Happy New Year everyone! Thank you again for your continued patience with me. Again, my attention has been elsewhere with another project but I want you to know this will not be abandoned. I appreciate all your sweet and encouraging messages/reviews, they definitely do not go unnoticed.

Until next time. xoxox

A chirpy little knock came at the door and Rinoa instantly ran to get it. "Hello my love!" she sang, wrapping her arms around Selphie's shoulders and ushering in.

"Well…someone is positively glowing!" Selphie squealed and planted a kiss to Rinoa's cheek. "Is Squall still here? I know they've got practice later." As Rinoa closed the door behind them, Selphie propped her purse and grocery bag onto the kitchen counter.

"No, he left last night. I'm probably going to head over there later tonight."

Selphie nodded and then clapped her hands. "Soooooo tell me. How'd the whole conversation go?"

Rinoa led her to the couch and gave her a detailed summary of the events of Sunday's late afternoon. From the moment he arrived with her favorite coffee order to the breath-taking kiss he gave her before he left. "As if I couldn't fall for him even more," she murmured. "He has a plan for us, Selphie, an actual plan. I can't fuck this up." She didn't want to go into detail about how she hated planning things out, especially for herself because she always felt like she was setting herself up for failure and would just be consistently disappointed when said plans would not go the way she had imagined.

Her first date ever when she was fourteen? Planned it down to the minute. Then was bitterly disappointed when he showed up late and they missed the movie she had looked forward to seeing and then instead decided to go for burgers. Which ended up with soda stains on her dress because the poor boy was so nervous he knocked over his drink. She spent the rest of the date sticky and uncomfortable and unable to enjoy herself. Her senior prom? She had imagined a full-on Cinderella-esque night filled with glamorous gowns, a debonair date, and a romantic kiss during a slow dance. Instead, her date broke his ankle the week before and she had to go stag and quietly sulk as her friends made out with their dates. She and a few other classmates instead raided the school board provided ice cream machine and tried to see who could create the tallest swirl adorned with chocolate sprinkles and gummy bears. Albeit not a terrible night, but certainly not what she had envisioned.

No, Life was definitely not like the rom-com movies and books she loved to devour and equally talk shit about. Real life was messy, unpredictable, and maddening at times. Much like a toddler at the stage of development where they start dropping their last naps. Every hour, every heartbeat was simply surviving and just trying to get to the next day. She always coveted having complete control, but she learned that there were some things just a smidgen out of that control. So, she tried to just live her life one day at a time and enjoy whatever time she had.

That's where Squall came in. He had the plan; he had the vision in his sights. Unlike her previous self, he didn't have it entirely mapped out, but he knew where he wanted to end up. It was something he'd always envisioned for himself and now that she had come along, he managed to weave her into his vision of the future like the most beautiful tapestry. He didn't have a set timeline, just a stage in life he was working towards. It was a happy medium.

She was ecstatic.

"You're not going to fuck this up," Selphie said, giving Rinoa a squeeze to the arm. "This was a huge bump in the road but at the same time…it might have been a bump in the road that would have happened eventually. The discovery of Squall's father could have come up later on but maybe in a different way. At least this way the band aid has been ripped off and you both had to deal with it—in your own separate ways—and then come together to figure out how to move forward."

"He's definitely more interested in moving forward with me in that aspect. He hasn't reached out to Laguna at all," she sighed.

Selphie flicked Rinoa on the nose. "Don't push him," she said sternly. "No meddling."

Rinoa held up her hands in surrender. "Absolutely not," she promised. "I learned my lesson."

"Good. Now, onto the other reason I came." Selphie rose from her seat and grabbed the grocery bag she had set down earlier. "I picked up some little treats for us at the store!" She returned to the couch and pulled out a little plastic container holding two cupcakes.

"Uh…yum!"

Selphie opened the container and set the cupcakes down onto the coffee table. "Aren't they cute? I just had to have them."

Rinoa situated herself and reached for the treat but then paused as she looked at the dessert. The topping of the cupcake was adorned with a tiny plastic figurine in the shape of a baby, nestled so perfectly in a fluffy mountain of light blue frosting. Her hand froze in mid-grab, and her eyes widened as she slowly moved her head to look at Selphie directly. "Is…is that…?"

Selphie looked like she was going to burst. Her green eyes sparkled and her lips were scrunched as she tried to hold in her excitement. "It's a boy!" she screamed.

"Shut up!" Rinoa clamped her hands over her mouth and screamed along with her. Together they stood to their feet and she wrapped her arms around her. "Ohmygod!" she cried. "A little boy?"

She nodded, pulling away to wipe at her eyes. "We just got the phone call about the blood test this morning," she said, gasping for air. "At first I was just gonna take it with a grain of salt but I've been feeling like there's a little boy in here. The extra testosterone has been making me super fighty lately."

"I have no idea what you mean, you've been an absolute delight."

Selphie snickered and smacked Rinoa's waist. "Been talking to Irvine? He said the exact same thing."

Rinoa leaned down and grabbed the cupcakes. "Here's to you, little boy," she said, blowing a kiss to Selphie's belly before handing over a cupcake. "Cheers."

Squall twirled the drumstick between his fingers effortlessly. His eyes bore straight ahead, zeroing in on Zell, who was lounging on the beat up sofa in the storage unit. He had just finished filling him in on the events of the previous day and was waiting for Zell to fully absorb all the information.

"Well," Zell finally said. "That is a lot." He lifted his brows and gave Squall an earnest grin. "I don't think I've ever heard of you wanting to live with a woman. I think ever since you've moved out of Ellone's apartment you've been on your own completely."

He wasn't wrong. After joining SEED during his last year of high school and learned how to budget his steady paychecks from living in the barracks on campus, he left home and had lived alone ever since. For the last year or so he had been contemplating moving into a bigger apartment but in the end decided against it. After all, it was only him, he didn't really need the space.

But now Rinoa was in the picture. His life, his future, was no longer just him. Something he had never thought about before. Now he was thinking about her needs and wants, and what he could do to assist her in any way possible.

"It's something we're discussing," he told Zell.

"Very cool." Zell nodded and leaned back against the cushions. "What're you gonna do about your old man?"

Squall swallowed. He hadn't brought that up much to Rinoa, only summarized the one-sided conversation that was held. He caught the drumstick in his palm and set it down across his lap. While he hadn't contacted Laguna at all, he did save his number in his cellphone. "Not one hundred percent sure on it yet," he said.

Zell crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head. "Do you want to talk to him?"

Squall twisted his lips into a scowl as he thought. "Kinda."

Before Zell could say anything else, Irvine and Quistis arrived. Quistis burst through the door with a bright blue bottle in her hands. "We need to take a celebratory shot!" she announced, her red lips wide in a grin.

Irvine trailed behind her, a slight flush on the apples of his cheeks and a bashful smile on his curved lips. "Indeed," he said.

Zell held out his hand for the bottle for inspection. "What're we celebrating?" His fingers gripped over the thin neck of the bottle while his other hand held the wide base in his palm. "Hpnotiq? Goddamn, I don't think we've had this since…what? High school?" He turned and shook the bottle over towards Squall.

"Shut up," Quistis muttered. "It was the first blue bottle I came across at the store."

Squall narrowed his eyes but moved over to the fridge where they had a few shot glasses. "What's the significance of having a blue bottle?"

Quistis hooked a thumb in Irvine's direction. "Ask Daddy over here," she said with a smirk, her perfectly arched brows waggling as realization started to dawn over the other two men.

"What?" Zell crowed, standing from his seat.

"Selphie's pregnant with a boy," Irvine managed to say, his voice strained with emotion and eyes glassy. "We're having a son!"

"Dude!" Zell pushed the bottle into Squall's chest and practically leapt onto Irvine.

Despite not being one for displaying a lot of affection, Squall wrapped an arm around Irvine's shoulders, immediately being swarmed with strong arms gripped around him as the three of them became a tangled embrace. "Congratulations," he said, muffled slightly from being shoved against Zell's shoulder.

"My boys!" Quistis squealed, snagging the bottle away from Squall and quickly snapping a few pictures with her phone.

"Feels amazing," Irvine sighed. "Would've been just as happy even if it was a girl but now that we know what she's having…it's really making it…" His lips twisted as he tried to explain. "Real, you know?"

None of them did, but they all nodded and gave him supportive pats to the arm. "You guys are going to be amazing parents," Zell said.

"I know Selphie will be the best mom," Irvine nodded. "I don't really know the first thing about being a dad but…" He trailed off and shrugged his shoulders.

"Just show up," Squall told him. "You're here. You're here for Selphie and you're going to be here for your son. That's more than anything your dad did. Be the dad you wished you had."

"I'm going to be," Irvine pledged. "From day one to my last day. I'm going to be."

Quistis held out a glass for him. "Cheers to that," she grinned. When everyone had their own glasses in hand, they raised them to the sky. "Here's to Baby Kinneas. May he grow healthy, strong, kind, and metal as fuck."

"Kid has got the best uncles and aunts he could ever have asked for," Irvine nodded, his throat jerking again as he tried to keep his voice steady. "Thanks for being my family."

Family.

That word had rung in Squall's ear for the duration of practice. After the session, everyone parted ways and Squall was back in his apartment, standing beneath the showerhead and letting the hot water pelt its way down his back. He had texted Rinoa to let her know that he'd made it home but hopped into the shower before she had responded with confirmation that she'd be staying over tonight.

As he had stated before, the band was his family. They all looked to each other as members of the same head-banging pack. In the beginning it was three, then four when the band was fully formed, then five when Selphie came along, now six with Rinoa. Soon it would be seven, the newest little wolf cub. Their family was growing. It was exciting, yet terrifying, but isn't that how it was supposed to be? If it were trite and mundane it wouldn't really be considered living, would it?

He turned the knob so the water stopped falling and stepped out of the shower. With the towel around his waist, he made his way towards his closet to grab some clean clothes. His phone vibrated just as he pulled the shirt over his head.

R: On my way. Grabbing pizza.

S: Perfect.

Some time later Rinoa arrived, a box of pizza in one hand and a plastic bag filled with a few tall cans for him and bottle of Moscato for her in the other. "Hello darling," she purred, kissing his cheek as she walked through the doorway. "How was practice?"

"Good. Just trying to get everything ready for the party on Friday." He took the box from her and set it down on the center island, opening it and dropping a cheesy slice of pepperoni pizza each onto the awaiting paper plates.

Rinoa cracked open a can and handed it to him. "Well, you've got four days till then, so are you going to practice every day?"

"Probably not, don't want to over do it." He grabbed her a wine glass and held out his hand for the wine bottle. As she sat down, he unscrewed the cork and filled her glass. "Wanted to run something by you."

"Like what?" She tapped the countertop and waited for him to sit before she started eating.

"Your opinion on something."

Rinoa slowly chewed and narrowed her eyes. "I'm scared," she muttered, her mouth full.

"Don't be." His hand dropped to her thigh, deliciously bare in shorts, and squeezed. "I was thinking of sending Laguna an invite to the party."

The slice of pizza dropped from her fingers and landed onto the plate with a meaty smack. She blinked a few times, her eyes never leaving his face as he silently chewed. "Eh?" was the only sound she could muster.

"Not a good idea?"

Rinoa flapped her hands in front of her face and tried to chew quickly.

"Please finish chewing before you swallow," he said evenly. "I'd prefer you not to choke and die at the moment."

She rapped her knuckles onto the countertop as she glared daggers at him. Finally, she managed to finish her bite and gasped for air. "Can you not drop bombs on me while I'm eating? Asshole."

"So…not a good idea?"

"I'm not saying that. I'm just surprised that, one: You want to contact him. And two: Said contact is to invite him to your album release party. I think he'd be honored by it, but I'm just really surprised that this is something you were thinking about."

He figured that would be her reaction. He wasn't entirely sure what made him even come to this thought of a decision. "Friday would be just as good a time as anything else. It's not like I was going to invite him to Christmas dinner."

"Not to torpedo the subject elsewhere—but what do you guys do for Christmas?"

"I'm usually working Christmas Eve but that's not happening this year. Me and Zell usually make Christmas dinner for Ma while she relaxes in front of the tv watching all her baking championship shows. Quistis would come by later at night since she's always working at the bar. Sometimes Irvine would join if he wasn't with Selphie, who would either be visiting her parents or be visited by them. We all just play it by ear. This year is obviously very different."

Rinoa nodded and diverted her attention back to her pizza. "Ok, we'll circle back to that when the time comes." She chewed a few bites before setting the half-eaten crust onto the plate. "So," she exhaled. "You're thinking of inviting him to the release party. That's huge."

"Unsure if subtlety will work in this case," Squall said, tipping his head back drain half his beer. "A small, private dinner might be the better option but…I'd prefer it on more familiar territory."

How strategic. How very like Squall to extend an invitation to his estranged father to an event where he'd have the most support. As Laguna had stated, everything would be done on Squall's terms, his choices.

"Your family will be there," Rina murmured. "If Laguna wants to be a part of your family—if you'd like him to be—he'd have to meet them all as well."

Squall reached over traced his fingertips down the length of her forearm until his fingers laced with hers. "He's already met you," he said, bringing their clasped hands to his lips so they brushed over her knuckles. "Now he just has to survive the rest of them."

He grabbed his phone with his other hand and scrolled through a few images in his gallery. "Here's the flyer Zell made for the party." It was an image from Rinoa's first official shoot with the band. The four of them stood facing the ocean, black silhouettes against a fiery sunset. Stretched across their backs was the band's logo. A few spaces below had the venue location, the date with time, and two other band names.

Rinoa pressed her lips together and leaned her head into Squall's shoulder. "It looks amazing," she said. "Is it going to be a whole set? It says Djin Theory and Ring of Solomon are playing too."

"They won't be playing a whole set," he told her. "Maybe three or four songs while we play the majority."

"Do it," Rina said. "Send him the invite. The worst he can say is no because he's not able to make it. Maybe he has to work or already had something else lined up. At least you made an effort."

He opened up a new text message thread with Laguna's number as the destined address. He attached the flyer and before he pressed send, added two words below the image: It's Squall.

After pressing send, he placed the phone onto the countertop and plugged it in to charge. He turned to Rinoa, who was polishing off her wine. When she set down the empty glass and gave him a knowing smile, he smirked. "Now get your ass into bed and take off your clothes."

When he awoke in the morning and slipped out of bed without waking her, he moved around the kitchen silently to prepare the daily coffee pot. Behind him, his phone vibrated with an incoming message.

L: We'll be there.