A Good Egg(plant)
There were many things he was afraid of.
Tiny spaces, for example, were very high on that list. Spending your late teenage years cooped up in a small testing chamber did that to you.
Like Tifa, he wasn't too fond of ghosts either, he just managed to hide it better.
And of course there was the whole doctor thing, though that had gotten a little bit better after he started to regularly talk with Dr. Hiragi. Friendly conversation most of the time, an effort to get along with the man that had taken care of Tifa after Nibelheim had been destroyed, but sometimes he talked with him about things that worried him. He was probably the closest thing to a therapist he had.
Which brought him to his main fear right now: the baby growing inside Tifa.
It really never crossed his mind that it could happen.
Back when he was a teenager, setting out to become a famous hero for the girl he liked, there had always been the odd little fantasy to one day return home, get the girl, marry her and have a family.
A fantasy he had pretty much given up on when he was 16 and nothing more than a lowly grunt in the army.
Yet here he was. He got the girl, had a family and they lived together, even if they weren't exactly married.
And now a baby of their own was on the way. It was amazing and terrifying at the same time. But as much as he was afraid, he wouldn't run away.
That still didn't stop his stomach from twisting and turning at the sheer thought of it though, like it was him and not Tifa who had to deal with morning sickness.
Every time that happened, Cloud would try to busy himself. If it wasn't with work, he tried to read up as much as possible about what to expect in a pregnancy, and yes, the irony didn't escape him, or, like now, tinkering with Fenrir.
He ran a hand over Fenrir's hull. She was his first real possession after getting back a modicum of normalcy and every extra Gil he could spare had gone into making her as she was today. A wave of boyish embarrassment washed over him as he remembered Tifa's amused reaction when she found out about his little hobby.
"Well, still looking good, girl," he said to the machine, which obviously didn't respond, and gave it a little pat. After putting his tools away, he left the garage and headed upstairs to wash up. On his way he peeked into their small living room to find Tifa resting on the sofa while watching TV.
Once he was done cleaning up, he returned only to see that she had already nodded off. With an amused little sound, he walked inside and switched the TV off before grasping the blanket Tifa had placed on her legs to properly cover her.
"Mm," she hummed, cracking an eye open. "...Cloud?"
"Sorry. Just go back to sleep," he said, earning himself a small nod.
"I made a small list of ingredients. Can you go buy them?" she asked as her eyes fell back closed.
"Will do."
"Take Marlene...with...you..." And with that she was asleep again. Cloud gently reached out to brush some of her hair out of her face, before going to look for Marlene.
He didn't take long, as the little girl was currently busying herself with a little drawing in the room she shared with Denzel. Rapping his knuckles against the door frame to get her attention, he called out to her.
"Marlene."
"Yes?" she asked, tilting her head to the side, causing the pink ribbon holding her braid together to wiggle a little.
"Tifa's asleep. She asked for us to go buy some ingredients."
"Okay." She put the pencil she was holding away and walked over to him. Together they headed downstairs, careful not to wake the sleeping Tifa. Cloud stepped behind the bar counter, where she always kept her shopping list.
It only took a single look at it to realize why Tifa told him to go with Marlene. He handed the piece of paper to the girl, who took it and slowly read the words written there before bursting into giggles that made his cheeks heat up in embarrassment.
Vegetables. His big weakness. He had never really paid close attention to it when he was still living with his mom and in his time with Shinra he always ate with his comrades. Add to that a 5 year period of not really being conscious, and he could admit his knowledge was a bit lacking. It had gotten better, but he still didn't have them all down pat.
He felt Marlene's tiny hand take hold of his, prompting him to look at her.
"Don't worry. I'll help you," she said with a smile that Cloud couldn't help but return.
"Shall we, then?"
"Mm!" Marlene nodded.
"Wanna take Fenrir, or go by foot?"
She seemed to mull that over for a moment. "Let's enjoy the weather!"
"Alright," he chuckled, before grabbing a bag.
Together they left the bar, making sure the door was locked to give Tifa some proper peace and quiet, and headed towards the local market.
"Denzel's out with Jody again?" Cloud asked as they walked.
"Uh-huh," Marlene replied, then burst into giggles once more. "He's so obvious."
Cloud couldn't really disagree there. He was the same when he was a kid after all; just with less spending time together obviously.
"So why aren't you out playing with Maya?"
"She has to do homework. Besides, daddy said Denzel and I should keep an eye on Tifa," Marlene told him.
Sounds like him, alright, Cloud thought dryly. But he was grateful for it. Work was still an issue for him, so the kids pitching in wherever possible made it easier on Tifa. If only he had been half as responsible as them when he was their age.
The market was, as always, well attended, with people buying and selling their everyday needs. Back when they first started living here it had been him going out to try and get things for the bar with what little money they had left at the time and after that by bartering.
Now, two years after the fact, he felt a little bit nostalgic being here.
"Let's look at the list," Cloud said and took the piece of paper. Best to start with the things I do know...
One by one they worked off the items on the list, and Cloud actually managed to haggle the price down a little, but once they arrived at the dreaded part of the list he handed it back to Marlene.
"Let's see...Eggplant," Marlene read aloud before looking around. Her eyes scanned the area before stopping at one of the many stands selling vegetables. "There!"
The girl ran up ahead, with Cloud following close behind. He watched her come to a halt in front of a box filled with curved, dark violet vegetables with a green stem on the thin end.
"This is it!" Marlene proclaimed. Cloud simply frowned, taking one of the so-called 'eggplants' into his hand and weighing it a little. He then gave her a questioning look.
"But why?" he asked.
"Why what?" Marlene blinked.
"Why's it called an eggplant? It doesn't even look like an egg," he said.
She opened her mouth to respond, but stopped, looking perplexed. "I...don't know."
"Mm." He gave the vegetable one last look. Eggplant. Got it.
Taking another two of them, Cloud paid the merchant and carefully put them into the bag, before looking back towards Marlene, who was already reading the next object on their list.
"Hmm." She looked around again. "Ah! There!"
She took his hand once more and all but dragged him where they had to go. Cloud could only shake his head with a smile. Back when he had met her, she had run away and hid herself out of shyness. That he had a huge sword strapped to his back and his eyes were kind of scary didn't help his image, either.
They had come a long way, he supposed.
A rapping, followed by the sound of the door being opened, made Cloud stir from his slumber. His eyes opened, revealing the sleeping Tifa next to him, her face half-buried in the pillow and breathing softly. He turned his gaze towards the door, even though he already knew who it was, and looked at Marlene. She was dressed in little pajamas and looked at him with big eyes.
Without saying a word, he waved her over. She nodded, stepped inside and quietly closed the door behind her before heading over to the bed.
Cloud scooted over to the side, making room for the little girl crawling underneath their blanket and shortly immerging between Tifa and himself.
This had to be the fifth time now. The first time Marlene had come knocking on their door at night had been shortly after Barret had left her with them. He hadn't really known what to say at the time, so Marlene and he had stared at one another for a solid minute until the girl had asked him if she could stay with them the night.
He closed his eyes again, expecting her to snuggle up to Tifa like the last times she had joined them, but found himself surprised when Marlene's voice called out to him in a low whisper instead.
"Cloud?"
"Mm?" He opened his eyes again, finding himself face to face with her.
"Can I ask you something?"
"...Sure."
"You've known Tifa since you were little, right?" she asked him.
"Yeah."
"Were you good friends?"
He shook his head. "No."
"Why?"
"I got into fights with the other kids a lot," he replied. It was a little bit more complex than that, but he couldn't really explain that to a young girl like her.
"So you were a bully?"
"Kinda. You could say I was angry." It was weird. Normally he found it difficult to talk with Marlene, but tonight it seemed easy. "You would've found me scary."
"I don't think you're scary," she responded, making the corners of his lips curl into a little smile.
"Thanks. That means a lot."
"We're a family, aren't we?"
"Yeah. You adopted me after all," he whispered jokingly, making the girl release a giggle that turned into a yawn. Cloud pulled the blanket up to cover her more. "Come on, time to sleep."
"Okay."
He closed his eyes again, only to be surprised a second time that night by Marlene snuggling up to him. He froze up at the sudden contact, mouth slightly agape and a strangled noise escaping from the back of his throat. For a moment he wasn't sure what to do, but the spell was soon broken when he felt her breath tickling him through his shirt as her head came to rest against his chest. Gingerly, he moved his arm around her in a light hug.
"Good night, Cloud," Marlene murmured, almost asleep now.
"Mm. Good night, Marlene."
Cloud could already imagine Tifa's teasing the next morning. He would definitely not hear the end of this for a while.
He blinked, returning to the here and now when he was called. "Cloud?"
Cloud looked down to see Marlene staring at him in confusion. He gave her a small smile, shaking his head. "Sorry. Got lost in thought."
"Okay, uh, we need some of those," she said, pointing at the assortment of long, tuberous, cream-colored roots. "Parsnips."
"Kinda look like carrots, don't they?"
"I guess so?"
"Mm." No wonder he got confused so much. He took one of them, looking it over. Parsnip, alright.
After buying some, Cloud let himself be guided from stand to stand by Marlene, silently taking note of everything she told him and did his best to memorize it all.
Maybe I should write it all down, just to be sure, he thought.
Once they had gotten everything, Cloud and Marlene left the market to head back home. He listened intently as she told him about something Denzel and her had done the other day and couldn't help but marvel at the little girl that had so surprisingly entered his life, and before he knew it, had become such an integral part of it.
Marlene was Barret's daughter through and through, but in her own way she was also Tifa and his daughter as well. And Denzel was their son.
And just like that, he felt some of his fears dissipate.
They were a family, a rather unconventional one, but they still were a family. His family.
"Hey, Marlene," Cloud called then.
"Hmm?"
"How about we make a little stop on the way home?"
Marlene blinked. "Sure."
Cloud took her to the bakery that was only a few streets away from 7th Heaven. He sometimes stopped here on his way to work to get a little something for when he was on the road.
There, he bought two cinnamon rolls, one of which he handed to the little girl.
"For me?" she asked, a grin forming on her lips, but it soon gave way to a frown. "You know Tifa doesn't like us eating sweets before a meal."
"Well," he began to answer sagely, taking a bite from his own pastry, before kneeling down and giving her a wink. "It'll be our little secret then."
Marlene let out a giggle and bit into her cinnamon roll. He watched her with affection in his eyes, reaching out his hand to ruffle her hair a little.
Cloud supposed it was alright to spoil the kids a little.
He was a father, after all.
Figured it was high time we had something Cloud and Marlene focused from his point of view, to showcase how the girl that was way too shy towards him became the girl that would later have no problem giving him a little lecture.
Hope I managed to make it cute enough!