Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are Eddy, Parker, and Jake. More subplots poke their heads in with this chapter. Enjoy. There are also a few suggestive implications in this chapter, but nothing explicit. Enjoy!

..:-X-:..

052 – What They Say About Assuming

Rinoa backed into her supervisor's office, holding two cups of coffee in one hand and a cup of orange juice in the other. Okay, she understood why some people avoided coffee, but it was too early in the morning to be stringent about caffeine. Still, whoever Eddy was meeting with this morning was such a stickler. Far be it for her to argue. It might be the head of the entire IT department, for all she knew…

"Sorry, I'm late." She greeted, turning as she opened the door with her hip, hands full. "The café was overrun with people from Aerith's department. I think they're taking their exams today. I've never seen so many baggy eyes in all my li—" She paused.

Eddy looked up from his newspaper, adjusting his glasses to gauge her sudden halt. Rinoa wasn't looking at him. She was looking at the little boy who was perched on one of the chairs on the other side of Eddy's desk. He looked to be around eight years old and was swinging his legs back and forth as he peered back at Rinoa's entrance.

"You okay?" Eddy interrupted her brain-fart.

"Er—yeah, sorry." Rinoa shook her head, "I guess I wasn't expecting—When you said you had a meeting with someone, I assumed—"

Eddy shrugged, "I have to say 'meeting' so nobody bugs me about it. This is Parker, my son. Parker, this is Rinoa." He introduced, "She's the new employee who keeps breaking computers."

Rinoa scoffed at that, setting the drinks on his desk, but kept her own coffee to herself. "That's my name, don't wear it out."

"Nice to meet you." Parker offered his hand like a little gentleman.

Rinoa smiled and shook it. "A pleasure to meet you too."

Parker leaned toward Eddy. "Is she the one who put a laptop in the freezer?"

Rinoa's eyes widened and she looked from the little boy to Eddy. He smirked and spread his hands innocently.

Parker offered a mischievous grin. "You know that doesn't work."

Rinoa frowned, "Yes, I learned that pretty quickly, kid."

Eddy stood, "Okay, so I hate to do this, but I just got a page from Clancy at the Security System mainframe computer. She said it's flatlining. Could you…watch him for a few minutes while I go put a fire out?" He asked with an apologetic tone.

Rinoa hesitated, "Y-you mean…babysit?"

"I'm not a baby. I'm nine years old." Parker quickly corrected her.

"Please, it'll only take ten, fifteen minutes tops." Eddy pleaded.

Rinoa chewed the side of her lip. "Uh…sure, I…guess."

"Thanks." Eddy was already heading toward the door. "Parker, behave for Miss Heartilly, okay?"

"I always behave." But the kid's grin said otherwise.

Rinoa felt helpless, but Eddy gave her a thumb up on his way out. "Thanks again. I'm sorry. I'll be right back, promise."

Then he was gone, and Rinoa was left alone with Parker.

The little boy picked up his orange juice and took a drink from it. "I thought you'd be blond. Aren't blonds supposed to be—"

"Watch it." Rinoa pointed at him, sitting in another chair in Eddy's office. "I'm not a dumb blond. I know plenty of smart blonds, actually. I'm just not that great with computers yet."

"Then why are you in the computer department?" Parker tilted his head.

"Yet." Rinoa emphasized, folding her arms defensively. "Your dad is teaching me."

It was weird to think that Eddy was a father. She couldn't put her finger on why; he was a perfectly nice man, even if he wasn't much to look at and got a little nerdy sometimes when it came to his precious laptops…

"He talks about you a lot." Parker remarked.

Well, I wish I could say the same, Rinoa thought, saying. "Yeah?"

"You're shorter than Dad's last girlfriend."

Rinoa balked. "Wait, what? No, I'm not—"

The little boy looked up at Rinoa with a contemplative expression. "Are you gonna be my new mom?"

"No, sweetie. I'm not." She said.

Okay, so that made Eddy either a divorcee or a widower…or a really lousy husband, if he had girlfriends, but Rinoa didn't see that happening. What in Kingdom Hearts had Eddy been telling this kid about her that would give Parker that idea?

"Okay." Parker shrugged, "You're kinda skinny anyway."

"Watch it, kid." Rinoa pointed at him again.

"So if you're not good at computers…yet…what are you good at?" Parker asked.

"I make a mean cup of orange juice, don't you think?" Rinoa gestured to his cup.

"You bought this."

"So sue me." Rinoa folded her arms, but smirked when Parker laughed at her.

..:-X-:..

053 – Matchmaker

"You're welcome." Jake interrupted Yuffie's lunch hour, dropping into the seat across from her at the outdoor café.

She looked up from her sandwich. "Hello to you too, Jake."

He flashed her a cheeky grin and folded his arms on the table. Yuffie chewed slowly, staring right back at him. He was waiting for her to ask…

"Why should I be thanking—"

"I have found a man for you!" He interrupted eagerly.

Yuffie groaned and swallowed her bite, wiping her mouth with a napkin. "I wasn't aware I had hired a matchmaker."

"See, that's a perk of being my friend. This is a free service I offer." He beamed. "So I have this friend named Trevor—"

"Nope." Yuffie took another bite of sandwich. "I do not need dating advice."

"This isn't advice. This is a blind date, carefully selected, organized, and set up by yours truly." Jake pointed his thumbs at himself.

"No." She reinforced, taking another bite and then speaking around a full mouth of sandwich, "I ca'geh' mah own man."

Jake looked at her flatly. "Yeah…I had to fight through the line of men waiting to get sprayed with your lunch."

Yuffie swallowed again. "Smart ass. I thought you were all busy wooing McCallister?"

"It's a work in progress." Jake smiled. "Now I just want to spread the joy of love."

"Ugh, I'm eating here." Yuffie gestured to her sandwich. "Take your sappy somewhere else. I'm not buying."

"But Trevor is, like, perfect for you!" Jake flailed.

"Not interested." Yuffie took a drink from her soda. "I like the single life. I do what I want, go where I want, for however long I want. I don't need no man!" She snapped her fingers.

"Fine, fine, I get it. You are woman, I hear you roar." Jake waved her off. "But, c'mon, he's one of my best friends."

"I have never even heard you mention this dude before." Yuffie wiped her hands on her napkin. "Go away. And take your sappy with you."

"I'm not sappy. I'm a man in love!"

"Have you and McCallister even been on that date you finally got out of her?" Yuffie lifted an eyebrow.

"Like I said…work in progress."

"So that's a no."

"She's busy."

"She's uninterested."

"Tabaeus is like a turtle." Jake lifted his hands, as though framing a large picture between them. "She's got this shell around her that's all rough and lumpy, but she's a softie inside."

"Fun fact: women don't like to be called lumpy. Go with curvy." Yuffie advised.

"Anyway," Jake spoke over her. "I think you and Trevor would totally gel together."

"And I think I didn't ask to be set up. I can get my own dates."

"And yet you don't."

"Because I LIKE being single." Yuffie said. "I have front row seats to any relationship I want. I get to live vicariously through," She lifted one finger, "The married couple with Leon and Tifa," She lifted another finger, "The awkward couple with Aerith and Cloud," She lifted another finger, "And the scandalous couple with Cid and Beverly."

"So what does that make me and Tabs?" Jake pried.

"The I'll-believe-it-when-I-see-it couple." Yuffie remarked.

"C'mon!" Jake smacked the table. "A few weeks ago you were the biggest cheerleader for Tabake."

"Tabake?" Yuffie lifted an eyebrow.

"Y'know, celebrity couples get cute names with their names mixed together. Tabaeus and Jake: Tabake."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." Yuffie finished her sandwich. "What, like…Leon and Tifa would be…Tion, or...Lefa or something?"

"Cid and Beverly would be…Bevid or…maybe Civerly?"

Yuffie squinted one eye, "Cloud and Aerith…Aeroud? No…Clourith? Clerith?"

"And now I'm working on Yevor." He pointed at her.

"No."

"Fine…Treffie."

"Jake. I'm not going on a blind date, especially if YOU set it up."

"Ooh! Tabake and Treffie should double date sometime!"

"I am trying to eat here!"

..:-X-:..

054 – Mood Whiplash

Leon stared up at the ceiling, out of breath and bewildered. He wasn't…sure…but he might have dislocated a joint there at some point. Everything felt sort of numb. Lying beside him on the bed, where she'd rolled off of him, Tifa was also breathing heavily, but almost giggling as she got her breath back.

They had been together officially for two years…and THAT had never happened. He was good…but he doubted he was THAT good…

"Did you—" He said aimlessly.

Tifa exhaled. "Yeah."

He didn't look at her, content to stare at the ceiling…slightly worried what might happen to his spine if he tried to move.

"Five times?" He gawked.

"Yeah." Tifa breathed, running a hand through her hair.

"That—" Leon blinked, "Is that…normal?"

Tifa giggled, fiddling with the bed sheets over her chest. "Sorry." She said, not looking sorry at all, but rather mischievous actually.

"No, no." Leon managed to lift a hand, waving absently. "That was just…"

"Wow." She input.

"…in a word."

Dr. Kim had told them—warned them, more like—that sometimes pregnancy hormones would get…intense…but…

"Five times?" He repeated, rolling his head across the pillow to look at her.

Tifa giggled again and rolled onto her side, giving him an impish look. "Want to make it six?"

Leon balked at her. "Tifa…I love you, but I've got a meeting in the morning…I'm going to need all of my blood…in my brain."

She smiled, leaning in and kissing his neck. "Aw, c'mon…" She worked her way up his jaw. "Meetings are overrated."

Leon swallowed and stared up at the ceiling. This was the third night in a row…He just couldn't keep up with her at this rate. He was more than willing to try, but the busy season of missions was upon the Alliance this week, and he simply couldn't be half awake at the meetings. Not to mention he needed to be able to walk straight.

"Skip it." She murmured as she kissed him.

"I can't." He groaned. "I need protein."

Mustering up any willpower he had left, he slid out of bed and away from Tifa. She sat up and ruffled her hair again, looking disappointed but not offput. Leon pulled on some pants and staggered downstairs. It was almost three am. He had to be at the boardroom in four hours. That left barely three hours for actual sleep. Just thinking about it made his joints ache. At that point, was it really worth it to TRY to sleep? Considering he was looking at a 14 hour day coming up…yes, yes it was.

After downing a few shots of orange juice and vitamin pills to keep the crash at bay, he went back upstairs, careful to stretch his recovering knee gingerly as he did so. When he returned to the bedroom, Tifa was lying on her side in bed, curled up and with an almost visible storm cloud over her head.

With a sigh, Leon climbed back into bed and rolled over, putting an arm around her. She scooted away with a huff. Leon just withdrew and rolled onto his back again. Tifa had gone from happy to sad to aroused to furious to crying to happy again so often in the past few weeks, that the whiplash didn't even faze him anymore.

Still, it would be difficult for him to get any restful sleep if she was bitter at him. He looked at her curled back and reached out, stroking the back of two fingers across her shoulders. She huffed again, but didn't move away at the touch. So she was irritated, but she wasn't pissed at him at least. He gave her elbow a light, playful pinch and started to roll away, but Tifa caught his wrist before he withdrew and tugged him back.

There she was.

Leon breathed a short sigh of relief at her quick mood swing away from irritated to…probably too tired to be irritated. He moved onto his side and let her tug his arm around her ribs again. She felt warm and comfortable, so it wasn't difficult for Leon's eyelids to start winning the battle. He pressed his lips to her bare shoulder before settling down to sleep.

She still felt a little tense, but the mood swing had left her alone for now. Tifa had always had a penchant for abrupt mood changes, though never as abrupt or out of the blue as they had been so far while she was pregnant. The idea flitted through his head that their daughter might inherit that tendency.

He opened his eyes in the darkness of the bedroom. That meant that eventually he was going to have a Tifa and a mini-Tifa ranting and crying at the same time at some point. Well…there was always the chance that she would inherit HIS moods…Kingdom Hearts help them if that happened.

Leon unconsciously held Tifa closer, his hand draped around her stomach. If either of those cases were true, he was going to have to have a talk with the local convenience store about ice cream discounts…

..:-X-:..

Preview for next week: "What kind of weirdo conversations are you two having back here?"