Chapter 48: Surprises

February 15, 0010

Two hours had gone by before it was finally Zack's turn.

Romina Ronkin opened the only other door in the waiting room and called out "next," even though Zack was the only one in the room.

Zack duly stood up and followed her into the next room.

There, he saw two bags of tortilla chips, and three very big bowls of red salsa. A plate of five beef tacos with lettuce and tomato sat nearby. They were sitting on a table with one chair at it.

"What the hell is this?" Zack demanded.

"Eat up," ordered Romina.

"Chips and salsa?!"

"And tacos."

"It's not even Tuesday!" he protested.

"Just eat," she repeated. "Or we can't go any further."

Zack sat down at the table.

"Good boy," Romina complimented. "And now, eat up."

With that, Romina left the room.

And soon, he was indulging himself, wondering about the significance of the treat.

SOMEWHERE ELSE…

The 0007 Tseng and the 0007 Elena were seated at the kitchen table, finishing their dinner.

Elena had insisted she cook it, despite her condition, and Tseng's protests.

"Don't underestimate a twenty-four-year-old pregnant chick," she warned.

So Tseng gave in.

As they were finishing their last bite, the doorbell sounded.

"That'll be Shera," Tseng said as he stood up. "She's got our chips."

He walked over to the foyer. He checked the peephole; sure enough, it was Shera. He then turned around one more time to check on Elena.

"She can't see me," Elena assured him. "At least not my lower half."

"She's masked," Tseng assured her.

"Good," Elena said. "I'd be really surprised if she, of all people, was maskless."

Elena sat there, softly humming to herself, as she heard Tseng and Shera's muffled voices.

A few minutes later, Tseng returned to the kitchen, with an ominous looking contraption in his hands that had a needle.

Elena cringed; she had a phobia of needles.

She also noticed Tseng had a small wound on his forearm.

She knew exactly what was coming.

She extended her right forearm.

She then extended her left one as well.

"Hold my hand," she pleaded.

Tseng held her hand with his right hand and did the deed with his left.

"Ow!" exclaimed Elena as she felt the pinch.

But that was the end of it.

Tseng then put the contraption down, and hugged his wife.

"That wasn't so bad," she laughed. "Better than a contraction, at least!"

Just then, Tseng suddenly turned and went to the parlor. Moments later, he returned with his cell phone and opened the app.

"So how does this thing work, anyway?" Elena asked.

Tseng showed his cell phone with icons of himself, Reno, Rude, and Elena.

"Just click on one and it tells you where they are," he replied as he pressed Reno's icon.

The phone then showed the 0007 Reno's location by latitude and longitude.

Below was a button that read "Health Check."

"It looks like we can monitor our own health," Elena observed.

Tseng naturally pressed the button.

A message appeared in the screen.

"Heart rate 86 beats per minute. Blood pressure 111/75. No malignant tumors detected. Bowel movement in three hours."

Both Tseng and Elena began to crack up in unison.

"Let the record show Reno's going to take a dump in three hours," Tseng announced before resuming laughing.

"Let's check on Rude!" Elena requested.

The screen gave his location, as well as a medical summary.

"Heart rate 84 beats per minute. Blood pressure 116/79. No malignant tumors detected. Elevated levels of cannabinol."

"What does that mean?" Elena asked.

"He's smoking a joint," Tseng replied.

At that moment, it occurred to Elena that she had not seen a doctor out of fear of catching Geostigma, and had never had her own health evaluated.

"Would you mind checking on me?" she requested nervously. "But just read it to me. I really don't want to see it."

"No problem," he agreed.

"Thanks," she said with a smile.

"'Heart rate 90 beats per minute. Blood pressure 112/65. No malignant tumors detected,'" Tseng informed her. "Foreign human tissue detected in utero."

"I have a feeling I know what that means," Elena laughed.

"It says click for more details," he informed her. "This might reveal the sex. Should I click it?"

This caught Elena off guard. As she had been afraid to see a doctor, she didn't know whether their baby was a boy or a girl. It wasn't like she wanted the surprise; she was too afraid to get checked.

"Yes, please!" Elena replied enthusiastically.

Tseng clicked it.

"Y chromosome detected," he said. "It's a boy."

Elena smiled.

"I was hoping for a boy!" she said happily.

To her, it suddenly felt like a perfect moment. If she wasn't nine months pregnant, she would want Tseng to twirl her around.

"And…" Tseng continued.

"And?" Elena asked curiously. "There's more?"

"There's more," Tseng replied, seeming almost nervous.

"What is it?" she asked, realizing that there might be a cause for concern.

"It says you're due to give birth in three hours."

ELSEWHERE…

I poured champagne into the glasses and set the glass table on the back upper patio outside our bedroom. I then lit the candles to make the setting more romantic. Food was also on the table; the only thing that was missing was Tobin, who was due home shortly.

I then walked over to the ledge of the balcony and placed my hands on the barrier, looking into the distance. I couldn't see Tobin yet, but I knew he was coming. I still got butterflies in my stomach as I anticipated his arrival.

I glanced down at my boots. They were a rather expensive pair of black faux leather boots that stopped a couple of inches below my knees. They were one of the last things I had bought before all the stores shut down, but I never had a chance to wear them until tonight.

Those boots were, by the way, all I was wearing, other than the fact that I was in full makeup. Too much info? Sorry, but I think I need to remind everyone that the saying is true: you need to keep the sparks flying, even after you're married. Two years in, I was doing just that. Besides, most men like their wives' clothes off anyway; nobody over twelve is naive to that.

And then, I turned around to realize I wasn't alone on the balcony; someone was indeed with me.

Not Tobin.

Aerith.

I gasped in shock.

The nerve of her! I angrily thought.

"I can't talk right now!" I exclaimed as I quickly covered my breasts with my arms.

"Tobin's delayed," she assured me. "He's fifty minutes away," she informed me. "We've got time. No need to worry about the food; it won't get cold in this weather."

At this point, I was almost furious; this girl seemed to have no sense of etiquette.

"I'm naked!" I protested, if it couldn't be more obvious.

And then, Aerith started to giggle again.

"You only covered you boobs!" she mentioned.

I then tried to cover my breasts with my right arm and everything else with my left, but it was too late; she had seen everything. Defeated, I relaxed my arms and bowed to fate.

"You think I don't know what your pants conceal?" she asked sarcastically. "I don't even wear clothes."

I scanned her. She had her red jacket and pink dress on.

"You're clothed right now!" I said. "Oh, that's right, you're a ghost."

"I'm not a ghost; I'm an apparition," she replied.

"You told me that," I reminded her.

"So I'm appearing to you the way I looked in life so you'll recognize me," Aerith continued. "If you saw what I actually look like in the Lifestream, you wouldn't believe it."

I sighed; she was obviously missing the point.

"But, if it makes you feel any better, I've had quite a few boyfriends see me naked," Aerith continued. "And I used the locker room shower after gym a couple of times."

"With people you knew," I reminded her.

Aerith and I, after all, barely knew each other.

"Try this on for size," she retorted. "I once went on a first date with a guy."

She paused.

"Topless. The whole entire date, I was topless."

And then, my feelings went from embarrassed to somewhat amused.

"You just went up and knocked on his door without a shirt on?" I asked.

Aerith giggled.

"No, I met him on the beach! This was Eros Nova! The prude side, but one of the topless areas. I spent the whole date wearing nothing but my bikini bottoms, my jewelry, and my smile!"

"The whole date?" I asked.

"The whole date," she confirmed. "He didn't even see me with a top on that day."

This was getting complicated.

"You weren't worried you'd get arrested on the way there?" I inquired.

"I had a top on before I got to the topless area," she clarified. "I just slipped off my top and handed it to my mom right after I stepped over the threshold."

"You weren't embarrassed being topless in front of your mom?" I asked.

I know I sure would be. I mean, I never knew my mom, but I still know I would be.

"Oh no," Aerith replied. "I mean, my back was turned to her, so she didn't get a full frontal view of the twin peaks. But I was walking away from her, and, of course, boobs move when we walk, so I'm sure she saw something at some point."

"How did did the date go?" I asked.

"We had a good time," she replied. "And I felt so vulnerable when I was with him. It was such a great feeling. But it's just a memory now. After all, of all the boys I've been with, Cloud was definitely my one true love."

"You were that much in love with him," I observed.

Aerith nodded.

At this point, the awkwardness was fading.

"I suppose we can make the most of this until Tobin arrives," I sighed.

"By the way," Aerith continued, "Shera's planning to have her bachelorette party on the nude side, you if you accept the invitation, you'll be baring it all for a bunch of strangers."

"Thanks for the warning," I said.

I took a seat in one of the lawn chairs as Aerith lay down in the beach recliner.

"Actually," Aerith continued, "I was planning to have my honeymoon with Cloud on the nude side."

"When did you fall in love with him?" I asked.

"It happened over time," she replied.

FLASHBACK….

After about an hour, they were about a halfway between Midgar and Kalm, when they encountered two individuals.

They were Jack Balen and his brother, Sumner.

Aerith immediately hid behind Cloud; she did not want to see them again.

"Hello there!" Sumner greeted.

"Can we help you?" Cloud asked.

"I heard you guys killed President Shinra," Jack Balen asserted.

"Not exactly," Tifa dismissed. "It was Sephiroth who did it."

"Whatever," sighed Jack. "Our plans are ruined now."

"Ruined?" Red XIII inquired. "What plans?"

"We were going to kidnap Rufus and hold him for ransom," Sumner explained.

"President Shinra was the richest man in the world," Red XIII informed him. "Giving up some money would have meant less to him than selling a few stocks."

"We weren't going to demand money," Sumner informed him.

"We were going to demand he give up his power to us," Jack announced.

All five travelers found the situation laughable.

"President Shinra didn't love Rufus," Red XIII informed the brothers. "He was a power tool. And now it's backfired; he's in charge now."

"Whatever," sighed Sumner. "We'll just wait to find Rufus' weak point. And when we do, we'll coerce him into giving us his power."

"Good luck with that," sighed Tifa as she folded her arms. He doesn't love anything, either."

"We'll see," Jack said.

A moment later, the brothers were gone.

Aerith stepped out from behind Cloud, and turned to him.

"Thanks for hiding me, bodyguard!" she said with a smile.

"You know those guys?" Cloud asked.

"One of them smacked my butt while I was selling flowers," she replied. "Right before I met you."

"I'm sorry," Cloud said.

"Don't worry about it," Aerith assured him. "I have my bodyguard."

With that, she pressed her lips against his.

….END FLASHBACK

"At this point," Aerith said, "I just wanted to kiss him again. It was only the second time we kissed."

"I never knew the Balen brothers wanted to kidnap Rufus," I said.

"Trust me," Aerith assured me, "those brothers are the dirtiest pair I knew."