Prompt - After the Surprise

Angeal was halfway through a box of noodles when there was a knock on his door.

Muttering at why people only stopped by during mealtimes, he put his dinner down and went to answer it. An exhausted looking Genesis stood in the open doorway.

His hair was a mess, the edges looking singed. His lip was bleeding and his coat was streaked with soot and the unique branching patterns that came from a direct lightning strike. He had a haunted expression in his eyes that Angeal had never seen before.

"May I come in?" He asked, as though this were perfectly normal.

Angeal stood to the side without a word, letting him enter. His friend walked in and stood awkwardly in the centre of the room. Watching with concern, Angeal crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. Genesis wasn't even seeing the place; rather he stood there with a vaguely baffled look on his face.

"I don't know if I'm brave enough to ask." He said finally, when no explanation was forth coming. His money was on Hawke being at the root of whatever this was but that didn't narrow the list of potential disasters in the least. The woman was practically his sister-in-law and he was on good terms with her, but nobody could pretend she wasn't a mess of spectacular disasters and criminal activities.

Genesis ran a hand through his hair. One of his gloves was missing. He didn't seem to notice. There was a burdened silence that lasted far too long.

"Hawke's pregnant." He finally said, his voice hollow.

Angeal instantly stood up straighter, his mind grinding to an uncomfortable halt. Genesis collapsed onto the nearest sofa.

Every SOLDIER was aware of the complications they had having children and he was no exception. Did that mean that Hawke had-? It wasn't something he would have ever thought possible, not of her. Yet here Genesis was on his couch with his head in his hands.

"And the Father?" Angeal asked, as carefully as possible.

"Me." Genesis said, sounding utterly baffled.

"Really?" He asked before he could stop himself.

"Hollander ran a paternity test. It's definitely mine."

"Then… why are you here?"

"Because I asked the same question you just did." Genesis said, finally looking up at him.

"Oh. I take it she didn't react well?"

"To being called a worthless cheating whore? No. No she didn't." He said with a short bitter laugh.

"Genesis!" Angeal exclaimed, protest and reprimand colouring his voice. "You didn't actually call her that, did you?"

The red head leaned back on the couch and ran a hand down his face. "Suffice to say I did not take the news well."

"No wonder she kicked you out then." He sat and picked up his box of noodles again.

"Thank you, Angeal, for your unrivalled support and encouragement." He said, cutting his eyes at him.

"Happy to help." He took a bite of the noodles. They had since cooled and were now greasy. He looked down at them in disappointment.

"It's not that I've got anything against… children, but we didn't plan for this." Genesis said, reflexively filling the silence with monologues on his problems. "By the goddess, we've never even discussed it!"

"That seems a bit short sighted." Angeal commented.

"She thought she was barren." He said offhandedly. He got up and started to pace. "I've never even thought of having children, I expect the same goes for her. It just wasn't a possibility and I was fine with that." He ran an agitated hand through his hair. He took a couple of deep breaths. Then he spun back to look at him.

"Maker, I am going to be a Father, Angeal." He said, his voice wavering like it had only just dawned on him. "There are going to be little people in this world who look like me and will expect me to guide them and protect them and teach them and..." He took a deep rattling breath. The haunted look had returned to his eyes. "Please tell me you have alcohol here."

Sending him a sympathetic look Angeal got up and went to the kitchen. He opened a cupboard and fetched the bottle of Banoran brandy he kept there. Genesis drank it far more than he did, though he did like a glass on occasion. The bottle was three quarters full.

He handed it over. Genesis pulled the cork out and drank straight from the bottle. That was a first.

"I don't know anything about kids." He said after taking a long gulp and wiping his mouth. "I terrify most of them."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out." Angeal said. He was mostly certain it was true.

"I'm a SOLDIER, Angeal, I kill people for money!" Genesis spat back, looking at him as though it was highly irresponsible to even suggest it would all be alright. "My wife, who isn't even talking to me right now, is a gambling knife wielding mercenary. What business do we have being anywhere near children?" He took another swig of the bottle and then let his hand fall pathetically to the couch beside him. "We are doomed to failure." He declared.

"When you put it like that it I suppose it really is hopeless."

"What?" He demanded, looking at him in consternation.

"You can't do it." He replied bluntly.

Genesis opened his mouth to retort, but then he paused and his eyes narrowed. "I know what you're doing."

"I'm trying to give sound advice. Even Hawke is out of her depths here. I'd suggest adoption."

"I am not giving my child away to anyone." He replied, with the sort of calm that usually preceded epic fireballs.

"Why not?" Angeal challenged.

"You know precisely why." He said coldly. "I might not have intended this to happen but no child of mine is going to be merely handed off like some inconsequential nuisance." He stood again and paced the length of the living room, talking as though he were giving a lecture. "They are going to be raised with the greatest care and attention. Once they reach adulthood they will be competent and confident with eloquence and sense." He paused and tilted his head at a thought. "I wonder if they'll appreciate Loveless."

"Planet, I hope not." Angeal said and immediately regretted it.

"Of course they will!" Genesis snapped back in outrage, gesturing with the bottle. "They may even grow to be actors, or poets themselves."

"At least Hawke will be there, so there's still hope." It was always terrifying when Hawke was the reasonable one. "Though I suspect she'll have them picking locks and taking cheap shots before they're potty trained."

Genesis barely heard him, a thoughtful smile starting to cross his face. "I can teach him how to wield a sword and Hawke can show him how to wield his natural magic." The smile grew ever so slightly. "Then I'll show him materia and she can teach him the trick of her own blades."

"What if it's a girl?" Angeal asked.

"Then she'll be just as magnificent as her mother." He held his chin up high.

"With her sense of humour too I imagine." That would be fun, especially in her teenage years.

"No, she'll have her mother's looks but my wit." He corrected. Angeal rolled his eyes. "And the best of both our fighting styles."

"I don't think you get to decide things like character traits." He said with a crooked smile at his friends growing enthusiasm.

"It's my son or daughter, I'll raise them however I like." He said dismissively. His smile grew less restrained and into something brimming with hope, the sort he never allowed himself in public. "I'm going to be a Father, Angeal."

"Congratulations by the way." He said, giving his own wry smile in return. He didn't think he'd ever seen Genesis like this. But then it was a momentous occasion.

"I'm going to be a Father." He repeated, completely oblivious to him. Even with his hair singed, his coat ruined, and kicked out of his house for who knew how long, Genesis looked like the happiest man on Gaia.

A/N: No disrespect to anyone adopted Genesis just has some unhealthy resentment for the entire concept. Thank you for reading, leave a review if you like or even a prompt of your own! No guarantee I'll fill it but I'll definitely give it a shot.