Heya! Anyone still reading this? Well, if you do, welcome to the new chapter "Name the Baby!"
Many, many thanks to my uber awesome beta Chephren!!!
Happily ever after 4
"Very well then, let's get this over with," Sephiroth sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and trying to ignore the eager and excited faces of his friends. Everyone (meaning Kadaj, Loz, Zack, Angeal, Aeris and his pregnant lover) had gathered for this 'event' of chosing a name for their unborn. Actually the General had intended to keep this private, but before he could say "Name the baby," their intentions had leaked and now he sat in his living room with a group of widely grinning, unnerving people that all had to contribute tons of names on white little notes that had been tossed into a bowl, standing on the table now.
Of course, he could have tried to just throw them out, and do this alone with Yazoo, but his guts told him that this would have meant even more trouble. And he tried to avoid emotional turmoil for Yazoo as much as he could...
"I´ll go first," Kadaj announced, his hand already stuck in the bowl. He made quite a show of fishing out a piece of paper, causing Zack to impatiently shift in his seat. Aeris smiled excitedly, hands folded in her lap. Angeal looked stoic as always, whereas Loz´ eyes were glued to the bowl.
Sephiroth just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, but unfolded them and wrapped them around Yazoo´s slender shoulders as the young man leaned against him with an arched brow.
He just hoped as well that they´d be done fast, Sephiroth seemed annoyed already, and this topic was a sensitive one. They had discussed the name issues quite a few times already and hadn´t come to a conclusion (mainly because Yazoo refused to name the baby 'Napoleon', 'Genghis' or after any other ridiculous dead warlord). Eventually they had at least agreed to let coincidence decide.
Finally Kadaj had picked a scrap of paper and triumphantly held it up.
"Unwrap it," Loz nudged, biting his lip. Their brothers had actually taken quite an interest in their soon to be nephew, and Sephiroth had the slight suspicion that they were trying to get one of their own, though, as of now, hadn´t been blessed with success. The former General didn´t know yet how he felt about the pregnancy- he still had mixed feelings. Not that he didn´t want the baby, he was strangely elated about it now. On the other hand, however, the thought of the upcoming responsibilities made him nervous as hell- not that he would admit that. He didn´t know if he was fit to be a father yet...
"...Bernhard."
The room was so silent for a moment that a pin being dropped could have been heard and everyone, save for Zack, looked a bit perplexed.
"Yesh!!!" the puppy exclaimed, grinning happily and proudly.
"What the... My child certainly will NOT be named 'Bernhard'!" Sephiroth dulled the young man´s excitement, irritatedly glaring at him. Yazoo squeezed his hand slightly to calm him down, but gave his consent with a very set "Certainly not."
"But-"
"No buts," was the father's imperious last word. Angeal soothingly laid a hand on his disappointed lover´s arm.
"Very well, I´ll give it a try now!" Aeris announced into the group, clasping her hands together. Sephiroth just gave her a tired sign to go ahead and leaned his head against his knuckles.
"Let´s see..." the flowermaid smiled, unfolding the paper, but then she frowned.
"Xa- Xantho-... Xanti-"
"Xanthippos," Angeal interrupted calmly, adding just as casually. "It means 'Yellow Horse'."
"...You can´t be serious," Sephiroth dead-panned, blankly staring at his friend. "What did I do to you that you are that vicious?!"
Angeal opened his mouth, obviously a bit lost. "...Nothing." He then frowned and looked at the puppy for some support, but the former SOLDIER first class looked just as estranged as everyone else.
Aeris gave a docile laugh, trying to ease the murderous tension with her sunny smile.
"Enough of that now," Sephiroth grumpily declared, reaching out for the bowl and grabbing the first paper he could get. He leaned back and exasperatedly opened it, while Yazoo moved his head over to see better.
"And?"
"Amy," the former General read out loud, blankly.
"That is a very nice name," Loz said, and the others nodded in agreement. Yazoo however bit his lip, as his boyfriend had become remarkably paler.
"Maybe we should give it another try..." he said, but was interrupted as the one winged angel hissed,
"Are you mocking me?! Who wrote that?"
Awkward silence filled the living room, until Loz finally gathered his guts and bravely raised his hand a few inches.
"Loz..." Sephiroth let out a slow, exasperated breath. "'Amy' is a name for girls," he enlightened the bulky man with forced patience, obviously doubting his mental capability.
"Yeah... I know that," Loz frowned, uncertainly, but Kadaj was already glaring daggers at Sephiroth.
"He´s not stupid, you know. Stop treating him as if he is retarded."
"Well," Sephiroth said, throwing the paper on the table. "Then I would like to know what sane person would give my firstborn son a girl´s name."
"...Excuse me?" the youngest asked, looking just as flabbergasted as everyone else, except for Yazoo, who seemed rather resigned.
"What makes you think it will be a boy?" Zack frowned, scratching his head as if it was his fault that he didn´t see the logic behind it.
"Well of course it will be a boy," the former General stated matter-of-factly, as if it was the most natural thing. Yazoo chewed on his tongue in a slightly unnerved manner.
"What if it isn´t?" Aeris asked carefully.
"Don´t be silly. Of course it will be a male. He will inherit all my knowledge and talent and will become a fine, strong man," Sephiroth revealed his great plan with satisfaction.
"Now who´s the retard here," Kadaj stated, to piss the man off and get some payback for earlier, crossing his arms.
Before Sephiroth could snap back at him, Angeal held his hands up. "Well well, let´s not get too carried away here. Sephiroth... That sounds... nice, but you might want to consider the possibility that it could also be a... female bab-"
"I can´t believe this!" Aeris suddenly shouted, standing up, her braid bouncing angrily as she pointed an accusing finger at the surprised General. "You´re a misogynist!"
"A what?" Loz peeped up, but flinched as the lovely flower maid, continued in her agitated rant.
"You are so neanderthal! Do you think a woman is less worth than a man?! Is that why you insist on that ridiculous view?! I tell you what, Mr. Woman-Hater, girls are so much better than every single one of you here can ever be and you´re just clinging to your patriarchic illusions because you´re not man enough to deal with a strong woman! You´re just insecure and have to compensate for it by looking down on us. But you´ll see, Mister, you´ll see!" she huffed and then turned on her heel to march out of this house.
"Well, that was... scary," Sephiroth finally said after he had gathered his jaw back from the floor.
"She has a point, though," Yazoo commented with a lifted brow.
"That´s ridiculous," the one winged angel snorted. "Just because I don´t want constantly whining, nagging women around me, doesn´t mean I am a sexist..."
"Yeah, sure." Kadaj rolled his eyes, but wisely shut his mouth after a warning look from Yazoo.
"I think it is time for us to go now," Angeal muttered, standing up, pulling the puppy with him.
"Really?" Zack replied disappointedly, making his infamous puppy eyes, because it was getting interesting just now.
"Yes, really," Angeal insisted, pushing his lover towards the door.
"I´ll see you to the door," Yazoo offered, getting up and leading them into the corridor.
"Go ahead Zack, I´ll be right there," the older instructed, and the chipper soldier obliged with a shrug.
Leaning over to the silver haired man, Angeal whispered, so it wouldn´t be heard in the living room
"Are you sure it is a boy? Usually the mo-... pregnant one has some kind of sixth sense when it comes to those matters..."
Yazoo just cast his eyes downwards, towards his belly, answering quietly, "Well, I suppose we have to work a bit on that insecurity of his."
"My sympathies," was the muttered reply. "Whenever you need my help..."
"Thank you, I might get back to you on that," Yazoo replied calmly, and with a last nod, closed he door behind them.
As he came back into the living room, Kadaj and Loz had already gone back to their own quarters.
"We will name him Alexander," Yazoo was flatly informed from the couch where Sephiroth sat, sulking, his expression determined and tight.
"Whatever you say," the pregnant young man replied disinterestedly, knowing better than trying to argue with Sephiroth when he was being childish like that.
With a taxing look, the one winged angel unfolded his arms and motioned for his lover to sit down with him, because he needed some emotional support here after he had been defamed so bluntly. Yazoo settled down beside him, sitting there quietly and impassively letting his belly be stroked.
"I do not discriminate against women," Sephiroth informed him after a while, but all he got as a reply was a doubtfully lifted brow.
"This is ridiculous, you don´t believe that, do you? … Fine! In the highly unlikely case of this baby becoming a female then we will call it Alexandra. I can´t believe this..." the former General snorted, but at least Yazoo snuggled against him.
He could just secretly hope that he would never EVER have to deal frightening matters of boyfriend issues or pms-ing...
tbc
Hm, it seems interest in this fic has waned... Well, thanks to everyone who read and reviewed it anyway, but I don´t know when I´ll update it again, if ever, unless I get some motivation ;)
Now, on to the reviewreplies:
Aeriths-Rain: Haha, drugged ice-cream! That actually makes sense, if Angeal wanted to catch the thief red-handed... However then he couldn´t eat his own ice-cream unless he suffers from insomnia XD Glad you liked it!!!
Natzilla: Chrchr, yeah, Yaz is ALWAYS delicate in EVERYTHING he does *cough* He just knows how to get what he wants ;) I bet poor Yaz has to listen to all kinds of war-stories too, he´s technically married to his grand-father XD I bet Seph is even staring his own war movies... Yes, you´re right, CC Seph seems a lot more sociable than wacko-Sephy! However, he was pretty grumpy with Zack and Angeal too, and a bit arrogant as well maybe XD Hehe, well, I agree with you that Yaz seemed as if he´d be content to just doze a bit on his bike during AC/C, but still, he was chuckling all the time during fighting, so I was under the impression that he actually did have fun... Well, only verbal fighting for him now anyways, since he´s a mom and all ^__^
Soyna: Yesh, you cannot fight the Yazoo puppy eyes XD I´m so happy you´re still enjoying the fic! I know it´s a bit silly, but it is fun to write XD Yes, you can totally gag at the strawberry ice-cream with pickles, I winced when I wrote that. On the other hand there´s Pizza Hawaii as well though... Since the last chapter was so sweet and sappy, I had to take a bit of a break and make it more dramatic again, hope you don´t mind ;)
I wish everyone a happy new year!!! Hopefully I´ll see you all in good health and high spirits in 2010!!!!