Whew! I've been trying to get this chapter right for weeks. This leads up to an interesting next chapter. Enjoy!

I don't own FF VII or any of her characters. My plot-bunnies just gnaw on it.

"YUFFIE!"

Yuffie turned around at the sound of someone calling her name, scanning the people walking down the street she was on. An arm was waving, which was attached to a pretty brunette that was coming toward her.

"Hey, Tifa! What're you doing here?" She hugged her friend tightly, cutting off Tifa's air supply momentarily.

"Surprise visit! I haven't seen you since Renji's last birthday party. Speaking of Renji, where is he?" Tifa peered around quickly, trying to find the bright red hair of her 'nephew'.

"Renji's at home." Tifa blinked in surprise, making Yuffie laugh. "The boys decided that I should spend the afternoon shopping."

"Boys?"

"Yeah, Reno and Renji."

"WHAT?!"

"Don't yell! People are staring! And no glaring either! You're not allowed to hurt him." Yuffie crossed her arms, giving her friend a firm look. Tifa, who looked twice as large when she was angry, shrank back to normal size. She still had a glare in her eyes, though.

"Why's he here NOW? That jerk should have been here years ago!"

"Tifa, I told you that he didn't know. But he finally listened to his voice mail, he said. Stood on my porch, soaking wet, and saying all the horrible things about himself that I wanted to say about him. When he met Renji...it was so CUTE! They just stared at each other with the same look on their faces."

"You mean he's here, with you and Renji, and you're okay with it?"

"Yep. You should see them together, Tifa! Oh, and when the take naps together, it's just so damn CUTE you could die! I have a picture on my phone!" Yuffie pulled the device out, and handed it over to Tifa. An unintentional squeal escaped her lips at the image on the screen.

"SO CUTE!"

"I know! I can't stay in the same room when they're like that. Don't get me started on them watching cartoons, either. Reno's never seen most of them, so there's this look of awe on both their faces." She giggled, a sound Tifa had not heard for years. It made her smile.

"So why are you out shopping?"

"Don't know. They both shooed me out of the house. They've been whispering and planning for days. Renji even made diagrams with crayons."

"If they're planning on cooking anything, I hope you have fire insurance."

"Hahaha! Would you believe Reno learned how to cook?"

"No way!"

"Yep." They continued chatting as they walked back toward Yuffie's house. It was still standing and lacked smoke of any kind pouring out of it, so they proceeded inside. Yuffie looked around the house, Tifa beside her and eager to see Reno with Renji. They heard uproarious laughter and giggles from the kitchen. Sharing a look they peered inside, finding what could only be described as a mess.

"What are you doing to my kitchen?!" Yuffie shrieked. All action stopped except for the spray of whipped cream hitting Reno in the face. Renji, who was holding the offending can of whipped cream blinked and dropped it, sending another spray of whipped cream onto the floor and cabinets. Reno began rubbing the back of his head and smiled slightly.

"Heh...you, ah, weren't supposed to be back til three..."

"It's two fifty-three!" She was staring at her kitchen in shock. Tifa was looking in over her shoulder with wide eyes. "What in the world are you doing to my kitchen?!"

"It's a surprise?"

"Well, it's a surprise alright..."

"No!" Renji yelled, jumping to get his mother's attention. "Don't look around, you'll ruin the surprise! Please Mommy! We'll clean it up! Promise!"

"But-"

"Out, Yuffie, or we'll hug you."

"Fine!" Yuffie threw her hands in the air and stalked into the living room, Tifa laughing into her hand behind her. She turned on her friend with a scowl, contemplating whether or not she could land a punch before Tifa got out of the way.

"Come on, it was funny! You know you want a picture of their faces when you walked in!"

"Okay, fine!"

"Looks like they get along well."

"They do. Renji can't get away with any kind of mischief anymore, either. It's like Reno has a sixth sense for it."

"Really? I'd have thought he'd be helping make mischief, not stopping it."

"Me too. Apparently, Reno's tried everything Renji can think up and knows just how dangerous it is and the chance of success. They were watching cartoons one day, and Renji got up and went to the closet, but Reno said 'It only works for two seconds, then it hurts.' Renji sighed and sat back down beside him."

"What did he want to do?"

"Jump off the roof with an umbrella."

"You're kidding!" Yuffie nodded. "Wow. It's a good thing for you he's here, then, if Renji tries things like that."

"Yeah...Tifa, he get's Renji to laugh and play. Really laugh. And he has friends closer to his age he plays with in the park now. He plays. Plays!" Tifa had lost count of how many times Yuffie had cried on her shoulder about Renji. Everyone had been surprised at how intelligent Yuffie's son was. None of them knew how taxing it was on his mother until his third birthday. Renji had just been put in bed, and she was helping Yuffie clean up the kitchen when she just burst into tears. They had tried to comfort her, but there was nothing they could do to help. "I'm so glad...he gets to play. I never got him to do it, but Reno does. They were flying kites the other day, and Renji didn't even ask how they stayed in the air."

"That's great. But, is Reno here for good? He's a Turk, after all."

"Officially," They both turned to the door, finding Rufus Shinra and Rude entering the house. "Reno is here to track down a criminal that threatened the ruler's daughter and grandson. Hello Yuffie, Tifa. The door was unlocked, so we let ourselves in." Tifa waved slightly, not knowing if she should be alarmed or not. "How have you been?"

"Great! If you're going to be here this often, Rufus, you should get a house. Miyuki would love to have you around more often." There was a sly smile on Yuffie's face that Tifa did not miss. Rufus, meanwhile, was sending a dirty look Yuffie's way.

"If it wasn't so pleasant a turn of events, I'd be angry at you for planning that."

"But you're not, so sit down. I'd offer something to drink, but I'm not allowed in the kitchen right now. Not that I want to go in it anyway."

"Ah, so the plan has come to fruition?" Rufus was leaning back on the sofa beside Yuffie. Rude took an armchair, nodding at the two women.

"You knew about that?"

"Naturally. Think of it as payback."

"Payback for what?" Tifa asked, blinking.

"Oh, you remember Miyuki, from the tea house?" At Tifa's nod, Yuffie continued. "I set her and Rufus up. They're attached at the hip now!"

"We are not attached at the hip, thank you."

"Oh, so where would you rather be attached at?" Tifa nearly snorted trying to hold in her laughter.

"When did you guys get to be friends like this?" she asked, looking at the three other people in the room.

"Well, I was friends with all the Turks before, and Rufus just sort of joined us one day. Turns out he's pretty tolerant of little boys that drag him butterfly catching."

"And sandcastle building." Rufus added. Tifa just stared at him, jaw hanging down. "You're very pretty with that expression, Tifa, but if you keep it there a man might get ideas."

"Hey!" A half-smile was on Rufus' face at her outburst while it was Yuffie's turn to laugh. They were interrupted by footsteps entering the living room, which turned out to be Reno, carrying Renji, going toward the bathroom. Rufus blinked and Rude lowered his sunglasses for a second to get a better look at his partner.

"Reno?"

"Yeah? Oh, hey, didn't think you'd be here yet. Hey Tifa."

"Reno, do I want to know why the two of you are wearing whipped cream?"

"Just a little fun, sir. We've got to get cleaned up real quick. And you," he said, looking at Yuffie. "Are not allowed in the kitchen under ANY circumstances, got it?" They disappeared down the hallway with Renji greeting them.

"Hi Mr. Rude, Mr. Rufus! We'll be right back!"

"Alright, Renji. We'll be right here." Rufus replied. "It's frightening how much alike those two are..."

It didn't take very long for them to get cleaned up. Yuffie and the rest were instructed to sit down around the coffee table and close their eyes. There was a clatter of plates and a very excited 'OKAY!' from Renji. He was eagerly looking at his mother, waiting to see her reaction. She didn't disappoint him. Yuffie gasped at her surprise. A strawberry shortcake was sitting on a large plate in front of her. It was slightly lopsided and strawberries were falling out from between the cakes. A mountain of whipped cream sat on top of it, threatening to fall off at any moment.

"Do you like it, Mommy?"

"Oh, goodness! Of course I like it! Did you make it all by yourselves?"

"Yes! Daddy made the cake part, but he dropped first bowl of strawberries on the floor, so we had to make more. I did all the rest of it, though."

"You weren't supposed to tell them I dropped the strawberries, Renji." Renji slapped a hand over his mouth while the others his laughs and snickers behind hands or coughs. Yuffie reached over and hugged her son tightly before cutting the cake. She managed to do it without anything flopping over. It turned out to be delicious. Very little was left of the cake once everyone was finished.

"That was so yummy! Thank you! I have the best son in the world." Renji was being squeezed in another hug, which he was enthusiastically returning. Reno was stacking plates while licking whipped cream off one finger. He winked at his son before going into the kitchen. He sighed at the mess he still had to clean up. The whipped cream was gone, but the floor was still sticky, not to mention the pile of dishes next to the sink to clean up. He jumped when two arms wrapped around his middle, nearly dropping the stack of plates he held.

"Hey, sorry about the kitchen."

"It's okay." Yuffie released him and took the plates from his hands. "You really did spend all day on that, didn't you?"

"Yeah. It was fun. I kinda wish you'd been there for the whipped cream fight, though." He grinned at her expression. She was giving him a perfectly level stare. It stayed there until Reno picked her up and set her on the counter. "It'd be fun to lick it off you."

"Hmm..." Yuffie was the one to start the kiss, but he was caught off guard by her tongue. There was something about the way she kissed him that turned him on beyond belief. They both knew nothing would happen, but it felt great to lose himself to her body. She was so tiny he almost engulfed her.

"Hey, get a room you two!" They broke apart to find Tifa mock-glaring at them, hands in fists.

"We ARE in a room. It's not our fault you barged in."

"Yuffie, tell your boyfriend not to take that tone of voice with me!"

"Reno, don't take that tone of voice with Tifa, even if she DID barge in." He laughed at that, stepping away from Yuffie to find a mop.

"There's no door to the kitchen, so there's no way I couldn't barge in!"

"Good point. Yuffie! Why are you doing the dishes?"

"Uh...cause they're dirty?"

"I'll get this. You go and play, damn it." Yuffie shrugged and went back to the living room, but Tifa stayed where she was. "Something you want? If you're gunna hit me, wait until the kid's asleep."

"No, I don't want to hit you anymore." She was leaning against the counter, arms crossed. "I forgot how in love you two were. Are. But, what happened? Yuffie never said."

"What you just said. I didn't want to be in love. I hated the idea that my happiness was tied to someone other than myself. I'd have done anything, and I mean anything, just to get her to smile. Scared the piss out of me, so I ran away."

"And did you really not know about Renji?"

"Nope. Look, there's really no way you can make me feel more like a piece of shit than I already do, so can we skip right to the part where you threaten me with death if I hurt her again?" Tifa turned away from him and started to wash the dishes Yuffie had put in the sink. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm washing the dishes."

"Why?"

"They're dirty. Besides, the sooner you get the kitchen clean, the sooner you can go back to the living room and play."

"Why are you being nice?" Reno was looking at Tifa with a great deal of suspicion, wondering what she was really going to to do him.

"Because I've decided that you'll need someone else besides Yuffie in your corner when Vincent finds out you're here. I seriously think he was going to kill you when we found out Yuffie was pregnant."

"Great, the fucking vampire lord is pissed at me. Think he'll stay away if carry a stake around?"

"No, I don't think that'll work."

"What if I nail his coffin shut?"

"I don't think that'll work either..."

"Damn."