Forty two: Watewmewon
"Grumpie..." Tifa whined while she laid on her side.
"Hmmm...?"
"...Watermelon..." Tifa said quietly that it was inaudible.
"...What...?" Cloud croaked.
"I said... Watermelon."
Cloud hastily sat up from the bed to look at his fiancee in both disbelief and horror, he knew what was coming next and there was no way to stop it.
"I want watermelon!" Tifa whined loudly and he can feel her pout in the dark. He pressed his lips into a thin line and he closed his eyes when he felt the bed bounce while Tifa kicked the sheets like a child throwing a tantrum. "WATERMELON!"
"ALRIG-!" Cloud stopped himself in time then he inhaled and exhaled before he wore a fake looking smile. "Sure... sweetheart. I'll get you what you want despite..." He glanced at the clock and he can feel those glowing neon numbers burning through his soul. He gritted his teeth before he spoke. "It being twelve o'clock in the midnight." He said with his eyes widened threateningly. Tifa bolted up to hug him tight around his neck.
"YEY!" She piped. He stared ahead with his eye still in its wide state but his mouth joined in as well in shock. His words didn't penetrate her at all.
You will give a painful birth... You will give a painful birth... This is nothing... I can endure this. I can do this.
"I can't do this!" Cloud said while out of breath as he ran out of the seventh, twenty hour convinience store he went to. He wore the previous wig he used on Yuffie's fashion show to avoid being seen. The cashiers wanted to laugh at what he was looking for, one, it was not season for watermelon, two, no convenience store sold that kind of fruit.
Cloud slid into his car when he received a text message from his dearly beloved. He bared his teeth like an angry wolf when he saw the smiley face on the end of her 'Hurry up! Baby is hungry for WATEWMEWON!' text. He inhaled and exhaled again before he started driving away. As he was looking around for another store, he saw a shimmering light of hope, he could hear the angels sing as they descend from the heavens when he saw a night market, full of stalls, people and lots of hope. His eyes lit up its brightest in years.
"Okay! This is it! Bear it a little more Cloud junior! Daddy's going to get your foodie!" He talked to himself with an overly wide and creepy grin. His tongue was out between his teeth as he killed the engine of his car before he slid out. He looked around to check for a fruit stall and when he saw one, he laughed excitedly making everyone passing by look at him in surprise, one guy even shield his girlfriend away from the happy man, thinking he was a loony bin. Cloud began to walk towards it then he smiled as he scanned the fruits.
But to his horror, no watermelon.
"Excuse me." He asked the vendor, who was a middle aged balding man. "By any chance, do you have a watermelon hidden back there?"
"Ah, sorry son, it's not season for that. We have honey dew melon though."
"No, no, I need watermelon, you see, the wife's pregnant an-" He stopped mid sentence when the vendor started laughing out loud.
"What a dedicated young husband you are! I remember when my wife was pregnant with my eldest, she would request me to get her some coconut anytime of the day! And when I got her one, she would ask me to open it in front of her, I would scrape the fruit out then she would dip it in soy sauce while she requests me to drink the juice in front of her the same time she ate! It's crazy! And there was one time-" But Cloud wasn't listening anymore in shock of the vendor's story, coconut and soy sauce. And he thought Tifa was weird.
"Excuse me, do you have some watermelon?"
"No son. Sorry."
"I really... Really need it, my wife... Pregnant..." The vendor felt nothing but pity towards the young man.
"Wish I could help you." The vendor looked around before he spoke like they were a pair of conspirators. "Goodluck on reporting back to your commander." The man gave Cloud a salute, the kind of salute when a fellow soldier is about to run to the battle field to face his death. He understood, Cloud was undecided on wether to hug him or strangle him.
"Excuse me... Water... Melon..." Cloud said slowly and breathlessly, already exhausted. The deaf old lady gave him a bottled water and a cantaloupe.
"Excuse me." Cloud asked a voluptious looking vendor, who raised an eyebrow while studying his features. "Do you have some watermelons?"
"Mmm... I do... I've got unlimited supply of those just for you. Nice and fresh and warm... Mmm-hmm." The woman said in a sultry voice. Cloud's face lit up.
"Really?! Wait... Warm?"
"Oh yes..." She said again before she leaned forward to expose her cleavage. Cloud's face slowly melted with realization.
Cloud stared ahead with his eyes dead as he sat back on his car, he failed his mission and he didn't have the guts to face his commander, he had failed Tifa, his baby and kind and understanding fruit vendor.
"Forgive me, for I have failed." He said solemnly before his head fell forward to collide with the horn button, his car made a continious loud noise that had everybody outside wincing. He lifted his head up again to look at the item sitting at the passenger seat. He stared at it menacingly, hoping it would magically transform into what he needed and he was extremely disappointed when it didn't. He opened the small compartment to grab a permanent marker then went into business.
Tifa stared at the circular object that was resting on the nightstand with a deadpan look on her face. She didn't know if she was going to be extremely angry or the complete opposite. Should she laugh? Was it a joke? A honey dew melon with the word 'WATER' written in it looked like it was.
"What... Is this...?" She asked, torn between strangling him and laughing at him.
"Your watermelon." Came Cloud's muffled voice as he was face down on his pillow. Tifa's left eye twitched, a pregnant's woman's craving was not a thing to be taken lightly.
"Are... You... Kidding... Me..." Tifa said quietly and was further enraged when he didn't respond. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
"I looked everywhere."
"I NEEDED WATERMELON! WATERMELON! WHY WOULD YOU GIVE ME THIS CRAP!" That did it, Cloud hastily sat up then he knelt down the bed to let out all the anguish and misery in the world, with his eyes wild and his mouth open, he was ready to unleash the anger sharks swimming within and when he was about to loose it, Tifa started laughing, loud. His face didn't change from the raged look it was in but couldn't speak in surprise.
"You're so cute when you're angry. You really are my Grumpie." Tifa said before she hugged him a little too tight but he didn't budge, face still wild like an animal. Then Tifa let go of him before climbing up the bed to lay down. "Not hungry anymore anyway."
Cloud wanted to scream.
"Grumpie... Sorry for making you do that in the middle of the night..." Tifa whispered to a snoring Cloud when she woke up the next morning. "My poor grumpie."
"You'll pay for that." Tifa yelped when he suddenly spoke, he was still snoring when she was apologizing. He chuckled before he wrapped an arm around her. "You know I'll do anything for you."
"Thanks Grumpie... I'll eat that 'water melon' you got me instead, it looks yummy." Tifa said with a grin, Cloud smirked before he spoke.
"You should." Then he remembered the voluptious woman selling her 'warm watermelons', he shuddered at the thought. "As payment, you have to give me your watermelons first." Tifa yelped when Cloud suddenly hovered above her then he pinned her wrists over her head.
"Are you having cravings as well?" Tifa asked with a laugh.
"You have no idea baby." Tifa yelped when he started nibbling on her neck but her eyes wandered to the circular fruit on the bedside table, she started laughing out loud. Cloud lifted his head from her neck to stare at her with a blank look.
"Way to boost my confidence woman." He said deadpanned.
"No! It's that thing!" Tifa yelled with a laugh before Cloud looked over to where she was pointing at, he smirked before he leaned sideways to knock the thing over. It rolled towards the carpeted floor with a thud.
"Hey! I was going to eat that!" Tifa screamed before she started thrashing beneath him. He sighed while he looked up the ceiling, he could hear the angels laughing in his expense this time.
Just a few more months... Just a few more months... He thought while he let out a tearless sob of anguish.