Cloud unlocked the door. "Here, here…don't pick anything up. Just lay there on the couch, I'll get the bed ready for you, call the pharmacy, fix you somethin' to eat, then go get…" Tifa cut Cloud off; putting her arms around him.
"Relax…I'm not bedfast, I'm just not allowed to lift anything. You don't have to do it all. I want you to relax, so you can get some rest tonight. You hardly slept at all last night." Tifa reminded him, kissing his neck. I'll call the pharmacy and I'll get the bed ready. If you'll pick up the kids and grab some dinner while you're out; that will be just fine." Tifa promised him. Cloud shook his head. That actually made more sense than him running around like a crazy person. Cloud shook his head.
"Okay, what would you like? While I'm out, I mean?" Cloud asked her, still holding on to her.
"Hmmm….oooh get me…clam chowder and deluxe grilled cheese from the place down the street. Large…everything size large. I'm starving." Tifa said.
"You should be. You've haven't eaten a thing since yesterday morning." Cloud said taking her by the shoulders and holding her against him.
"I'll call the doctor tomorrow and schedule my follow up appointment. Will you pick up my prescriptions on your way back home?" she asked.
"Yeah, of course. I'll be back. You bundle up and relax. I won't be gone long." Cloud assured her. "I love you."
"Bye." Tifa watched him leave before heading into their bedroom to turn down their bed and create a bit of an incline for her to lay on later. She was actually glad that one of her prescriptions had a side effect of drowsiness because otherwise she had no clue how she would go to sleep on an incline. "Hi, I need to fill three prescriptions. Tifa Strife." She tugged around on her covers as she read the prescriptions off to the pharmacist.
It had started to rain while Cloud was out. Yuffie met Cloud in the lobby of her building with the kids and a load of their stuff.
"Cloud!" Denzel hurried toward him and threw his arms around Cloud despite how full his hands were. Marlene was close behind. "Is Tifa okay now?"
"Is she at home asleep?" Marlene asked.
"Yes, she's okay and no she's not asleep. But listen, listen you two. Don't get home and bother her a lot okay? She needs to rest. Just…just take it easy on her." Cloud told them but he knew they'd be good. They always were. "You two go get in the car okay? It's raining out there. I'll be there in just a minute. Did you thank Yuffie?"
"Yes." Both Marlene and Denzel chimed in near unison. "Bye, Yuffie!" Marlene said before hurrying to the car with Denzel close behind. Cloud just looked at her before tearing up.
"Cloud, don't do this. You know I get dreadfully uncomfortable when you do shit like this!" she said hugging him. "It's okay, Cloud. Tifa's alright. At the risk of sounding a bit harsh, it's…it's not like you and Tifa lost something you knew you had. It's not your fault Cloud so don't blame yourself for anything. Vincent's going to be in town tomorrow and he really, really wants to talk to you. So, go home…put your arms around your wife and get some sleep because I think you need to hear what he has to say." Yuffie told him. Cloud looked at her and sighed.
"Thank you for everything you've ever done for us….everything. I don't know what we'd do without you."
"It's no big deal, Cloud. You're the only one in the world who thinks it is." She told him. "I'll see ya." Cloud gave her a nod and headed back outside into the rainy evening.
"Okay, guys. Sorry about that. Do you want anything to eat? I'm going to get Tifa something and I have to pick up her prescriptions." Cloud asked.
"Cloud, did you want to have a baby? Because…I didn't think you and Tifa wanted a baby?" Marlene asked, completely avoiding the question Cloud just asked. He looked at her big brown eyes in the rearview mirror. Of all questions…that was the one he didn't want right now. Pre-married Cloud would have run, dodged the situation entirely…but Post-married Cloud knew he couldn't. Of course, he could just cry instead because that's what he was about to do. He hook his head a bit frantically, trying with all his power to keep himself together.
"I don't know…I don't….I don't know…I don't know Marlene….I don't know, okay? I don't….know…." Now, he'd have to do everything in his power to dry these weepy eyes before they arrived at the pharmacy. All three of them were silent. This would be the longest two mile car ride in the history of the world. "Wait here. I won't be long." Cloud finally said as they arrived at the pharmacy.
"You shouldn't have asked that." Denzel scolded Marlene.
"Well, you were thinking it too and I know it. They didn't want another baby anyway. You know that Tifa always said our family was complete." Marlene insisted.
"But we could have helped. You're a good babysitter, Marlene. And I could have held her a lot…or him. I'm just…I'm just a little disappointed because it would have been kind of fun to have a baby brother or sister." Denzel admitted to her.
"But Denzel, maybe….maybe Tifa lost the baby for a reason. They never, ever talked about having a baby." Marlene was too smart for her age as she turned away from Denzel and started outside at the rain hitting the parking lot. It was so obvious in so many ways that Cloud and Tifa had rubbed off these kids. Of course, most kids do turn out to be a lot like their parents. But, just in the little things that Marlene and Denel said and did…Cloud and Tifa's influence was present.
"You're cruel sometimes Marlene." Denzel said softly, hoping she wouldn't hear him.
"I'm don't being cruel, Denzel…I'm being honest." She said. That statement had Tifa written all over it. Denzel saw Cloud come out the door, returning to the car as quickly as he could.
"Okay, you two. We have one more stop to make. Do you want anything to eat?"
"No thanks." Marlene said.
"We ate at Yuffie's." Denzel told him.
"And did you finish your homework?" Cloud asked them.
"Yes." Denzel answered.
"I called off work tomorrow so I'll take you to school if you want. You can sleep an extra twenty minutes." Cloud said as he waited in a line of presumably, the tail end of evening rush hour traffic. This was a long light anyway, and the fact that he needed to turn left made it even worse. Cloud's mind whirled as he sat there in the traffic. Marlene and Denzel didn't say a word as they sat there waiting. After two light cycles, they finally made their turn. "Vincent's coming by tomorrow."
"We haven't seen Vincent in a while. Cloud, Vincent's girlfriend had a miscarriage too." Marlene reminded him.
"Yeah, she did." Cloud answered her.
They were home ten minutes later. Denzel and Tifa filled their arms with their things and started up the stairs with Cloud close behind. "Now remember you two, don't do anything to get Tifa moving too much.
"We know Cloud!" Denzel called down to Cloud. Marlene pushed the door open. She immediately called to Tifa.
"I'm in here, sweetie." Tifa called to Marlene. "Hey, honey. Come here." Tifa patted on the bed beside her. Marlene smiled and curled up beside her.
"I love you." Tifa said hugging her.
"I love you too. I'm glad you're okay." Marlene said.
"Oh, I'm fine, honey. I'm just tired that's all. It's all over now. Hey, Denzel. Come here." Denzel dropped his bag and smiled, hurrying over to Tifa.
"I'm glad you're home Tifa." Denzel said putting his arms around her.
"Hey, it's pouring out there. You okay?" Cloud asked her.
"Yeah, yeah…I'm fine." Tifa answered him.
"I'm going to get your dinner ready here and I'll bring it in to you." Cloud said. Marlene and Denzel stayed with Tifa for a few more minutes until they needed to get ready for school the next day and get ready for bed. It was late in the evening. Cloud returned to Tifa, her dinner spread out over a tray. "Here."
"Oh, this looks wonderful. Thank you." Tifa pulled his lips into hers.
"Here's something else. My mind's been crazy tonight but…no matter what kind of sign this was for us…no matter what lesson we're supposed to learn from this…you'll always be my wife." Cloud said pulling Tifa's engagement ring and wedding band out of his pocket and pushing them onto her finger. "…and I'll always be here. It doesn't matter that we weren't supposed to have this baby. It's no one's fault. It happened. Everyone's right. I'm…I'm blowin' this whole thing out of proportion. I love you so much. I just…I've been freakin' the hell out. Marlene asked me tonight in the car if you and I wanted to have a baby. And I…I just lost it. I didn't let it show…but inside…that killed me to hear her ask me that. And I realized that…." Cloud was about to lose it. "…all I could say was I don't know…isn't that the most horrible response a father could ever give his daughter! I said, I don't know!" Cloud pleaded with her. Tifa took his hand in hers before diving into her dinner.
"You were just telling her the first thing that came to your mind. And let's be honest…neither of us truly know how we would have felt about having a baby, Cloud. It wasn't something we ever planned. Cloud, you and I would have felt a whirlwind of emotions and fears, and…everything. I think that was a fair answer you gave her….because you don't know. Thank you for dinner and my medicine. I love you too and uh…I do, Cloud…I, do." Tifa said referring to her ring. Cloud smiled.
"I'm glad you still do. You stay quiet and eat. I'll be in the other room if you need anything. Oh, Vincent's coming by or something tomorrow. Yuffie says he needs to talk to me."
"It's about time he shows his face around here." Tifa said. It was true that Vincent had kept a low profile lately. "That will be nice to see him. Is he coming here?"
"I don't know yet. I'll find out tomorrow. Would you like to see him?"
"Yeah, yeah…that'd be nice. This is really good."
"I'm glad you like it." Cloud said leaving her alone.
It had been a hell of a day, a hell of an incident in fact. But now, Tifa was resting peacefully in her own bed. Cloud was finally resting peacefully with his own thoughts. He wasn't doubting himself nearly as much as he had been earlier in the day. Perhaps the biggest relief was Marlene and Denzel. Cloud expected them to be…well…he wasn't certain how he had expected them. He laid down on the couch and stared aimlessly at the TV, so thankful to be at home.
My apologies for the short chapter. Next one will be longer!