Author's note - Hi everybody! Ready for another dose of canon-y goodness? This one's Cliff x Ann and, despite being a huge Jack x Ann fan, I had so much fun writing it. I hope you all enjoy it too! Thanks to all who reviewed: SweetDreamer93, StarrNight, Suupaa Panda, Awesome Rapidash, The Scarlet Sky and Dancing Raindrop. Thanks again, I love hearing your views.
Debates
Ominous grey storm clouds hung low over Mineral Town as water bounced off it's streets. The sound of relentless, thrashing rain echoed within the Inn, pounding the walls and ceiling incessantly. Ann, though, didn't get the chance to stop by a window and observe the unusual weather.
Well, of course she didn't. She simply didn't have the time for such things. As per usual she was busy, busy, busy and that was just the way she liked it.
With Cliff at work, her father out on business and the restaurant empty, Ann was finally able to get on with the cleaning she'd had to put off recently. It hadn't been her choice to cut down on her work - that was her father and Cliff's doing. Cliff especially had been keen for her to quit cleaning altogether when they found out about the baby. That was once he'd regained the ability to speak, of course.
It had been such a shock pregnancy, though, Ann recalled as she leant awkwardly to wipe a table; it was getting so difficult now as her bump continued to grow and grow. They were married at the end of last Winter, which had been a huge adjustment in itself nevermind an unexpected pregnancy barely a week later. Her father had been thrilled, Ann remembered as she grabbed her broom and got started on some serious sweeping. Not so much her and Cliff though...at least not at first. It just wasn't really the start they'd planned for their marriage. They wanted to get used to each other first, not get bogged down in baby stuff. But, after much bickering and the initial fainting fit - in Cliff's case, anyway - the idea actually began to grow on them. And now they were eagerly anticipating the arrival of their first son, due in only a few weeks time.
Ann gracefully finished her sweeping, making one last majestic movement and then throwing the broom into the air, twirling as she did so.
Unfortunately for her, though, Cliff chose that moment to return home from the Winery. The door swung open revealing a gloomy, thunderous day as her soaking, bedraggled husband dashed inside to escape the storm. "And they're calling this Summer?" he laughed bitterly, shaking water droplets from his dark hair.
Smiling sweetly in return, Ann hurriedly clasped the broom handle to her back, keeping it well out of view. After all, what Cliff didn't know, wouldn't hurt him, right? "Hello honey!" she lisped in her most sugary-sweet (and utterly false) Perfect Wife voice. It was only to be used when absolutely necessary and normally worked. No such luck today, though. Today Cliff was suspicious.
His eyebrows knotted together in a frown as he observed his wife. The expression on her face was surely too innocent. "Ann..." he began slowly. "Is that a broom hidden behind your back?"
There was a pause while Ann considered her options. "Um...No," she answered eventually, shaking her head clearly. Just then there was an almighty clatter as the broom slipped from her grip and hit the floor behind her.
"...I honestly don't know where that came from."
"Ann!" Cliff cried out, exasperated. "I thought we had an agreement about you working."
The redhead sighed, bending with difficultly to retrieve her broom. Quick as a flash, Cliff darted over to help, but he still looked distinctly disappointed. So did Ann. "No Cliff," she retorted fiercely. "You said I should give up cleaning. I just nodded along."
"Y-yes," Cliff stuttered, faltering slightly under his wife's glare. "But I only suggested it because I don't want anything to happen to the baby. Or you for that matter."
"Huh." Ann turned away sharply and swept across the floor towards the back wall. "I think 'suggested' is putting it a bit mildly myself. More like dictated." The last word came out as a sour hiss that caused Cliff to wince. He thought she was absolutely furious with him, but, of course, he couldn't see the small smile playing on her lips or the way her blue eyes were shining mischeviously.
"Look...Ann..." he mumbled, approaching warily and placing a hand on her shoulder. She didn't shrug him off, but visibly stiffened her body in mock protest.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry," he whispered softly. "I didn't mean to upset you at all. And you're right, the floor was getting dusty. And - and - omph!" He was cut of mid-speech as Ann spun around and hugged him briefly.
Her hands wound around his body, eventually managing to pat him on the back sympathetically. "It's okay Cliff," she soothed, smiling into his chest. "I forgive you. Aarghh - oh!" Suddenly, the smile on her face became much more real. "It's the baby," she breathed. "He's kicking again."
"Wow." Cliff had already felt the baby moving, of course, but it was a feeling he never got bored of. "Amazing, isn't it?" he asked, while Ann could only nod in agreement. She was positively beaming as she patted her large bump.
"C'mon," she said after a little while. "I'll get the tea together. You hungry?"
Meal times at the Inn were usually very cosy events as far as Ann could manage. It was a mixture of the smell and taste of some of the town's finest cooking, combined with the lively atmosphere, normally brought about by her exaggerated tales of the day's customers. Gray used to eat with the family on the odd occasion, but had now started to spend an increasing amount of time at the Library. And, of course, things were set to get a lot livelier still what with the impending birth of their son.
Today was no exception, despite the absence of Doug. It left the kitchen a little quieter than they were accustomed to, but Ann and Cliff were simply grateful to drink in the remaining peace they had left - for neither were naive enough to believe it would continue once the baby was born.
The couple had just finished one of Ann's unbeatable curries and were starting on a dessert of apple pie, when Cliff brought up a subject that had been bothering him all day. "Ann?" he questioned, frowning out of curiosity. "Do you want to know what I was thinking about at work today?"
Ann considered for a moment, a spoonful of pastry frozen half-way to her mouth. "Hmm, probably not!" she laughed, shovelling the food in quickly and swallowing again within the blink of an eye. "Though I expect you're going to tell me anyway."
"Well, I was just wondering..." He rummaged deeply in his jacket pocket and pulled out a battered, dusty paperback. "...about names."
In the brief pause that followed, Ann stared at it. "What? For the baby?" Personally, she could see that this was a pretty stupid question, as the book was proudly titled, "1000 Baby Names And Their Meanings'.
Cliff, however, was brimming was excitement and didn't seem to notice. "Yeah," he explained enthusiastically. "Manna gave it to me. Apparently, Aja was going to be Sarah before they found this little gem." His wife raised her eyebrows skeptically and he asked, "So have you had any thoughts so far? You know, about what to call him?"
Ann made a vague, non-commital noise, instead opting to swallow a huge mouthful of food. "Nmpf," she mumbled. In truth, she'd been trying to come up with a good name for ages, but had annoyingly drawn a total blank. "I haven't really had any good ideas yet," she admitted slowly, toying with her food. "It's just...difficult. More difficult than I expected anyway."
She felt a little embarrassed in admitting it, actually, but Cliff was fortunately very understanding. He nodded, "Well neither did I until today. Seriously, this book gave me all sorts of ideas."
Ann wasn't sure whether or not that was such a good thing. "Like?" she asked warily, hoping that her son wouldn't be lumbered with many middle names, each as ridiculous as the next, or else named like he'd been born in the eighteenth century.
"Okay," he exclaimed, looking insanely happy and excited. "What do you think of... Jacob?"
Jacob, Ann thought, trying the name out over and over again in her head. Hmm. Well, it sounded okay and was much better than what she thought Cliff would come up with. "It's fine I guess," she shrugged.
The highly-pleased-with-himself look currently plastered on Cliff's face only increased at these words. "Great! So we'll consider Jacob then?"
"No."
For a second, Cliff looked stunned, as though he couldn't quite believe his ears. Then, very slowly, the smile was wiped from his face. "W - what? I thought you just said it was okay."
"Yes, I did," Ann agreed matter-of-factly. She stood up and starting collecting the dishes with clatter, while Cliff followed her to the sink, still clutching his beloved book. "The thing is though I don't want it to be okay. Not just okay, anyway. I want it to be - oh, I don't know - different and unique, yet still personal to our family. You do know what I mean, don't you?"
Something told her Cliff didn't quite understand how she felt. Maybe even she didn't. But despite looking slightly deflated, he was undeterred in his quest to find a suitable name. "Fine!" he told her. "We can have that. Let's see now..." Within seconds he was once again flicking through yellowing pages, stopping every now and then and giving an excited little grin. Ann groaned, telling him to stop, but the only reply she recieved was barrage of frenzied suggestions.
"Quentin. Wesley. Oh, I know - Phoenix." Some ideas merely recieved an exasperated look and a shake of the head, while others, more brutally, were treated to a burst of sudden laughter.
Cliff was still droning on, getting more and more frustrated as time went by, when Ann, half-way through the washing-up, was hit by an idea of her own. She could almost picture a little lightbulb flickering away above her head, as she gleefully turned back to her husband.
"I've got one," she announced, cutting Cliff off mid-flow. "Brace yourself for this now, it's pure genius. So, how about Felix?"
Silence followed this particular suggestion. Until, eventually, Cliff began nodding slowly and Ann felt relief flood through her. "Okay," he agreed. "Felix. But I've got a question. What on earth will we name the other kittens?"
He was abruptly hit, square in the face, by a flying tea towel.
"Cliff!" an irate Ann yelled. "Okay, forget it," she insisted, abandoning the plates and cutlery in an instant. "I'm off upstairs to give the rooms a good clean. Goddess knows they need it."
As good as her word, she headed straight into the bar and then made her way to the stairs. His conscience catching up with him, Cliff skidded desperately after her. "Ann," he shouted from the foot of the stairs. "Wait! I'm sorry, I really am." There was no reply to this plea, but, unbeknownst to him, Ann was lingering just out of sight on the landing.
"I've got more names," he called again, sounding distinctly pleading. "Um...um...Tobey? Percy? Clifford Junior!?"
That was it, Ann decided, as she gave away her position in a explosion of uncontrolled giggles. She peered around the corner, as Cliff looked back at her with wide eyes. "No, no - " she answered, nearly laughing. " - And have you gone completely insane?"
Perhaps, she thought, entering Gray's empty room a little while later, Jacob wasn't such a bad idea after all...
A/N - Yay, another oneshot complete! Look forward to Gray x Mary next - I certainly am.