in the eyes. "Cloud..." her voice was still weak. "I don't know if I'm ready to go outside just yet...I still feel really empty inside...Just give me a few days..."
Cloud just looked down at the table. How was he gonna explain it to Alex? Almost on cue, he heard that trademark bounding down the stairs. 'Oh no...'
Alex charged into the kitchen, a bright look etched on his face, almost as if he didn't have a care in the world. "Mornin', Dad!"
Cloud shakily tried to smile, but failed miserably. "Morning, son..." He said softly.
Alex giggled before tilting his head towards Tifa, his smile refusing to leave his face. "Hey, mummy!" Tifa never looked up from her breakfast. "Mummy...?" Alex turned to look at Cloud, his smile finally gone. "Is she okay...?"
Cloud felt his nerves shatter. Normally, he was good at explaining things to Alex, but this time, he had nothing. He just looked down at his feet in a blind hope that the problem would solve itself.
Alex slowly walked over to Tifa. "Mummy?"
Tifa looked up, and slowly turned her head toward her four-year-old-son. Her look seemed to change, if only a little.
Alex then walked up to Tifa so he was standing right next to her. "Mummy?"
Tifa looked at Alex for a couple more seconds, before sobbing and pulling him into a tight hug. "Oh, Alex..." Tifa knelt down, and held Alex's head onto her shoulder. "Alex..." Her tears began to stain Alex's pyjamas. "Please, don't ever leave me..."
Alex wrapped his tiny little arms around his mother's neck, creating nothing short of an embrace. "I won't, mama..." He hadn't called Tifa 'mama' since he was two.
Tifa continued to cry as Cloud looked on, moved by the scene in front of him, the true power of parental bonds being displayed.
*~*~*~*~
"Alex is amazing, isn't he?" Cloud was sitting on the couple's bed, waiting for Tifa to finish getting ready. She was madly applying makeup under her eyes to try and cover up the cracks formed in her skin from her tears. She just nodded at his question. Cloud sighed, plucked up all the courage he had, and finally asked her what had been on his mind. "You really want another kid, don't you?"
Tifa stopped and looked at Cloud. "Yes. Yes, I would." She said simply.
Cloud swivelled on the bed. "Maybe...What happened was a warning...?" Tifa looked at Cloud with utter disbelief. "I mean, you know, now we can plan it carefully, 'cause I would love to have another little boy with you, and now we can think it over, I can ask my boss for the raise, and everything we need to do..."
Tifa paused, the same utterly flabbergasted look etched on her face. "Another boy?!" She smiled. "I thought I made it quite clear we were having a girl next!"
Cloud chuckled. 'Looks like she's over it now...' "I'm going to work tomorrow. I'll ask then."
Tifa's smile went down slightly. "Cloud, Alex needs to start school soon...It's a new government law, you know."
"Where is the school, anyway?" Cloud asked.
"It's right here in Nibelhiem, so he'll be close." Tifa said with a smile. "It's just...I'll be alone in this house from now on...Yuffie's planning on sending Rikku there, you know."
"And how exactly is she planning on getting Rikku there?"
Tifa giggled. "Same way she gets here- the aircraft she bought from Cid."
"She owns an aircraft?"
"That's right."
Cloud just shook his head. "Sure. Shall we take a look at this school?" Tifa nodded, and Cloud smirked. "Still wanna go on that walk?"
*~*~*~*~
Alex's smile looked set to stretch straight off his face as he gripped onto his father's hand as the family walked through the quaint town of Nibelhiem. Tifa smiled at this.
"So, where is this school, anyway?" Cloud asked.
"Where the old Shinra mansion used to be." Tifa said. "It looks very good. From the outside, at least."
Cloud chuckled. "Show some optimism, Tif."
Cloud felt something as he walked into the building, but he didn't know what. They had just walked through the main door, and saw a corridor that stretched out in three different directions. A woman there greeted them with a smile. "Mister and missus Strife, my name is Nadia. I'll be Alex's teacher in a few months."
Cloud smiled and shook the young woman's hand. "Nice to meet you." Tifa then did the same.
"If you would like to follow me?" Nadia said with an infectious smile.
*~*~*
Cloud, Tifa and Alex had spent a good hour looking at that school. As they went outside, Cloud couldn't help but notice that Tifa looked upset. He put an arm around her. "Tifa...?"
Tifa threw herself onto Cloud's shoulder. "Both you and Alex will be out of the house soon...I'll be all by myself..."
Cloud held her close. "You'll be fine...I promise..." He then looked down at Alex, who was looking at the two of them with awe. "What do you feel like doing now, Alex?"
Alex beamed. "Can we go to the park, daddy?"
Cloud looked playfully at Tifa, who was still in his arms. "What do you say, Tif?"
Tifa grinned, and removed herself from Cloud's grip. "He's the boss."
*~*~*~*
Alex's high-pitched giggle echoed around the park as he slid down the slide yet again, and got caught by Cloud at the bottom. Cloud then lifted him up, holding him high above his head, and Tifa insanely worried for a split second that Alex would hurt himself, but he just kept giggling, his face lit up. Tifa looked at Cloud and saw one of her favourite features of him: His fatherly pride. He set Alex on the ground, and Alex sped off in the direction of the swings. Before Cloud could get to him, Tifa grabbed him by the elbow. "Cloud, please don't let him get hurt...I couldn't bear it if something happened to him..."
Cloud began to reply, but his eyes bulged as what Sephiroth said to him in his dream came back to him. 'I'm gonna get you, your wife, and that little brat of yours...' Cloud stuttered, "W-w-w-well, don't worry, I won't..." Before he stared into Tifa's eyes for a moment, trying his best to consider whether or not to tell her the truth.
"Daddy!" Alex's wide smile and loud voice snapped Cloud out of his trance. "I wanna fly!" Cloud winked at Tifa before heading over to Alex's swing. He grabbed the swing seat and gently gave his beloved son a push. Alex began his infectious giggle once again as his feet slowly began to become unable to touch the ground.
"Higher, daddy! Higher!" Alex screamed, getting slightly short of breath.
"You've got it, little man!" Cloud continued to gently push Alex, a small smile creeping onto his lips.
Tifa watched on with content. "You've changed, Cloud. I remember how you first felt about Alex."
Cloud stopped the swing, and Alex got off and piled into his father's stomach, the way he normally did to Tifa. "I love you, daddy!"
Cloud was taken aback. Alex had never hugged him by himself before. Cloud had hugged Alex, sure, but never visa-versa...
Cloud returned the hug, kneeling down to Alex's level. "...I love you too, son."
A salty tear formed in Tifa's eye as she surveyed this scene. This was the first time since Alex had been born that anything like this had ever happened. Alex had told Cloud he loved him. She still remembered the first time he crawled, the first time he waved, the first time he stood up, his first word, and his first steps. Now, she had one more memory of her beloved son. And Cloud...He had just admitted his love for his son... Tifa always had a hunch that Cloud adored Alex as much as she did, but he never actually admitted it to anyone. She slowly began to cry at the bitter irony that the family would soon be split up, at the one moment when the love and bonds were as strong as they had ever been. All she could do at that point was watch.
*~*~*~*
They were in the exact same park when it happened. Alex was one and a half, give or take, and had began to stand up, and had even taken a few steps, once. Tifa held Alex in her arms, her hands gripping around his waist. She smiled and offered the boy to Cloud, who smiled back, albeit weakly, and accepted the gurgling child in his arms himself. "So..." Cloud said, smiling at his son, who seemed to be trying to sleep. "The sky's nice today, isn't it?" Alex responded to this by yawning and smacking his lips. "Ya know, I remember when the people of Midgar couldn't see the sky..." Cloud said, turning to Tifa. "I wonder what Marlene thought when she saw the sky for the first time?"
Alex opened his tiny little eyelids. "Sky..." His voice was so cutely high-pitched.
Cloud gasped and looked down at his son, but he was rewarded with a boy who was clearly fast asleep. "Tifa, did he...?" Cloud looked over at Tifa, who was smiling, but at the same time looked as though she was about to burst into tears.
*~*~*~*
Cloud rubbed his head. Holy Hell, he hated his job. Working at the Gold Saucer brought in a lot of money, but dammit, he saved the planet. Why did he have to do something so embarrassing? "Cloud," His boss's voice said over the intercom, effectively shattering his trance. "We've got a sucker just waitin' to battle ya!" Cloud sighed and stood up, his classic purple battle suit rubbing against his skin. The door to the Battle Arena opened, and a young ninja entered. Cloud just sighed as the ninja came charging towards him. He then got his Ultima Weapon out and smacked the ninja away. He then threw his arms up in the air and began to walk towards the bosses' office.
*~*~*~*
Dio smiled and looked at Cloud again. "You want a raise?"
Cloud looked sheepishly at the floor, as Dio was parading around in only his underpants. "Yeah, um...My wife and I are...Planning on having another kid, so we need some more income..."
Dio laughed. 'I'll do better than that, old buddy...I'll give you a promotion!" Cloud's eyes widened. "Sure, I mean, I'm retiring, after all...I need someone to take over as manager of the Battle Square...And I want you to be that someone, Cloud."
Cloud smiled. "I-I really don't know what to say..."
Dio put a hand on Cloud's shoulder. "Then don't say anything." Dio smiled and left the room, leaving Cloud absolutely stunned.
*~*~*~*
Tifa held the happily gurgling one-year-and-five-month-year-old boy high above her head as she sat on the floor amidst all the toys, which were scattered around randomly. Alex's hair had started to come in, it was quite tangled up for a boy his age, and you could tell it would be messy in his later years. Alex was also quite chubby, but Tifa knew this was normal. She sighed and looked at her watch. "Cloud, I'm gonna go get some lunch." Cloud nodded before moving over to his son. He was about to play with him before the phone rang. He groaned and got up, trudging over to the offending object.
"Yeah? Oh, hi, boss..." Cloud rubbed his eyes. "Yeah...? Well, I...I understand, but boss, me and Tifa and my son were gonna spend this weekend together..." He felt like slamming his hand on the desk, as Dio was asking him to come into work. He noticed Alex grabbing onto a table and pulling himself up out of the corner of his eye. He shook this off, as Alex had been doing that non-stop recently.
Then something else happened.
Alex stayed up this time.
Cloud nearly dropped the phone as Alex started towards him, making large, clumsy strides, barely staying in a straight line. Cloud stood there, shaking head to foot, as his boss started yelling his name down the phone. Alex tripped and fell onto Cloud's leg, gripping it for support. He then looked up at his dad with wide, saucer-like eyes, and smiled his gummy smile, his pushing-through baby teeth showing off like milk on his gums. "Da..." He said.
Cloud swallowed hard before speaking calmly into the phone. "Sorry boss, my family comes first." He hung up firmly before Dio could object, deciding the wrath he would face on Monday would make up for it. He kept staring at his son, who was half-laughing, half gurgling at him. "TIFA, YOU GOTTA SEE THIS!" He yelled.
Tifa ran into the living room, and gasped. "Alex, you..." She looked at Cloud. "Did he get there by himself?" Cloud nodded, and Tifa bit down on her lip, jealous that she had missed this clinical moment in her son's life.
*~*~*~*
Cloud stormed into his house with a massive grin on his face. Tifa walked up to him. "How was your d---" Ccloud grabbed her and swung her so that she was barely hovering above the ground. "Cloud, what---" Cloud shut her up by pressing his lips against hers. Tifa mumbled something, but eventually sunk into it, her jaw working in rhythm against his. When they finally broke off, Tifa gasped, struggling for breath. "What the Hell got into you?" She said with a smile.
Cloud's grin got ever wider. "I got promoted. You are now looking at the new owner of the Battle Square!"
Tifa giggled. "Well, aren't we important!"
Cloud stroked Tifa's long, silky hair. "You know, this means I can work from home pretty much whenever I want..."
Tifa gasped. "Really?"
Cloud shook his head. "Well, maybe not 'whenever I want', but I can come home a lot more now."
"Is there more pay?"
Cloud grabbed one of Tifa's hands. "Of course. Are you sure you wanna have another kid?"
Tifa pulled Cloud up by the hand he was holding and planted another kiss. Cloud sighed inwardly and started to lead Tifa up the stairs. They briefly broke off and Cloud mumbled, "Alex, what about Alex...?"
Tifa put her arms around his neck. "No worries, he's having his nap. We've got a couple of hours to spare..." They began kissing again, gently allowing themselves to fall onto their bed.
I'll take that as a 'yes'...
Well, there you go. I promised a light-hearted chapter in my profile, and here it is. Read this while you can, because the next three or so chapters will be full to the brim with angst. What is Reno planning? Is Sephiroth getting revenge from beyond the grave? You can only find out by continuing to read Life After Meteor! Expect chapter five before July 2004! Adrianics, Tuesday March 20th, completed at 7:21 AM English time.