Happy Wednesday, readers! Thank you for your continuous support and reviews! I appreciate them more than you know! Please continue to let me know how you feel! Sorry it's a little short, but I wanted to get something out to you!

-B


Yuffie awoke to the sound of the buzzing of her cellphone on Vincent's, well now it could be called her own, night stand. The light it emitted temporarily blinded her, but she somehow managed to swipe her thumb and answer the call. "Mm..Hello?" She mumbled, rubbing her eyes with her free fist.

"Yuffie, it's Tifa. I'm so sorry to call but dad's still in surgery and Cissnei has a family emergency. Marlene sleeps through the night but would you and Vincent mind relieving Cissnei?" Came Tifa's voice on the other end of the line. She sounded exhausted and a little shaky.

"Oh Tifa, of course." Yuffie yawned and got out of bed, shaking Vincent to awaken him. "Give us twenty minutes." She said before hanging up. "Vince!" She huffed as she threw on a pair of pink yoga pants and yellow slippers. "Get up we gotta go baby sit Marlene."

Vincent groaned and sat up in bed with a grumpy expression on his tired yet beautiful face. If there was one thing in life that he hated, it was being awakened from his sleep, especially when he'd finally reached that deep, delta wave sleep right before REM sleep. "You're kidding me."

"Just hurry up!" Yuffie ordered before throwing Vincent a white t-shirt and a pair of black pajama pants.

He was too tired to catch the items, instead he let them hit him in the face and partially cover his head. "Yuffie I'm too tired for this." He whined. Vincent was never normally the type of man to complain, however when he was tired and deprived of his sleep, you could guarantee his inner toddler would emerge.

"Get dressed, we have to go now." Yuffie barked as she zipped up her coat.

After a few more minutes of whining and coaxing, the pair finally made it to the car and made their way to Tifa's home. Luckily, she didn't live too far. Yuffie shivered at the chilliness of the winter air, as they didn't face time to properly preheat the car before taking off. Though she always did enjoy being able to see her breath in the frigid air.

They pulled up to the house not long after and were greeted by a very thankful Cissnei. She instructed that Marlene had already been changed, fed and put to bed, so they needn't worry too much about anything. She had set the baby monitors up in the guest bedroom so they could hear if she did wake up.

"Thank you both," Cissnei whispered before sneaking out the front door and leaving Vincent and Yuffie in charge.

Yuffie couldn't resist the urge to look in on the tiny sleeping baby. She peered into the nursery and smiled to herself as she watched little Marlene's tummy rise and fall with deep breaths. She thought Vincent was right behind her but when she looked over her shoulder, he was gone.

She made her way across the hallway to the guest room only to find Vincent already sprawled out in the bed, shoes, coat and shirt discarded in a pile on the floor.

She shook her dark head and thought to herself that tonight she was looking after two children, not just one. She didn't really know what to do with herself. Part of her felt like she couldn't go to sleep, fearing that if she did she might not hear Marlene if she woke up, even with the assistance of the baby monitors. Another part of her knew that if she missed a night of sleep it could totally throw her off her schedule and that would be detrimental.

So she lay down next to Vincent, and soon she was asleep. When three A.M. rolled around, they were both awakened from their sleep upon hearing the sound of a crying baby.

For a moment Vincent had forgotten where he was, and he shot out of bed quickly. But soon he remembered and headed to the nursery where he found Yuffie already rocking the little child back to sleep.

Standing quietly in the doorway he observed her, softly humming a lullaby, looking down at Marlene adoringly. It seemed to come naturally to her. Perhaps it was all the years she'd spent swaddling newborns and presenting them to weary mothers, or maybe it was just an innate and instinctual womanly reaction. Whatever it was, it was simply beautiful.


Rufus made his way up to the surgical wing with haste. Hot fury boiling in his blood and coursing through his veins as he recounted what Tifa had told him about Sephiroth refusing to perform the surgery that her father needed immediately. If the man claimed to love Tifa, his actions certainly said quite the opposite.

There was no doubt, now, that Rufus admired and even longed for Tifa. For some time he denied, and could not quite define his feelings for her. However, in the last few moments with her, seeing the strong woman in such a vulnerable state truly sent him over the edge and now Rufus Shinra would get what he wanted.

"Tell me where Doctor Sephiroth is hiding." Rufus hissed to the weary looking nurse behind the receptionists desk in the surgical wing. Normally, Rufus was quite good at keeping his darker and uglier side of himself in check, but not today. Not now.

The nurse blinked before pointing him in the direction of the break room and he was gone within a split second. He rounded the corner and walked into the break room with his head held high, and an angry tightness in his jaw. "Sephiroth." He announced with a tone that could likely cause a shudder in any man.

Not Sephiroth. This was a man unmoved by fear or many emotions at all. When Sephiroth saw Rufus walk in, chest puffed out and a determined flame in his eye, he knew exactly what this was about. "So you've come to reprimand me?" He smirked and stood to his feet, standing very clearly over Rufus.

Rufus, however did not budge. He was a wise, tricky and at times rather devious man who planned many, many steps ahead. "Clearly you are mistaken, Doctor." He spoke smoothly, creating a false sense of security within the room. He managed a smile that looked rather genuine and he shook Sephiroth's hand firmly. "A Doctor with such strong convictions is hard to come by these days. I must commend you for standing up for what you believe is right."

Sephiroth too, was a wise man. And he could see past the front that Rufus was so elaborately putting up. "Thank you. However," he began, "I know that you've called in Reeve to perform the surgery. In fact, I've been keeping up with how things are going."

"Well, like it or not, Doctor, there are times when we must sacrifice our principals to help those in need, and also," he paused as a smirk crept its way across his face, "in order to get what we want."

A silver brow twitched, and Sephiroth looked down at Rufus with a look that could've melted the thickest of ice within a millisecond. "Stay away from Tifa." He warned, bearing his teeth like a wolf fighting for dominance.

"It's not like I'm seeking her out," Rufus chuckled nonchalantly, "she's the one coming to me...again and again. Oh," he paused again another deviant smirk finding its way across his lips, "and I don't disappoint."


Tifa paced the halls of the waiting room, her delicate index finger nervously tapping the paper coffee cup that she had clasped hun her hands. "Come on, come on." She whispered under her breath as her eyes continually darted toward the double doors she was expecting Reeve to have walked through quite some time ago.

Waiting had been so agonizing, and not being allowed in the OR because she was family was making matters painfully much worse. She tried to remain calm with breathing techniques but none of that mumbo jumbo was working right now. She was anxious, and ready to know if her father was going to be okay, or not.

She needed more answers. What did he mean when he said he never stole the drugs. Wasn't there surveillance footage? Tifa's father was not the type of man to lie, he simply wasn't. So what now, who would've wanted to frame him if he really wasn't responsible for the theft. There were millions of things flying through Tifa's mind and the last person on earth she expected to walk through the doors, suddenly did.

Sephiroth approached her slowly, uncertain of what he should say. He was still not going to concede to being wrong in denying the surgery, but perhaps Tifa needed some comfort.

"What do you want?" Tifa asked bitterly, looking him up and down as if he were a piece of garbage.

"I thought I'd check on you." He replied calmly, clearly outwardly unaffected by her icy demeanor.

"I'd rather not speak to you, you're actually making things worse." She turned away from him and tossed her coffee cup in the trash. Hearing him speak just made her sick. Who was he? She was beginning to think she hasn't the slightest clue.

"Tifa-" Sephiroth reached his hand out to touch her arm but stopped when he heard the double doors swing open.

All fell silent. Time stood still for a moment as Dr. Tuesti emerged and slowly pulled his surgical mask from his face. His eyes said it all, and he sorrowfully shook his dark head.

Tifa inhaled sharply and covered her mouth with both hands. Instantly, her eyes welled up with tears and her knees hit the cold hard floors of the hospital waiting room.

"I'm so sorry Tifa." Reeve approached cautiously and briefly looked at Sephiroth who appeared to be quite unsure of what to do.

Tifa sobbed, unable to utter anything that was coherent. Until Sephiroth tried to chime in.

"Tifa I am-"

"Go away!" She shoutedp, her voice lie and crackling. "I don't ever want to see you again!"


"So, I'm not sure how much to make." Yuffie looked at Vincent with desperation as she gently bounced Marlene, who was crying hysterically, in her arms.

Vincent rubbed his weary eyes and scoured over the note left by Cissnei for the third time. They were exhausted. Since three, Marlene had been up four times. They managed to get her to sleep each time but this time, they decided perhaps she needed more than just a lullaby.

After changing her diaper they made their way to the kitchen to prepare a bottle. "It doesn't say how many ounces, just make a full bottle and see what she'll eat."

"But what if she doesn't eat it all, then that would be wasteful." Yuffie argued, continuing to bounce the baby and shush her every now and again.

"At this point, it doesn't matter Yuffie just hurry and make the bottle so she'll quiet down." Vincent said breathily.

Yuffie sighed and handed Marlene to Vincent and quickly threw an 8 ounce bottle of formula together, shaking it vigorously. But she stopped suddenly when she noticed something peculiar.

Marlene completely stopped crying the minute she was placed into Vincent's arms. It was like a flood of relief washed over the two of them, finally a moment of silence.

Marlene nuzzled herself into Vincent's chest and sighed contentedly. Yuffie sighed and frowned in frustration. "She seems fine with you."

"Maybe I remind her of Tifa." Vincent looked down at the tiny baby in his arms and let out a quiet chuckle as he watched her. Her chubby little cheeks, cute pouted lip and fuzzy dark black hair collectively made her the most adorable baby he had ever seen. Most people wouldn't ever question if she was adopted, because she did resemble Tifa.

"Humph," Yuffie pouted as she walked to the couch with the bottle and sat down tiredly. It wasn't long after that Vincent joined her with Marlene and he began to feed her. Marlene ate happily and Vincent and Yuffie looked at each other and both of them smiled and shook their heads. Even if this kid had kept them up at night, it couldn't put a damper on the feelings that they had for one another, and perhaps it even brought them closer.

Yuffie lay her head on Vincent's shoulder and giggled softly at the sound of Marlene sipping her bottle fervently, and grunting adorably after each gulp.

She was such a cute baby, and Vincent looked really good holding a baby. It was like spending this evening with him and a crying and fussy infant had been a small glimpse into their future, and Yuffie really liked the way that it was shaping up.

Vincent pulled the bottle away from Marlene when she fell asleep, mouth hanging open, milk dribbling out from the corer. He looked at Yuffie who was also asleep on his shoulder and he smiled.

Not wanting to wake either girl, he did his best to get comfortable, leaning on the arm of he couch a bit and closing his tired eyes. Not long after he fell asleep, drifting off into dreamland.