A/N: In the Paying it Forward universe, Fang and Lightning become first time parents when Seven is born! Pairings: Fang/Lightning (married), Celes/Locke (married) Hope/Vanille (engaged) and Serah/Snow (married)
The True Silver Lining
Snow, Serah, Hope, Vanille, Locke and Celes are all in the Waiting Room of the hospital Fang and Lightning have been at for several hours, anxious to hear any new information on Seven's arrival from Fang. Terra, being Terra, was more than nice enough to drive the Fangrai couple to the hospital as she felt that they're wasting money on an ambulance to get there, which was something unexpected for this to happen on a sunny afternoon in late September. For the group at the waiting room, the only news they were given was that Lightning is in labour and Seven was going to arrive soon. Serah felt SO MUCH better knowing that, and with Terra also sticking around with the group in said waiting room. After all, seeing Celes and Locke all cuddled up while waiting made this trip more than just worthwhile. The main source of worry here is on Serah, and for a damn good reason: her older sister is about to become a first time parent with her soul mate (Snow's terms) and Little Farron (Fang's name for Serah) was nothing less than a nervous wreck in recent days - it was especially so at the baby shower. When the Fangrai couple announced that they were having a girl and they were naming her Seven, no one was shocked by that, for it was a name that stood out like Fang and Lightning, with some at the baby showering feeling that Seven is a fitting name for the Yun-Farron family, to have names that stick out 'like a sore thumb' (Hope's words).
Hours pass by since the group arrived in the afternoon hours, leading to this current moment in time. The only thing they were told was that Lightning was still in labour, worrying Serah to no end. Snow, being the faithful husband, comforted his wife the best way he could - by following Locke and Celes' lead by just cuddling, which seemed to help the younger Farron FINALLY get some much needed sleep. For Vanille and Hope, the newly engaged couple had quiet talk with Terra, with hopes to kill time before the news of Seven's arrival could reach any of them. With the married couples now taking a nap, this would be a very effective means to have at least one person awake alert at all times. Now that it's night time, the married couples emerge from their unorthodox nap, and see Hope, Vanille and Terra now all take a nap. Hope and Vanille weren't aware of Celes draping a blanket to keep them warm as Vanille was shivering a bit due to the waiting room being a bit cooler than it should be. Locke simply smiled at Terra, for the woman was smart enough to come with her own blanket to use in situations like this. What caught the corner of Serah's eye, however, was a bag with something meant for Baby Seven near Hope. Although the exact contents of the bag are a mystery to the younger Farron, it was relatively easy enough for Vanille to carry with her to the hospital.
Vanille's selfless nature by thinking of Seven before herself would pay dividends for the group at the end of this joyous event, and for more reasons than just one.
Celes, however, could only smile.
XXX
Fang - the restless being for the last several days, even more so now that her wife has been in labour for several hours, is becoming more and more worried for her soon-to-be newborn daughter. The treatments Lightning was taking to get pregnant were a nightmare to put it kindly, and finally being successful in getting pregnant changed so much for the married couple. Fang went above and beyond for the older Farron throughout the pregnancy, from food to the newly finished nursery, all to make sure that Lightning remained happy. There were times where Fang's patience and temper were tested by the pinkette but it was all worth in the end, to see their goal of a family being any time away from being a true reality. It was Fang who wrote down Seven's full name on a piece of paper to give to the nurse when Seven came to the world; it wasn't something Lightning suggested, but the brunette brought it upon herself to do to save time for the pair. As time went on, the contractions were becoming more frequent and the older Farron was following doctor's orders to the letter. In other worlds, Fang would have been separated from Lightning during this time, but not this time around. Here, Fang was with Lightning every step of the way, from the moment it was revealed that the pinkette FINALLY got pregnant to this moment with Seven's arrival to this world.
Knowing that she refused to trade in anything else for this, Fang helped the doctors with coaching Lightning's next steps, along with words of encouragement to her wife so that Seven's arrival would be smoother than their entire courtship. With help from Fang and the medical team, the older Farron was doing what she was told, as thoughts of how Amodar and his gentle but firm guidance came to mind, and how important it was to take info from doctors seriously (the only one Lightning had trouble with was the bedrest order from a month ago). The Fangrai couple are beyond grateful that Terra drove them to the hospital as her instincts kicked in at the right time - plus Locke and Snow had JUST gotten done with helping the firefighters install the proper seat for Seven to be in once she's given the green light to go home from the hospital. Thank you Lady Luck for all of this... I probably wouldn't have kept myself sane if it weren't for them to help Sunshine and I... Fang mused herself in her silent prayer to Lady Luck for what she's about to get: a smooth arrival of Seven Michaela Yun-Farron, into the loving and waiting arms of Fang and Claire 'Lightning' Yun-Farron, their true silver lining in all of this. It was a few minutes later that Seven was working to get out of Lightning's womb, with Fang and the doctors helping (and coaching) the older Farron each step of the way, with Fang holding onto her hand, refusing to let go.
It was moments like this that Fang was more than happy to stay by Lightning's side when doctors would have forbade the spouse from helping in delivering a healthy baby. For the case of Seven, the brunette sticking around was actually helping them, knowing that the married couple were given news that Seven wouldn't have either woman's hair OR eye colour but because of the generation skip. Fang recalled Lightning mentioning that her mother was born with silver hair and violet eyes. With that conversation in her mind, the brunette secretly hoped that the hair and eye colour combination Lightning's mother had would present with Seven. After all, Seven's middle name Michaela was also the middle name of Lightning's late mother, Amaya Michaela. Two more minutes pass and it was Seven's crying that signaled a successful, healthy birth. Baby Seven was finally born, and the Fangrai couple couldn't stop crying happy tears over the birth of their little girl. It was odd that, 20 minutes later, Baby Seven went quiet despite being one healthy baby girl. One could debate that it was because both parents were there to see her kick herself out of Lightning's womb, true to Fang's predictions... or that Fang was singing varying Yun songs to her newborn daughter to where Seven immediately fell asleep after hearing them, allowing Lightning to rest up somewhat.
The Fangrai couple would have their time with Seven for a couple of hours before the group in the waiting room got restless as some of them started to get really impatient with the ordeal. It was a few minutes later that Fang gave the doctors her okay to let the rest meet their baby girl - Seven Michaela Yun-Farron. It was close to the speed of Lightning's namesake that everyone else showed up to meet the baby girl.
Bag from where Hope and Vanille was included.
XXX
Seven immediately felt slightly overwhelmed by the new faces seeing her for the first time, but quickly calmed down afterwards, noting that Serah and Lightning looked alike. Seeing Celes here to meet Baby Seven had Fang smiling - if she knew anyone outside herself and Lightning who could sing Seven to sleep when needed, it'd be the blonde from Vector. "Uh...' 'Nille, what's in the bag...?" Lightning started to ask her sister-in-law before Hope went into the bag and revealed a blanket that was made just for Seven. It was hand made by the Yun Clan under the orders of Lucien and Enya, which arrived to the Dia-Estheim house hold just in time for Seven's birth. Alongside the blanket was a card from Lucien and Enya saying their congrats to Fang and Claire (Fang's parents REFUSED to address her as Lightning or Light) with Baby Seven and to let them know if she becomes a Big Sis in the future, so another blanket can be made for her younger sibling, which Fang agreed upon before Vanille finished reading the note in the card. It would be a while later that the group left the hospital, Terra included as she's need to get with Snow and Locke about the Yun-Farron car (which needed a few other things to fix which she knew that Setzer would be able to do with ease that they had no clue on).
It was a week later that Fang, Lightning and Seven Yun-Farron were all able to go home from the hospital. Setzer saw something else in the Yun-Farron car that needed to be fixed, and this was outside of what Terra was able to spot, which he fixed to perfection. If you knew Terra you knew Setzer. He only interacted with Lightning once by chance - recently one must add, but is all buddy-buddy with Lucien and Enya in Oerba on Gran Pulse. Upon arrival to the newly redone Yun-Farron household, Seven was immediately taken to her nursery, with Lightning doing all the steps to ensure that she would have at least a peaceful nap, complete with a plush Moogle from Locke and Celes and blanket from Lucien and Enya. The look of peace and content from their newborn daughter helped the Fangrai couple sneak in a nap of their own. A VERY well deserved nap to be exact. Lightning would be the last to leave the nursery but had a huge smile on her face, for the vibe of the nursery matched everything Seven is, and would be, for years to come: quiet and calm. "Thank you Etro, for everything..." Lightning quietly said to herself in her prayer to Etro, thankful for the true silver lining that is her newborn daughter Seven. The older Farron would join Fang in their nap.
Seven Michaela Yun-Farron would turn out to be one reason why Fang and Lightning get things in their favour.
She is their true silver lining.
FIN
A/N #2: Next up is a Halloween themed tale in the Second Time Around universe, where everyone is dressed up like Y'shtola. How will the Miq'ote react to what she sees?
