Here's another prompt from AkaiArashi1! I did my best in making it funny and cute, hope I succeeded! REVIEWS are ALWAYS, VERY welcome!
NOTE READ: I have started my internship and I'm working simultaneously at a kindergarten and at their office, so I spend a few hours with the children there too. Which means I won't have that much time writing so the chapters of each story (currently in progress) may be (very) delayed. I apologize in advance for it! However, at the weekends it shouldn't be a problem for me to publish new chapters.
The Troublemaker with the Blue Eyes
Zack grinned widely, holding his three year old son in his arms as he waved with the other one at Tifa's concerned expression, "Stop worrying so much! You'll get wrinkles!" Tifa shot him a small glare at the comment.
"Are you sure you will be alright? I'll try to hurry I promise! If there is anything, anything at ALL, don't hesitate to call me! Zack, you have my number. Wait…do you have my number? Are you sure? You know where the diapers are right? You know where Angeal's toys are? You know-"
Zack rolled his eyes and said in exasperation:" Tifa, of course I have your number we are married for Choccobos sake! I know where the diapers are, I changed Angeal too ya know? Yes, I know where his toys are I play with them too sometimes….with him of course." Marlene shot him a weird look, Zack merely narrowed his eyes at her to keep quiet.
Tifa placed her hands on her hips, sighing heavily. It was hard, probably the hardest thing she ever had to do. Yuffie and her planned a small SPA trip, Zack had wholeheartedly encouraged her to go, as did Marlene and Denzel of course, but Tifa was very reluctant to leave her three year old son in the care of them.
With good reason too.
Zack was…well…Tifa loved him very much, more than her own life, but the man was bat-shit crazy, had a devilish mind and got restless quickly, and he got weird ideas when he was bored. After all, from whom would have Angeal inherited his wild nature from? Daddy of course. Tifa had to admit though, he had significantly tamed over the years and wasn't as reckless with family now as he was before, but who would know if he would revert to his old self when playing with Angeal?
Denzel was usually quiet, but didn't know how to properly react in emergency situations, like changing Angeal's diapers, or when Angeal started crying out of the blue, or when Zack started crying out of the blue.
Marlene was still the most responsible of the bunch, Tifa had taught her how to properly change diapers, what to do in emergency situations…etc. She knew she had to give Angeal his baby soother (pacifier) to make him stop screaming.
Tifa approached Zack and saw Angeal's blue eyes fill with tears, she smiled warmly and hugged her son.
"Shhh, it's alright Angeal. Mommy will be back home soon alright? You just listen to your daddy and Marlene and Denzel alright? Be a good boy and don't get them into trouble." Tifa gently nuzzled her nose with Angeal's, which made the little toddler grab onto her face.
"Mamma….don't…leave mamma!" Angeal's grip only tightened, Tifa giggled and kissed Angeal's nose and cheeks.
"Shhh…don't cry Angeal. Daddy is still here, you have fun with daddy alright? I will come back soon, promise!" she kissed Angeal one more time, before straightening to look up at her husband.
She sighed heavily, "Are you sure you will be alright? Should I-" Zack immediately shook his head, steadying Angeal in his arms.
"No, no, no, no. Nonsense! You girls go and have fun! We will take it from here! He's my son after all, I know how to take care of him!" Zack grinned confidently, kissing Angeal's forehead, it made smile appear on his face and Angeal immediately latched onto Zack's neck in happiness, giggling.
Tifa shook her head with a fond smile, "Like father like son, I suppose." She smiled and slowly started for the door, "Just remember, call me if anything happens. Oh and Zack,"
"Yeah?", Zack looked at Tifa as Angeal kept playing with his hair.
"Don't forget, Angeal is just like his daddy. You will have a hard time with him once he gets bored."
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean? You implying something there Teef?" Marlene and Denzel snickered, Zack shot them a playful glare but it only served to amuse them further.
Tifa giggled, " Well, to quote a great man, you are as "restless as a little puppy"," Tifa smirked at Zack's dumbstruck expression.
"Oi, oi…I get it now…" Zack made a displeased face and Angeal copied his father's expression, prompting Tifa to laugh out loud at how her husband and son were looking at her.
She approached them again and pinched her husband and son's cheeks, kissing each of them on the cheek. Almost immediately and surprisingly in sync, wide grins broke onto their faces which made everyone laugh.
"Now you all behave good. I'll miss you everyone." Tifa hugged Denzel and Marlene tightly again, kissing them too, before she once again hugged Zack tightly and Angeal, sharing a sweet kiss with Zack in parting.
"Would you go already? You're preparing like you're going on a yearlong mission Teef." Zack grinned at her, Tifa stuck her tongue out at him before she left, waving at them as she left.
Angeal started crying again, clutching Zack's shirt tightly. Zack immediately hugged the little toddler to him and bounced him lightly in his grip before he stilled and carried him around a little, whispering soothing words into his son's ear.
"Shhh, it's alright little guy. Mommy will come home soon. Don't you like daddy? We will spend the whole day together!" Zack grinned at his son, Angeal sniffled, Zack cleaned his nose from snot and tears after he instructed him to blow in it.
Innocent blue eyes blinked up at his father before he smiled and sloppily kissed Zack's cheek, hugging him tightly, his little arms wounding tightly around Zack's night.
Zack felt genuine happiness at making his son happy, "I love you daddy very much! But, but….b-but I miss mommy!" Angeal buried his face in Zack's neck, Zack sighed and gently patted his son's back.
"I know Angeal…I miss mommy too…" he confessed softly, Marlene and Denzel smiled sadly and hugged Zack's middle, as far as their arms could reach.
The makeshift family stood there for some moments, before Angeal's stomach started to growl.
Zack looked his son in the eyes and smiled, "You hungry little man? Come on, let's eat something." Angeal nodded and squirmed out of his father's hold, running towards the refrigerator. He tried opening the big white door, but it was too heavy for him.
Zack chuckled and opened the door of the refrigerator, peeking inside along with Angeal.
"Hmm….so, what would you like to eat Angeal?" he looked down at the wild black messy hair of his son expectantly.
"I want this!" Angeal pointed at a higher shelf, with his favorite pudding, vanilla and chocolate.
"Geal, you know you can only eat this after you eat dinner," Zack shook his head, rubbing his chin in thought as to what his son could eat.
Zack took out cherries from the fridge since the humidity in the bar was almost suffocating from the summer heat, "Look! You love cherries! Come on, let's eat those!"
But Angeal stubbornly shook his head, "No! I wanna eat pudding!" he stuck his tongue out, Zack sighed.
His eyes gleamed when he spotted the bananas in the fruit basket, "Geaal! Let me cut the bananas the way you want! In squares!" Zack grinned widely, holding up six bananas in his hand.
"No! I want puddingggg!" Angeal sat on the ground, his face red from anger. Zack sighed, rubbing his hair.
Zack kneeled down at his son's eye level, before he whispered to him, "I know…we can eat…" he paused for dramatic effect, "GRAPES!" Zack suddenly produced a wooden bowl of red grapes, Angeal's favorite of the bunch, but the little one wasn't fazed.
He shook his head violently, glaring at his father, "No, no, no! I want pudding! NO grapes!" Angeal kicked his feet and Zack slumped back against the kitchen counter, feeling at a loss of what to do to make his son happy.
"Zack, give him this!" Marlene came bounding to them, holding a bowl of small, circular cut apples in her hands.
"Marlene! You're an angel!" Zack kissed Marlene on the cheek in thanks, Angeal looked at the bowl Zack was holding.
"What are you eating daddy?" curiously, he crawled closer to his father, peeking inside the bowl.
"Oh nothing….just my favorite fruit is all…" Zack tried hard to hide the smirk, while Angeal was like him in many, many aspects, his intelligence and wit definitely came from Tifa. Did he mention his temper? Well, it was still debated over from whom he had inherited that temper from. In Zack's opinion, it was Tifa, of course.
"APPLESSS!" Angeal launched himself at his father's torso, making himself comfortable in his lap, starting to munch happily on the small, circle-like apples. He was a lot happier laughing as he ate the apples.
Zack looked at Marlene and Denzel, who most probably had cut the apples, and mouthed a "thank you" to them. Both elder children nodded, as they too, slumped on the floor against the kitchen counter.
Half an hour passed and Zack felt worse than he had battled Angeal, his mentor, while he used to be a Third Class.
With a heavy sigh, Zack let himself fall exhausted on the couch, his eyes fluttering closed, his mouth gaping open, his hair sticking to all sorts of directions.
He was about to fall asleep if not for Denzel's alerted voice that ripped him from the peaceful half asleep state:" Zack! It's Angeal! It's….it's coming! It's here!"
Denzel was holding the giggling Angeal up with both hands, with a panicked grimace, far away from his own face as possible, his nose scrunched up.
In a split second, Zack's eyes shot open as wide as dinner plates, he shot up like a rocket from the couch, jumping over it and almost stumbling to the floor if not for his feet steadying him.
He quickly grabbed Angeal from Denzel, holding him above his head and shouting out in panic:" OUT OF THE WAY! OUT OF THE WAY! WE HAVE CODE RED! I REPEAT CODE RED! EVACUTE EVERYONE OUT OF THE BAR! OPEN ALL WINDOWS!"
Zack made a dead sprint towards the bathroom, quickly locking the door behind him. He gently laid Angeal out on what they called the "baby station", intended to change his diapers and what not.
Zack braced himself, taking a deep breath, before quickly covering his nose from the strong odor in the air. He glanced down at Angeal's displeased face, Zack shut his eyes, untangling the diapers slowly…
His eyes widened further when he saw the result of Angeal's breakfast…if you could call it that…
"Aw no…that's not the product of a baby…it's the product of a freaking Behemoth!" Zack whined, taking two plastic bags from the shelf, he quickly threw the foul smelling, full diapers inside, making a double knot on the bag, then he threw that bag into the other one and made a triple knot. He also got himself a clothes peg, putting it on his nose so it blocked his air ways, no sense in falling unconscious before he disposed of the source of the smell.
He quickly disposed of it in their separate waste bin, solely intended to block the smell of Angeal's diapers from spreading outside.
Zack donned on a pair of thin gloves before he quickly grabbed two sets of baby wipes, gently but firmly cleaning Angeal, which made him giggle and laugh. Zack's expression softened and he chuckled
"You love torturing me don't ya little guy?" he gently ruffled Angeal's black hair, making his son laugh and squeal all the more.
"Daddyy!" Angeal's blue eyes shone, despite him just loading his diapers, he looked happy that his father was taking care of him. Zack huffed, gathering the dirty wipes and throwing them in the bin as well.
He additionally dried Angeal off and applied some baby powder to soothe the irritating redness over his skin, before he finally helped Angeal into stepping in his diapers and dressing him in his pants again.
Zack sighed in relief, quickly opening the window to clean out the stinky air.
"Mission complete I would say! Ey, buddy?" Zack grinned, ruffling Angeal's head.
"I feel a lot better now, daddy." He nuzzled Zack's head and the man sighed contently, if his son was happy then he was happy too.
Angeal laughed, hugging Zack's torso tightly. Zack smiled warmly and patted his sons back, kissing the top of his soft head and carrying him outside after unlocking and opening the door.
Zack laughed when he saw Marlene and Denzel crouched down low beneath the tables, each with a bowl on their heads, armed with spatulas in their hands.
"Don't worry, I cleared away all the danger." Zack gave them a thumbs up, Angeal did the same, copying his father with a wide grin of his own.
Marlene and Denzel simultaneously released a sigh of relief, crouching out from under the tables and straightening themselves.
"We thought we were goners for a second…" Marlene expressed her worry from earlier.
"You? I was on the front lines mind you!" Zack chuckled, watching as they put back the kitchen utensils.
"I'm way too young for this…" Denzel complained, launching himself at the couch. Zack shook his head and joined him with Angeal, followed by Marlene.
All three released a relieved sigh, while Angeal contently slept on his father's chest, breathing softly, clutching his father's shirt tightly in his little hand.
"That's it! I'm calling them! No wait! Yuffie, turn back! This wasn't a good idea, I knew I should have stayed! I told Zack to call me once something happened, he still didn't call Yuffie!" Yuffie quickly grabbed Tifa's phone and threw it at the back of the truck, Barret's truck, said man was out with Cid somewhere so Yuffie took it upon herself to "borrow" his truck, she left him a note saying she would leave it at the gas station.
"Tifa! Would you stop panicking so much?! You will drive yourself and me crazy! We decided to do this trip to relax, not cause more distress. I command you to relax!"
Tifa sighed, slumping against her seat, a frown marring his features.
"You're right, I'm sorry Yuffie, it's just…it's Zack…"
"I know, Teef, I know…"
"Don't get me wrong, you know I love Zack more than my life, but…he's sometimes himself such a kid…" Yuffie shook her head, telling her silently she didn't need to explain. She knew exactly how Fair gets and could get.
"Well, in the two weeks we will-"
"Two weeks?!" Yuffie ignored Tifa's outraged, surprised outburst
"-definitely get ourselves some SPA feeling! So prepare your body and soul for it! You will have the best time there you had since years!" Tifa glared at her best girl friend, sighing heavily.
Yuffie parked the truck at the gas station as promised, where their bus was also waiting for them. Women already seated inside, chatting animatedly.
Tifa managed a small smile, somewhat looking forward to it yet at the same time that worry never left her.
As Tifa and Yuffie fetched their luggage, they climbed up the small set of steps inside the bus, greeting the bus driver on their way, once inside, they saw that some women did talk animatedly, but it resembled more of a screaming match than an actual conversation. And the majority of the women looked…unfriendly to say the least.
Tifa sent Yuffie a worried look, but she ignored it, confidently walking forward before she found two empty seats for them somewhere in the middle of the bus.
"Yuffie…why do they all look so displeased here?" Tifa whispered quietly to Yuffie, worriedly glancing at one woman who kept glaring daggers at them.
"Tch, they probably don't have any awesome husbands at home to work out those urges they have." Tifa blushed and slapped her friend on her forearm, she sighed, trying to ignore the stares and glares from some women.
"Attention!" a loud, feminine but booming voice suddenly cut through the quiet air like a blade. It made both Tifa and Yuffie jump in their seats, before they rose slightly to see who had shouted.
It was a woman with red hair, tied into a tight, short braid, a cigarette was between her fingers but she threw it out before it burnt out completely. Her eyes were a venomous green, glaring at each and every woman in the bus.
"Alright then, welcome to the ride to the disciplinary boot camp for bad girls such as you, with criminal records, shady backgrounds, bad manners at home…etc. You know the drill, some of you are making a comeback, I can already see some familiar faces." She glared even harder.
Wait…
What
"Excuse me, there seems to be a mistake. This…isn't the bus leading to a SPA wellness center in Kalm?" Tifa asked, standing now, her brow arched.
The redheaded woman bared her teeth like a angry wolf, before barking out a laugh, which suspiciously sounded like a roar, "Wellness center?! Ya gotta be shitting me girly! This ain't no wellness center or fun camp! This is the one way road to hell missy! Boot camp specifically made for women who use violence on a daily basis and don't know shit on how to control it." She grinned almost sadistically
"Yeah, yeah, that's what everyone says. Now get your ass back on your seat and shut up.", Tifa and Yuffie had to watch in horror as their bus was leaving, leaving them to their doom.
"I'm sorry but we are wrong here," before Tifa could even move one foot in front of the other, she was sent slamming back down against her seat, the driver had already started driving.
"Sorry but this bus ain't stoppin' once it started driving," Tifa was positive now that the woman which reminded her of a drill sergeant was grinning sadistically
Yuffie fumed silently to Tifa once the woman turned her back:"Who the hell does that old hag thinks she is?! Tch, probably didn't get laid in years and its all dusty down there." She crossed her arms, glaring heatedly at the back of the woman's head.
" Yuffie!" Tifa hissed for her to be quiet, lest the drill sergeant-lookalike heard her.
"Wait…" Yuffie and Tifa shared a look of horror as cold realization splashed upon them.
What they assumed had been the bus heading to their Wellness Center, was in fact a bus leading to a military institution for badly behaved women. Tifa and Yuffie's eyes widened when they noticed just what they got themselves into.
They just had a one way road trip to hell.
And they couldn't escape.
Do you guys think I should make a continuation for this? Is it good enough? PLEASE, PLEASEEE add some reviews! Thank you for reading everyone! :D