A bit shorter than the last one. Next chapter: the truth begins to come out. Review, please?

Cloud entered the house and quietly shut the door. The dogs did not come to greet him so they were either outside or upstairs with Sephiroth. He really wanted a stiff drink but since that was not possible, he was going to have to settle for a very large sweet tea. He was so glad that Riku had learned how to make it properly. Maybe he'd see if there were any of the brownies Sephiroth had made the other day left.

He went to the kitchen and searched the fridge. The sweet tea was nearly gone but there was enough for a good sized glass. He left the empty pitcher on the counter, hopefully Riku would see if right away and make more this afternoon, and sought out what remained of the brownies.

"If you're looking for the brownies," the winged man himself spoke from the entry. "The last one is wrapped and in the cookie jar."

Cloud immediately retrieved it. "Are the dogs outside?"

"Yes. I was coming to let them back in."

The younger man glanced out the back door window. The dogs were still running around and didn't seem interested at all in coming back in yet. He unwrapped the brownie and bit into it as Sephiroth crossed the room and took a glass from the cabinet. "I'd give them a few more minutes."

"Where's Riku?"

Cloud watched him fill the glass with water. "He stopped in the market to pick up some things."

"Ah."

The two fell silent as Cloud finished off the brownie. He tossed the wrapper in the trash and got his sweet tea. Lounging on the sofa with a movie sounded like a really good idea. There were a few that he had been meaning to watch.

"Cloud."

The blond took a very long drink, flicking his eyes over.

Sephiroth gazed at him evenly. "This baby is a lifetime commitment. Want it for yourself, not Riku."

Cloud studied him for a moment then nodded. He knew Sephiroth would eventually say something. Thankfully this would also be likely all he said on the matter.

Suddenly curious, the shorter man canted his head. "Are you okay with all of this? I mean, this does affect you, too."

Sephiroth did not reply immediately. He casually went to the back door and let the dogs in. When he shut the door after them, he faced his brother-in-law. "I accept anything that you and Riku choose. While I could come to enjoy having a niece, I will live my life just as well without."

Cloud pursed his lips. "You and Riku keep referring to it as a girl."

"We do, don't we?" The former general noted idly. "Humph, interesting."

Knowing that Sephiroth was not going to say anything more about it, Cloud took another drink of his tea and moved to the kitchen entrance. "Did you want to see that movie Zack brought over? I'm going to watch it now."

"I'll be there after I refill my water."

--0—0—

When Riku entered the house, he blinked at the sight in the living room. Cloud was curled up on the sofa, a throw over his legs and laughing like an idiot. Sephiroth sat casually next to him, smiling at whatever they were watching. The dogs were lying at his bare-feet.

They looked comfortable; a happy little family.

He pushed back the unreasonable flare of jealousy that rose up. He knew he was being stupid; there was absolutely nothing beyond a familiar bond between the two. Cloud was willing to have a baby for Riku which spoke volumes of how devoted he was to him. So what if Cloud seemed to be having an easier time talking to Sephiroth? So what if the blond was able to confide to Sephiroth things he couldn't with Riku?

Riku had that kind of relationship with Sora. He and his best friend understood each other in ways that no one else could. There were things they could only tell each other and other things they couldn't tell the other and often didn't have to. It was ridiculous for him to get worked up over his husband having a similar relationship with Sephiroth; especially considering how much effort had gone into getting Cloud and Sephiroth even sociable with one another.

Cloud glanced over and smiled. "How was the market?"

"Not bad. I found everything I wanted."

"Good." Cloud turned back to the television.

"Yeah." Riku changed his grip on the tote bag he held. "Sora said to call if you need him to cover for you again tomorrow."

The blue-eyed man made a face before sighing. "No, I can work. I've taken enough time off."

"You'll be taking a lot off later," Sephiroth murmured. "You'll need at least six months maternity leave and that's if you work up until you're last month of pregnancy."

"Which he isn't." Riku decided. He turned back into the hall. "He's not working after the second trimester."

Cloud watched him disappear and frowned. "Why do I have the feeling he's going to be paranoid and over-protective the entire pregnancy?"

"Because he's concerned you won't be and is over-compensating." Sephiroth concluded simply.

"He's an idiot then." Cloud ran a hand idly along his lower abdomen. "There is no way in hell I'm going to let anything happen to this child."

He felt Sephiroth's eyes on him and lifted an eyebrow. From the corner of his eye, he saw a small smile tug at his brother-in-law's lips as he placed his attention back on the film. Not sure what that was about, Cloud did likewise.

--0—0—

Riku joined them again a half-hour later. Both Cloud and Sephiroth moved to give him more space between them and Cloud pulled his lover close, keeping an arm around his shoulders and toying with the back of Riku's neck. The movie was nearly finished and Riku had no idea what was going on but didn't much care. It was not a movie he had any interest in.

It was relaxing to just be sitting here, doing nothing important and not thinking about anything. It felt like the past few days had never happened. Riku was not sure if it was a good thing to be happy about that but hoped it was simply because they needed a moment away from the situation he and Cloud were in.

The credits came up and Cloud rolled his shoulders, still chuckling. "Zack was right about that movie."

"It was amusing." Sephiroth agreed, standing with his empty water glass. His canine namesake lifted his head to watch him move but soon dropped it back down. Zack didn't even wake up as the winged man stepped over him. "Do either of you have plans for the rest of the day?"

Cloud shook his head. "All I want to do is relax and watch movies all day. Maybe get pizza for dinner."

"I'm for that." Riku put in.

"I'll leave you two to it then." Sephiroth walked toward the room entrance. "I'm going to train for a few hours. I'll be back later this evening"

Riku shook his head as his brother disappeared. "He worries too damn much about us."

"Yeah, he does." Cloud took up his half-finished tea as Riku rubbed his thigh and got up. "Did you make more tea?"

Chuckling, Riku removed the DVD from the player. "Yes, it's brewing now. What movie do you want next?"

"Something that I haven't seen and isn't too sappy."

"Got it." Riku selected a new movie and put it in. As it loaded, he returned to the sofa and settled down beside his husband. Casually, he placed his hand over the section of Cloud's belly were their child grew.

Cloud flicked his eyes down but said nothing and started the DVD.

--0—0—

They ordered their pizza at the end of the second movie. Riku only raised an eyebrow at Cloud's decision to add jalapeños to half of it and smirked when the blond muttered a curse upon his stomach after hanging up. Thankfully, Cloud did not see it and they started up the third movie. When the pizza did arrive, Cloud went to the kitchen and brought back the hot sauce.

"I am so glad I bought two more bottles of that stuff."

Cloud made a noise as he dropped back onto the sofa. "I still hate this shit."

"I know you do."

"Do we need to call Sora?" The older man removed a pizza slice and began dumping hot sauce on it.

"He said to call if you needed him to work." Riku moved and pulled out his phone. "I'll text him though. You sure you're up to working?"

"Yeah. Doctor said it was okay for now and we'll need the money later." Cloud paused in his chewing. "They haven't called yet."

Riku heard the underlying concern in Cloud's tone. "It's not that late yet. We'll give them another hour."

As it was, Aerith called Cloud twenty minutes later to inform him that everything was normal, at least as normal as the situation could be. She was obviously happy that he was keeping the baby and assured him that she would help in every way possible during and after the pregnancy. He simply thanked her and quickly ended the call.

Tossing the phone on the coffee table, he threw his head back. "I've decided what the worst part of this is."

"Not the hot sauce cravings?" Riku joked. He really wanted to keep the mood light and could tell Cloud could easily fall into a depressive fit at this time.

"No, though it's a close second." Cloud stated flatly. "It's all the attention I'm going to be getting. Everyone is going to be watching me and offering help, even when I clearly don't need or want it. I'm going to be frustrated all the time."

Riku reached over and fit his hand along the back of Cloud's neck and started rubbing. The muscles were rather tight, indicating how concerned his lover was about this. "I'll keep them off of you. You know Aerith is just a mother hen with all of us. Tifa, Zack, and Leon will leave you alone unless you start pushing yourself too much."

"And what about you?" Murmured Cloud, head falling forward as he slowly relaxed again. "I'm more worried about you hovering."

Riku moistened his lower lip, knowing that he had already started doing some of that. "I promise to do my best not to. I trust you to do what's best for you and the baby."

"Good." Cloud breathed out as Riku's fingers moved to the base of his neck. "Did you get any ice cream?"

"No, but I can order some from Scrooge in the morning. It would be ready by the time we're going home. Still craving sea-salt?"

"Yeah," the swordsman grumbled. His eyes fixed upon the raise in his stomach. "Little brat's already pushing me around."

Riku grinned but did not say what he wanted to. Cloud was already showing signs of being a total push over for the baby. As much as he complained, he wasn't doing anything to fight the cravings.

The blond leaned forward and took the last drink of his sweet tea. Setting the empty glass back down, he twisted his body to face Riku. There was a glint to his eyes that the silvered one recognized instantly. "I'm bored with movies."

Riku brought a finger up to trace Cloud's jaw. "Then what do you want to do?"

Cloud grinned and carefully straddled Riku's thighs. "I have a few ideas."

Placing his hands on Cloud's hips, Riku arched an eyebrow. "Such as?"

Pressing their chests together, Cloud began nibbling at the younger man's ear. His hands came up to run over his shoulders. He rolled his hips against Riku's and breathed in his ear. "Do you realize it's been over a week?"

Riku slipped his fingers beneath Cloud's shirt. "For me it's been over a week. You had a fantastic hand job two days ago or did you forget?"

"No…" Cloud replied slowly. He ran his tongue along Riku's earlobe. "But that isn't the same."

The younger one shuddered slightly, fingertips pressing into Cloud's skin. It had been a very long time since they had done this and he was reacting quite strongly. It wasn't often that they went more than three days without sex. "I suppose not…"

Cloud removed his tongue from Riku's ear so that he could bring his lips upon his husbands. They kissed deeply for several minutes, shirts getting pushed up so that both sets of hands could glide over skin. There was a subtle desperation to their actions that neither was certain the reason behind.

Breaking away, Cloud quickly pulled off Riku's shirt, grinding his hips down as he did. This earned him a low moan from the other, which he silenced with another needy, intense kiss. He let his hands wander over as much of Riku's body as he could reach.

Riku dug his nails into Cloud's shoulder blades, shifting beneath the swordsman in response to his movements. He could feel Cloud's erection and was positive it was not going to take much again for him to reach orgasm. He had to wonder if this was going to become the normal while the other man was pregnant. If it was, he hoped he could adjust and finish rather quickly also. Cloud had been exhausted after just the hand job.

"Come on," Cloud murmured against his lips, slowly climbing off of him and tugging him off the sofa. Riku followed him to the stairs, the dogs remaining on the living room floor. The canines had learned long ago when to leave their owners alone.

Cloud led Riku into their bedroom, kicking the door shut behind them. The last thing they needed was for Sephiroth to come back and catch them again. That had been a very mortifying experience he did not care to repeat.

He turned toward his lover and stalked forward, blue eyes hazed over with lust. As soon as he reached Riku, he began undoing his belt and divesting him of the rest of his clothes. Riku worked to do the same for him but only got as far as removing Cloud's pants by the time Cloud finished with him. Once Riku was naked, the blond not-so-gently shoved Riku to the bed.

Riku ended up with his butt on the edge of the mattress and before he could move back, Cloud was on his knees before him. He pushed Riku's legs apart, took hold of the base of his penis and proceeded to wrap his mouth around the head of it. All Riku could do was grip the sheets, throw his head back and groan loudly.

Cloud smiled a touch as he took more of Riku into his mouth. Every sound the silver-haired man made cause his own cock to twitch and he really wanted to just take Riku hard and fast but he waited. He knew his body and he was likely to cum very soon into the actual intercourse. He wanted to draw this out some and knew that Riku was quick to recover from orgasms. He would take care of his lover first and then take him, certain that Riku would reach climax again from it… That wonderful tightness of his pressing in on his own…

He deep throated Riku and the young man cried out, fighting to keep from bucking up and choking Cloud. His orgasm had slammed into him suddenly and he made a foggy mental note to use this position again for fellatio. There was an intensity to it that made the sensations nearly twice as strong.

He was given a minute to calm down and watched as Cloud slowly stood, leaning forward to kiss Riku sensually. He could taste himself on Cloud's lips which had long ago proven to be a very strange turn on. Already he could begin to feel himself stirring again. That had to be Cloud's plan.

Cloud stepped back and removed the boxers that Riku had not gotten to. As he did, Riku slid up further on the bed, reaching into the nightstand for some lube. Once he was lying back again, he locked eyes with Cloud as he opened his legs further and idly poured the lube on his fingers and started preparing himself. He knew it drove Cloud crazy watching him do this.

The older male came to the bedside and pulled over the pillow they had designated for sex use. They had found both lasted longer and the experience was more satisfying if the middle of Riku's back was propped up a bit. Riku was moaning and shifting as he fingered himself and Cloud climbed on the mattress in front of him, his hardened flesh weeping and demanding to be sheathed inside Riku's body.

With a wanton noise, Riku removed his fingers from himself and lifted up his back. Cloud leaned over him to slide the pillow beneath him, pausing long enough to aggressively kiss the other's hot mouth before getting the pillow in place. The moment that was accomplished, Riku reached down and gave the blond's erection a few enticing pulls with his moist fingers. "Need you… now."

Cloud groaned headily and wasted no more time. He got up close and with only a noise as warning, fully inserted himself into his husband's body. A deep moan erupted from him as that incredible feeling engulfed his penis and he allowed himself a beat to savor it.

Then he began moving, thrusting in and out at a quickly building pace. He gripped at Riku's thighs, keeping him in place as he pushed in and pulled out at an ever increasing speed, needing more, wanting more. One of Riku's legs wrapped around his waist, bringing him closer and changing the angle enough to get Riku nearly hollering as he panted. Cloud just kept moving faster and harder, waiting…

Riku gripped the sheet with one hand and the other wrapped around his shaft, sliding along it in time with Cloud's trusts. His g-spot was being hit just right now and he would not be able to hold out much longer. He met Cloud's eyes again and there was such intensity, such raw and carnal desire and need-

Riku's body tightened around him as his second orgasm slammed into him. He arched up wonderfully and the movement along with the closure of muscles sent Cloud flying into his own orgasm. The pleasure rippled through him in waves, intense and powerful and taking several moments to weaken. It was very rare that he had a rolling orgasm and he rode it out for as long as possible.

When he couldn't stay up anymore, Cloud pulled out of Riku and collapsed onto one of his legs. The one that had been wrapped around him relaxed and lay limply over him. He was exhausted and thoroughly satisfied.

Riku's voice was breathless as he reached down and rubbed at Cloud's soft spikes of hair. "You good?"

Cloud did not move. "I think I'm going to love pregnant sex."

The silvered one chuckled. "Yeah, me too."

"I need to move, don't I?"

"At least lift your head so I can."

Cloud groaned tiredly as he managed to raise his head enough for Riku to slip his leg out from under it. Riku had a compulsive need to clean up after sex and Cloud was finding it really annoying right now. He simply wanted to lay with his husband in his arms and go to sleep. Brooding, he watched Riku get up and head for the bathroom.

Riku was a lot faster about cleaning up than he usually was. He had noted the upset look Cloud had gotten and hurried to return to bed. He just really hated feeling semen drying on his legs and waking up to the sticky stuff was worse.

When he came back to the bed, Cloud had managed to get himself up and under the covers. He looked extremely tired but content and smiled softly at Riku. "That was fast."

"Yeah." Riku slid into bed and snuggled up beside the man he loved more than anything in the worlds. Cloud draped his arm around his shoulders and kissed his temple. "I didn't want you to miss me too much."

"Why would I miss you? I got sex, I'm good."

Riku lightly smacked his chest. He settled into Cloud's side and moved his hand down to the blond's lower abdomen. He could feel the life radiating from the spot and smiled. Even though everything was still uncertain, he felt something now that he had never truly felt before; he felt complete.

Cloud felt the peace that settled over Riku and though it made him uneasy, he was happy for it. He had hoped that keeping this baby would help his lover finally become whole and it appeared that was exactly what was happening. That settled in his mind that he had made the right decision; he would just have to come to his own terms with it by the time the child was born.

"Good night, love."

"Night, Riku."