AN: I ran a fic giveaway last month in our discord server. Whoever won had to give me a prompt around the theme "26" - so Alluma, this is for you! Hope you're glad to see CloTi 26 years later.
Cloud pulled Tifa into his arms and raised the covers over them, kissing her.
"You're as insatiable as ever," she laughed as he ran his fingers across her stomach, the lines around her mouth becoming more prominent as she did.
"You're one to talk."
She glanced over his shoulder at the clock. They still had a few minutes before they had to get up, so she snuggled close and traced patterns on his chest. He nuzzled his nose in her hair and kissed her head. They both fell silent, feeling each other's warmth and catching their breaths. She reached up and kissed his cheek.
"Can you get something from the bar when you take Ben to school?"
He nodded. "Yeah, what?"
"There's a wine I have stored there that Marlene really likes. I wanted to keep it there so she wouldn't find it before the party."
Cloud chuckled. "Okay. I'll swing by and pick it up. I can check on Stella to make sure she hasn't burned the place down yet. Need anything else?"
She shook her head, looking up at him. "For the next few minutes, just you."
He smiled and kissed her, his hands snaking up her back and holding her so she was pressed right up against him. Something stiff rubbed between her legs and she giggled.
"Cloud…"
The alarm started to ring. He groaned, rolling over to shut it off. She pressed her lips to his one final time before getting out of bed. He sat up on one elbow and watched her as she sauntered across the room.
The years had been good to her – they had both kept up semi-regular routine to stay in shape. She had stretch marks and other scars now from giving birth to their two children and she was squishier around her middle than she had been when they were younger, and he loved every bit of it.
He wasn't a spring chicken anymore himself, having also developed some squishiness as time passed, but she didn't seem to mind. And he could still swing a sword if he had to, which was really all that mattered.
"Can you believe Marlene is turning thirty?" she asked as she rummaged through their drawers to find underwear.
Cloud shook his head, sliding out of the bed himself. "Do you remember when she wouldn't even talk to me?" He grabbed his robe from near the bathroom door. "She was so tiny back then."
Tifa followed him into the bathroom. "I know. Sometimes I still can't believe we have a daughter who's in college and a son in high school."
Cloud swept her shoulder-length hair away and kissed her neck, wrapping his arms around her as they stood in front of the mirror. He rubbed his hand across her stomach, his thumb tracing the whitish line on her abdomen, thinking back to the birth of their son. It had been such a difficult pregnancy, the birth even more so, and it took her a long time to recover. To this day, he marveled at her and all her strength, wondering how the hell she did it.
"What're you thinking about?"
He looked up, resting his chin on her shoulder, his eyes meeting hers in the reflection. They both had tiny lines around their eyes now, though the effects of aging were less notable on him. They chalked that up to the mako.
"How beautiful you are."
Tifa giggled, turning around. "You've gotten soft over the years," she teased.
He squeezed her to him, nipping her. "You love it though, don't you?"
She laughed, pushing him away playfully. They heard a knocking at their bedroom door and stopped.
"Mom? Dad?" their son's voice called. It was almost faint from the bathroom. "I have to get to school early today! Just wanted to remind you!"
Cloud growled into her neck at the interruption. Tifa wiggled out of his grasp and took his hand.
"Come on. Let's wash up."
Tifa had decided to take the day off so she could finish decorating the house for the party. Barret, who was also visiting, had taken Marlene out for the day. Even though she had stayed with her and Cloud after everything settled down all those years ago, she still regarded Barret as her father in a lot of ways. Tifa loved that they had remained so close.
Not too long after Stella was born, they realized they would need a bigger space than the apartments above the bar. A couple of years later, they moved to what had been a developing residential area on the outskirts of Edge – now it was referred to as a "suburb," with lots of homes and shops extending beyond it. When Benjamin was born, they knew they'd made the right decision.
In the years that have passed, they've opened up two more bars – one in their suburb and one in Junon – and Strife Delivery Service became incorporated into WRO with Cloud leading the division. Tifa switched off days between the two Edge bars, and visited the one in Junon once a month. The original-new Seventh Heaven remained, not far from downtown or the new college, so Stella lived there during the school year and took care of the place.
Not long after Cloud took Ben to school, the phone rang.
Tifa nestled it between her head and shoulder as she tried to line up a banner. "Hello?"
"Hey Teef," his voice greeted. She smiled.
"Hey. Why are you calling from the bar phone?"
She could almost see him scratching his neck as he paused. "I realized I left my phone at home."
"Hey mom!" a cheerful voice shouted near him.
"Stella?"
"Good morning!" Her daughter sounded much closer now, and Tifa surmised Cloud had given her the phone.
"Morning sweetheart." She hammered a nail into the banner. "Don't you have class today?"
Dishes clanked in the background. "Yeah, but not for another hour. I was just eating breakfast and trying to help papa find the wine for sis. Where'd you put it?"
Tifa thought for a moment. "It should be… hm…"
Stella giggled.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing."
Tifa put her hand on her hip as she paused in the middle of her task. "Nothing huh? I bet he's muttering about me forgetting where I put it."
Stella giggled some more. Tifa rolled her eyes and shook her head.
At first, she had been a little envious of Stella's and Cloud's relationship in a similar way she had been about his relationship with Denzel. Cloud doted on her, his little girl, but over time, she let that go. He was such a loving and caring father and watching him transform into the person he was now over all of these years made her heart swell immensely.
Besides, she had Ben.
Tifa snapped her fingers then. "Oh! It should be in the bottom cabinet…"
"…on the right side of the counter," Cloud finished, apparently having taken the phone back from Stella. "You always hide things there."
"Well if you were going to find it on your own, why'd you need to call me?"
"Just wanted to hear your voice again," he said nonchalantly, but his smirk came through the phone.
"Ugh, you two!" Stella groaned in the background. "Get off my phone with that, will you?"
Cloud chuckled. "Get your backpack, I'm taking you to school."
"Papa, I'm not ten!"
"I don't care." To Tifa, he said, "Love you. Be back soon."
"Love you. Have a great day honey!"
Cloud relayed her message. Tifa heard more exasperated sighs from Stella before he hung up. She laughed quietly to herself and continued decorating.
"You stayin' focused in school?"
Cid sat at a table on the patio with one leg crossed over the other, his foot bouncing up and down. His blonde hair had grayed considerably and was falling out at the top. Shera sat next to him, her hair done up in a bun. A noticeable silver streak ran back on the right side.
Stella set a cup of tea down on the table in front of Cid and pat him on the shoulder. "Yes, Uncle Cid. Of course I am!"
The younger boy sitting across from him shook his head as he blew over his cup of tea, meeting Cid's gaze. Stella thumped him on his temple as she walked past.
"Ow! Hey, watch it!"
"What's going on out here?" Cloud asked as he exited the house with a tub of ice. He set it on the table behind them and began transferring sodas and other bottled drinks from the crate next to it.
"Nothing papa!" Stella called, tossing her hair behind her and waltzing back inside.
"You know that girl is the spittin' image of you?" Cid said as he took his first sips.
"She looks just like you did at that age when we met you," Shera added.
"Except her eyes of course. Got those from her mama. But she's got your spiky-ass blonde hair and everything."
He suddenly barked in laughter, nearly choking on his tea. Cloud glared at him out of the corner of his eye as if he knew what was coming next.
"You know, with her hair long like that, she looks like you did in that picture of you wearing a dr—"
"Cid, don't tease Cloud."
Tifa stepped outside with several platters in her hands and set them on the table with the drinks. Cloud kissed her on the cheek.
"Thank you."
"Dad, what's Uncle Cid talking about?"
"Tell you when you're older," Cloud grumbled before going back inside.
Ben sat back in his chair, indignant. "I'm fifteen!"
Tifa ruffled her son's dark hair and bent down to whisper in his ear, "I'll tell you later. But you didn't hear it from me in case your father asks."
He snickered, blue eyes sparkling. "Deal."
Tifa winked and continued up the rest of the food table.
"You're still spending the summer with us, right Ben?" Cid asked. WRO had established a new space and technology program in Rocket Town, and Cid had been running it for almost twenty years now.
"Yes sir!"
"Good! Got a lot of stuff planned for you, son. You're gonna learn all there is to know about rockets."
Ben stared at him with wide eyes, gleeful. "I can't wait!"
"Party's out here I see!"
Yuffie strolled out of the house, her signature mischievous grin plastered on her face. She's always kept her hair short, though it was a little longer than usual, reaching her shoulders. She approached Cid and held him around his neck from behind, pecking him on the cheek.
"How are ya old man?"
"You ain't so young anymore yourself!" he shouted.
Shera rolled her eyes. "Cid…"
Yuffie laughed, letting him go. "As lively as ever." She walked over to Ben and swiftly took something out of her pocket to hand to him. "For you, kid," she said in a low voice.
"Yuffie, stop giving my kids candy before dinner!" Tifa warned over her shoulder, never looking up.
"Mom, I'm not a baby! It won't spoil my appetite."
"What won't spoil your appetite?"
Tifa looked up at Stella, who had returned with a lollipop in her mouth. She shot daggers at Yuffie, who only shrugged.
"By the way, Uncle Barret just called. Said they should be here in a few minutes."
Tifa nodded. "Have you heard from Denzel?"
She shook her head. Tifa hummed in thought.
"Where are Vincent and Nanaki…?"
"Here! We're here!"
Nanaki wandered past Stella, who rubbed his head as he did. He hadn't aged a day, and neither had his companion (though Vincent did stop wearing that tattered red cloak years ago).
"Uncle Vince! What's up!"
He nodded to her with a small smile. "Nanaki and I were having our annual meeting. Figured we'd come together."
"We haven't missed anything, have we?" the feline asked.
Tifa shook her head. "They're not here yet."
Vincent sat on Cid's other side at the round table. Nanaki sat next to Ben.
"How is school going Benjamin?"
The boy smiled brightly. "Good! We had a robotics meeting before school this morning and they named me Captain for next year!"
"Nerd…" Stella mumbled.
"Hey now." Tifa hugged Ben around his shoulders. "I'm proud of you."
"Thanks mom."
Tifa pulled her daughter closer and kissed her on the cheek. "And you too, for watching the bar for me while you're in school."
Stella smirked, rolling her eyes. "It's no big deal mom. I love the bar!"
"Make way for the birthday girl!" a deep voice bellowed.
Barret appeared, a huge grin on his face. His salt and pepper hair was closely cropped, as it had always been. He waved at everyone with his silver prosthetic arm. He'd gotten it permanently replaced to only be a hand – no more guns, he'd said at the time.
Those days are over.
Cloud emerged and stood next to Tifa, his arm around her shoulders. The birthday girl stopped in the threshold of the patio, her hair braided and done up in a pretty bun with a pink flowery headband as an accessory. She smiled and laughed as everyone broke into a jolly rendition of Happy Birthday.
"Happy birthday sis!" Stella yelled, wrapping her arms around Marlene once the singing was over.
Marlene returned the embrace. "Thank you! I'm so glad everyone is here!"
Tifa tilted her head. "Well, Denzel and Sarah…"
Cloud squeezed her shoulder. "They're here. They were waiting behind Marlene."
Marlene pulled a woman forward with her as she stepped out. She had tanned skin and freckles, with short dark brown hair that framed around her glasses.
"Everyone, you've met Claire."
"Oh! I'm glad you could come," Tifa greeted.
She nodded to her with a small smile. "I'm glad I could too. I wasn't sure I could get the week off at the Lodge since Marlene would also be out, but they let us both go."
Tifa wrapped Claire in a hug. "Make yourself at home."
Denzel popped through the door. "Hey everyone!" He turned to fuss over his wife, holding her hand to help her out. "Watch your step."
She swatted him away playfully. "Den! It's fine, it's just a small step. I'm not jumping across a canyon."
She held one hand over her round stomach, letting go of Denzel's hand and waving at everyone. Cid got up from his chair.
"You sit on down here," he said, helping her over to it.
Sarah laughed. "I'm fine! Everyone is fretting over nothing." She reached up to pull her long curly red hair into a ponytail, exhaling loudly. To Cid, she said, "But thank you for the closest chair. Now that I'm sitting down, the walk from the car to here seemed like it was longer than it should have been."
He gave her a wink in response and stood behind Shera with his hands on her shoulders.
"Big bro!" Stella greeted, kissing him on the cheek. She gave one to Sarah as well. "You're due soon, aren't you?"
Sarah nodded. "Yeah. They told us mid-April, so we were almost afraid the baby might be born today!"
"But any day now, right?" Ben inquired.
"Right," Denzel answered.
Marlene hugged him tightly. "I haven't seen you in a while!"
"I know!" Denzel laughed. "Hi Claire! My sister's still driving you crazy?"
Claire giggled, her hand over her mouth. "No, of course not," she said playfully with a wink.
"I'm standing right here!"
Denzel squeezed her shoulder. "I know, I know. How's work at Healin?"
"It's good. I really love it."
"You always had a knack when it came to caring for others."
"Wonder where she got that from," Cloud mused as he hugged the both of them around their shoulders.
"From mom, definitely." Denzel pulled Tifa into their group hug, and they laughed together.
Barret wrapped his arms around them all. "Gotta make sure I get in on this!"
"Hey, stay like that!"
They all looked up at Ben, who was handing Stella her phone. She held it up.
"Say cheese!"
"Cheese!"
They talked well into the night, catching up on everyone's lives. Yuffie was still with WRO, though in a limited capacity since she became the leader of Wutai. Vincent spent his time traveling the world and helping wherever help was needed. Nanaki watched over Cosmo Canyon as his grandfather Bugenhagen had before him, offering his advice and counsel to its people and protecting the valley.
It had been a few years since they were all together, but they were grateful to still be able to celebrate big events like this. And as the stars twinkled above them, Cloud looked across the patio at Tifa and caught her eye. They shared a smile, happy to have their family around them twenty-six years later.