Part Seven of Life After Meteor- By Adrian Wilson

Okay, I know I haven't updated this in... Holy shit, well over a year, but college has been insane.

Please R & R, you know the drill.

Sephiroth's voice broke the void. "Cloud...Cloud..."

Cloud awoke with a start, and saw Sephiroth's cruel, heartless eyes staring into his own. He tried to move, but couldn't. "Sephiroth..."

"I would suggest you take time to say goodbye to that little brat, Cloud...I will strike soon, and you will never see him again..."

"Daddy? Daddy?"

Cloud woke up suddenly, and shook his head. He found that he had fallen asleep in the hospital waiting room. He looked down and saw his son tugging his pants leg. "Alex...?" He shook off what he had just dreamt. "Alex, what's wrong?"

Alex looked as if he was ready to burst into tears. "Daddy, what's wrong with unka' Cid?"

Cloud picked Alex up and put him on his knee. "He had a heart attack, he'll be fine. The doctors will take care of him."

Alex sniffled. "But...But..." And then he did begin to cry.

Cloud was taken aback by this as Alex had barely known Cid for a month, but he held Alex tight. "He's gonna be okay, pal. Don't you worry bout a thing..."

Cloud looked beyond Alex, and saw Tifa sitting against the wall with her knees tucked up to her chest. "Tifa? You okay?"

Tifa sighed. "What if Cid dies...?" She said without even looking up.

Cloud frowned. "What is it with you two? I'm telling you, he'll be fine." Alex then sniffed loudly and began to whimper into Cloud's shoulder. Cloud gently patted his son on the back. "Cid's a tough guy, he'll pull through." Cloud then looked up at the clock, and realized that they had been in that waiting room for nearly three hours, and he had spent most of it asleep.

Suddenly, a tall doctor walked in. He looked experienced, as he had greying black hair. "Um, Mr and Mrs Stryfe?"

Cloud put Alex on the floor and stood up. "Yes?"

The doctor smiled. "I'm pleased to tell you that Mr. Highwind reacted very well to the surgery, and he will be fine. If you wish, you can visit him tomorrow."

Cloud smiled. "Thank you, doctor." Cloud knelt down to Alex's level. "Ya hear that? Uncle Cid's gonna be fine!"

Tifa stood forward. "Doctor, can I see you for a moment?"

"Sure thing, Mrs Stryfe."

As the doctor and Tifa walked out, Alex tried to follow them. When Cloud stopped him, Alex looked angrily at him.

"Alex," Cloud said, anticipating his son's question, "Mummy has to see the doctor alone."

"Okay." Alex said softly. He then said something Cloud hoped he would never, ever say. "Daddy, when is the baby coming?"

Every single nerve in Cloud's body was obliterated swiftly by his son's young voice. Damn it... "Well, um, the thing about that is..." He then looked into his son's eyes, those bright, happy chocolate brown orbs, and realized he had to tell the truth.

Or not. "Well, we hope it will be some time next year." I'll tell him someday...

To Cloud's relief, Alex simply shrugged at this and turned his attention to one of the children's books lying on the table in the waiting room. Cloud grinned as he noticed his son going towards the Charlie the Chocobo book. He got up and joined his son. "You like chocobos, huh?"

Alex opened the book, and Cloud felt as if he had ignored him. Alex frowned as he began to stutter. "C-C-Ch-Ch-Char-Charlie..."

Cloud sat back down and helped Alex onto his lap. "You need some help, buddy?"

Alex beamed at his father as Cloud held the book so both of them could read it.

The door to the waiting room slowly opened, and Tifa came in. Her heart melted at the sight of her husband and son reading together.

Cloud looked up at Tifa with wonder, a look Alex often reflected. "What were you doing, Tifa?"

Tifa blushed a heavenly shade of pink. "Cloud, Alex, could you come with me?"

Tifa clutched Cloud and Alex's hands tightly as the doctor studied the test results.

"Mrs. Stryfe, I'm pleased to tell you that you're pregnant."

Tifa's face lit up and she pulled Cloud into a tight hug. Cloud hugged her back as the doctor said, "Would you like to know the gender?"

Cloud felt Tifa nod. "Yes, doctor. We would." He said.

Cloud also began to hear Tifa sobbing, but he managed to hear what the doctor said next:

"There's a 99 likelihood of it being a boy."

Tifa suddenly pushed Cloud back and stared hard at the doctor, tears still mingled in her eyes. "What did you just say?"

"A boy...The baby is almost definitely a boy."

Tifa looked at the doctor in disbelief before scowling at the floor. "Awww, that can't be right..."

The doctor looked at Cloud. "Is everything okay?"

Tifa threw her arms by her sides. "No, everything is NOT okay! I already have a boy, I'm supposed to be having a girl!"

Cloud sighed and rubbed his eyes. He gave Tifa a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder and said sympathetically to the doctor, "Don't worry, she'll get over it."

FLASHBACK

Alex's scream almost rocked the walls of the family's quaint, perfect little house. Cloud slowly propped himself up onto his elbows and tried to open his eyes, but to no avail. He had only finished a nine-hour shift at the Battle Square a few hours prior, and was so tired his head was swimming. He tried to concentrate, as he blearily thought Alex was making a rational demand rather than just screaming. He could just about hear the 'MAM', and he flopped back onto his pillow, mentally growling. Alex was now entering the 'terrible twos', and his language had developed enough for Cloud and Tifa to understand what he wanted when he was upset. 'Mam' meant he wanted Tifa, 'Da' meant he wanted Cloud. Cloud turned over and gently nudged his wife. "Tifa, Alex wants you."

Tifa rolled over and mumbled, "Wha time issit?"

"Dunno... 'Bout three I guess…" Cloud muttered back, his eyes stinging.

Tifa sighed, hugged her pillow to the side of her head, and smirked. "You know the rules."

Cloud groaned and forced himself up, knowing that he had agreed to tend to Alex whenever he awoke before five. He stumbled to Alex's room still in his pyjamas, and found a familiar sight.

Alex was awake in his crib, but he had grabbed the plastic bars and was rocking them back and forth, tears pouring down his face. He looked up at Cloud, and, if anything, seemed to cry louder. "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!" He screamed.

Cloud rubbed his temples, muttered "Why me" to himself and went forward to pick up Alex to let him out. "Come on, then."

Alex fought, cried and resisted. "WANT MAM, WANT MAM, WANT MAM." He bellowed.

Cloud sighed and grabbed Alex anyway, holding his thrashing son as tightly as he could. "You hear this, Tifa? He doesn't like me!" Cloud bounced the child slightly, but it didn't help. "At least call your mother by her name." He smiled slightly and began to go downstairs. He went into the lounge and tried to put Alex on the floor. He barely had time to react before Alex, who had recently mastered walking, made a beeline for the stairs, still wailing for his mother. As his son clumsily made his way up the first couple of stairs, Cloud smiled in spite of himself.

"Nope, 'fraid not" He said, scooping his son up. This time, he decided not to take any chances. He went into the kitchen and put Alex into the high chair which he knew the youngster despised so much. Alex began to slam furiously on the table part of the chair with his tiny little fists, utter outrage expressed on his face. "Yeah, how'd you like that one, eh?" Cloud grinned.

Alex stopped waling, looked down, and then looked at Cloud with his infamous puppy dog eyes. "Want baba!" He said simply.

Cloud shook his head. "You don't get that until six. You know that."

Alex began to cry again, repeating 'want baba' until he was red in the face.

Cloud angrily opened the fridge. "You 'want baba'? Here's your baba!" He yelled, almost slamming the bottle in front of his two-year-old.

Alex looked at his dad with tears in his eyes before gleefully grabbing the bottle and shoving it in his mouth, gulping loudly.

Cloud rubbed his temple. "I save the world and I can't even get a two year old to respect me." He mused.

Alex finished and threw the bottle to the floor. He then looked up at Cloud and giggled, his voice reaching pitches Cloud didn't even know existed. He then held his arms out. "Da up!" He screamed.

"Yeah, okay." Cloud sighed, picking his son up. He looked into his son's eyes, seeing his own reflection. He began to notice Alex's features, such as his hair, which was now starting to become tangled in certain clumps on the top of his head. He also had his mother's big, wide eyes, although they were a different shade of brown.

Alex interrupted his train of thought by giggling again. "Hey," He said. Alex learned this word by watching his parents greet people, and Tifa always got a kick whenever Alex said it.

"Hey." Cloud smiled back.

END FLASHBACK

Tifa was still sat on the sofa, pouting. Despite Tifa's fragile mood and the fact that she was watching her favourite show, Cloud decided to take a risk and stood in front of her. Tifa scowled at him, a look that seemed to get darker as Cloud grabbed her hand.

Cloud had actually felt slightly less scared when he battled Sephiroth. "Can't you just be a little happy? I mean, boys are pretty cool, too..."

Tifa smacked his hand away and folded her arms. "Boys are smelly. I want a girl."

Cloud grinned and began to softly poke Tifa in the ribs. "Come on, Tifa... Come on! Come on! Boys are cool and you know it! Boys..." Cloud was cut short by Tifa giving his forearm a very hard smack. For a split second, Cloud looked genuinely hurt. "Ow...!"

"I'm watching tv. Go away." Tifa said simply.

Cloud raised his hands defensively. "Alright, alright..." As he walked away, Alex started to toddle towards his mother. "I wouldn't, pal. Not if you want to live." Cloud said with a sly smile.

Alex ignored him and, with a great effort, managed to climb onto the sofa by himself. Tifa looked at her son. He had never managed to do that before, and at this point, Tifa would normally squeal at Cloud to get a camera. This time, however, she just sighed with annoyance. "What do you want, smelly?"

Alex grinned. "I'm not smelly!"

Tifa grinned back. "Oh yes, you are!" She then raised her hands so that her fingers were crooked downwards. "You are horrible and smelly and do you know what you deserve?"

Alex's grin got ever wider. "Oh no, mama!"

Tifa beamed and lunged for Alex, pinning him down gently. "Oh yes!" She then began to tickle Alex. Alex screamed with glee, wriggling and thrashing underneath his mother. The laughter of the two of them soon seemed to meld into one harmonious sound, which was music to Cloud's ears.

Cloud then scratched his head. "Mood swings... Can't wait for nine months of this." He said to himself.

"Well, this is where you'll be sleeping..." Yuffie blushed as she led Vincent to the couch in her living room. "Not exactly Costa del Sol, but by gawd, is it homely!" She giggled nervously, and it was all she could do to stop herself from bursting out laughing. Why am I acting this way?

Vincent stared emotionlessly at Yuffie. "Just so you know, I appreciate this. Thanks."

Yuffie was about to reply when she heard a giggle. She turned around and a crude drawing was thrust at her by her young daughter. Yuffie took the drawing and grinned. "What'cha drawn there, squirt?"

Rikku grinned back, and Vincent noted just how similar her smile was to Yuffie's. "I drawed my daddy, mummy!"

Yuffie looked closer at the scrawls, and immediately went pale. Her little squirt had drawn a simple circle with a straight line coming out of the bottom, with very simple stick-figure hands and legs, holding a much smaller stick figure by the hand, a stick figure which, Yuffie noted with a gulp, was probably Rikku. She tried to play this off the way she normally would when Rikku gave her a drawing by giving her trademark smirk, but she didn't really succeed. She then mumbled, "C'mon, you can do better than that..." and feebly handed the paper back to her daughter.

Rikku took it, said "Okay, mummy..." softly and sat back down on the floor.

Yuffie turned back to Vincent, looking on the brink of tears. "Yeah, it's no problem, really..."

Vincent frowned and craned his neck, looking at Rikku busily doing another little doodle. "Do you always say that when she brings you drawings?"

Yuffie looked at the ground. "Well, yeah... Is that bad?"

Vincent half-smiled. "I wouldn't say so. It seems to increase her resolve."

Yuffie smiled to herself. "Resolve... Rikku has plenty of that, alright..."

FLASHBACK

Yuffie held the small cookie in between her index finger and thumb, dangling it in the air in front of her nose. She then crouched down so that she was at Riku's level. "You want this? Then come on over and get it, chick!"

Rikku sat, bewildered, at the other end of the hall. There were a good fifteen feet between her and her mother. Now that Rikku was nearly two years old, Yuffie had decided that enough was enough and that her daughter needed to learn how to walk. Rikku blinked. "Cookie..."

Yuffie sighed and looked at the cookie teasingly. "Yeah, it's a cookie, all right." She then took a sniff of it. "And it's all yours if you walk over here."

Rikku began by shakily standing up. She then wobbled in place for a couple of seconds, before clumsily stepping forward. Much to Yuffie's disappointment, her daughter flopped forwards onto the floor with a loud smack. She then started to cry.

Yuffie sternly shook her head. "Not gonna happen, sport. Try to get over here by yourself."

Rikku sniffed, wiped her eyes and stood back up. "Okay..." She then managed to take an extremely awkward first step before falling flat on her face again. Yuffie was ready to give up, but to her surprise, Rikku got up again, and this time managed to take three steps before falling over. Yuffie just watched in shock as her daughter finally managed to reach her without falling over, charging like a lunatic. When she didn't give her the cookie right away, Rikku began to scream, "MY COOKIE, MY COOKIE!"

Yuffie chuckled. "Yup, your cookie." She then handed her daughter the cookie and watched with content as she scarfed it down.

END FLASHBACK

Cloud smiled. The family had just sat in the living room for hours, with Tifa and Alex taking occasional breaks to play with his toys on the floor. Now the room was basked in a serene darkness, with Tifa and Alex both fast asleep, Alex snoozing peacefully with his head resting on Tifa's lap. Cloud eased himself up out of his favourite easy chair and gently nudged his wife, who stirred soundly.

"Mmmm... Cloud?" She yawned and rubbed her eyes. She looked dozily at her husband. "How long have I been asleep?"

Cloud shrugged. "About an hour. It's almost ten, so Alex is up far too late."

Tifa frowned. "How come you let him stay up so late?"

Cloud scratched his head. "Because... Because he was asleep?"

Tifa shook her head and raised her eyebrows, the world-renowned sign of 'sure, whatever'. "Sure, whatever." She said as she gently picked Alex up, supporting his body with her left hand while using her right to gently clutch him to her shoulder. She very carefully stood up and smiled at Cloud as Alex cooed in her arms. "I love this kid."

Cloud grinned. "So, you wouldn't mind having another boy?"

Tifa mockingly glared at Cloud, said, "Don't push it." And slowly made her way up the stairs.

Cloud smiled to himself and followed them, basking in the knowledge that his life was finally the best it could possibly.

And nothing could ever, ever change that.

FINISHED AT LAST! Yippee, that feels good.

The fic isn't finished, you understand, but this chapter took me, like, a year. The next chapter will focus on Yuffie's upcoming custody trial. Please R & R!

-Adrianics