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For Endie-Dear...

Arrival

There she was.

The most perfect thing in all creation. The most splendid gift to ever be bestowed upon anyone, she was simply the most beautiful thing Vincent had ever seen. Ten little fingers and ten little toes and rosy pink sweet smelling skin.

Perfect, absolutely perfect.

But that was the Ex-Turks most humble opinion of the babe currently cradled within Cid's strong arms, however he wasn't the only one.

Shera and Barret were truly the luckiest people on the face of Gaia.

It had been a long nine months, but finally the time had come for the newest member of Barret's family to be brought into the world. Everyone was excited and waited with baited breath for Shera's baby to arrive. However it seemed that the baby just didn't agree with the Doctors due date and decided that on the day it rather liked where it was, much to everyone's dismay. Days went by and still it seemed the little bugger just didn't want to budge.

They tried everything they could to speed up proceedings, including Cid's infamous nine-bean chilli, and still no joy. Nearly a week had passed and Barret was close to tearing his hair out and Shera was just plain worn out by her beloved Husband's antics. Needless to say the atmosphere in the household was close to breaking point, especially when Cid had discovered he had run out of cigarettes.

In attempt to defuse the situation and give Shera a break from Barret's incessant worrying, Vincent decided to persuade the Father-to-be to take his daughter out for a while, perhaps to the shops for some ice cream and Cid's cigarettes. Since the baby was in no real hurry to be born, Barret could surely spare half an hour to catch his breath and give Marlene a chance to stretch her legs.

His solid reasoning worked and the large man left the premises. However, like many things in this world, things did not go according to plan. For three minutes and twenty-two seconds later, a smoky, gravelled hiss invaded the Gunners mind.

Not that our dear host truly cares what We say, but We thought you would like to know that it's coming…

Vincent quirked an eyebrow as he went to the kitchen to locate a glass for Cid's whiskey.

"What's coming?"

A startled cry from sitting room rang out through out the house. It was Shera! Vincent dropped the glass he had just the second found and immediately went to her aid, where he found Cid with his mouth agape and the heavily pregnant mechanic on a now heavily stained couch.

"I think my waters have broken." She gasped.

Told you…

"You think?" The blond croaked. "Shit, it's like a fuckin' flood!"

"Cid!"

Shera's eye's widened alarmingly as she grasped the enormity of the situation at hand. The baby was on the way… Suddenly panic began to set in as she tried to scramble to her feet.

"Barret? Where's Barret?"

In an instant both men were on either side of the woman, arms wrapped around her, helping her up and towards the front door. Cid tried his best to be as comforting and supportive as he could, shushing and cooing as many reassurances as he could muster.

"It's okay darlin', we'll get him for ya. Now lets try and get you to the hospital okay?" He whispered roughly and he took a moment to squeeze her hand and kiss her sweaty brow. The poor woman was shaking all over. Vincent also gave her a small squeeze with his arms and rubbed her back to help her calm down. Their combined efforts seemed to be working, however as soon the trio had made it the door Shera bent over and screamed in agony.

"AH!"

She's not going to make it you know…

Chaos oh so helpfully chipped in. Vincent resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Shit!" Cid cursed. "Where the fuck is Barret?"

"Oh gods, Cid it really hurts…Ow!" Shera hiccuped and groaned at the same time.

It was not looking good; the contractions were coming too damn fast and too damn strong for the men to be able to get the poor woman to the hospital in time for the main event. So Vincent did what he did best. Take charge, assess the situation and improvise his arse off.

"Cid, we'll take her upstairs and get her comfortable. Then I'll call the Midwife and we'll go from there."

The mechanic let out a painful cry and sobbed, as the men began to edge her up the thankfully small staircase. Her small hands gripped the railing so tight that her knuckles turned white from the strain. The longhaired woman shook her head woefully, tears slipping down her cheeks.

"Oh, no. I can't have the baby here! Home births have a…"

"Shera it's okay, darlin'!" Cid reassured her, even though he was beginning to have doubts himself. "Everything is going to be alright. Just keep movin' and stay calm. I promise everything will be fine."

When they finally managed to get Shera up the stairs and into her bedroom, did Cid finally begin to panic about what was happening. How the hell were they going to do this?

"Holy shit, why the fuck is this happening now? Any other fuckin' time…" He groaned and paced the room, unsure of what to do next. "What do they do in them movies… hot water, towels all that shit right?"

"Something like that." Vincent said as he hung up the phone and nodded as he moved toward the bed. "Don't worry, Shera I have some experience of this."

The pilot shot him a sceptical look as he gathered the items he figured the situation warranted.

"You have?"

Vincent merely nodded again and knelt down in front of Shera. He took off his cape and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.

"I…er… helped in the delivery of a litter of kittens once." He admitted as quietly.

Shera cried helplessly.

A few minutes later with the make shift delivery kit at the ready, which included a wrench and a pair of wire cutters for some unknown reason, Vincent waited for the child to make an appearance.

The child seems to be in a hurry…

The Ex-Turk hated it when the demon in his mind was right and in this instance it most certainly was. Vincent had heard of fast deliveries before, but this must've been some kind of record! However, as Vincent readied himself for the child's arrival, he encountered a problem.

"Cid get down here I need your help."

The pilot spluttered, as he wiped his long-suffering mechanics sweaty forehead.

"What the fuck?"

"Cid, I need you to handle the child when it comes out. I can't very well do it with this can I?" Vincent sighed and held up his clawed arm to his partner.

The pilot hated to admit it, but the gunner did have a point. Couldn't very well have to sprog pop out only to be impaled on Vincent's overly complicated gauntlet, could they?

"Fuck!" He groaned and with some reluctance joined Vincent between Shera's thighs. "Fine Shove over would ya, let the dog see the rabbit."

Shera wailed at the indignation of it all. This was not how her first birth was supposed to go!

Get ready Valentine, here it comes…

"I can see the head!"

The Ex-Turk cried, whilst Cid just gagged.

"Oh dear fuckin' my, there ain't no way I was 'sposed to see that!"

Vincent ignored his lover's superb choice of words and continued on with the makeshift delivery. The child was quickly being pushed out towards the world, it was nearly there. It was exciting, it was terrifying, it was certainly a lot different than when the cat had given birth. The Gunner was so overwhelmed, he couldn't help shout the poor woman on.

"It's coming! Push Shera! You can do it! PUSH!"

It seemed Cid felt exactly the same way as he cradled the yet-to-be-born's head in his large paws, as he joined in with his own brand of encouragement.

"Gods woman, just fucking PUSH already!"

With an enormous cry that would've given any fiend a run for it's money and a push that was truly out of this world, came the baby. Soon short gasping wails filled the house as the men fell back onto the floor with the precious cargo in their grasp. Shera slumped back onto the bed, exhausted from the lightening speed labour. For a minute they were all speechless. No words seemed to be able to quantify what had just happened. It was especially bizarre for the two men; neither could quite believe it. They had just delivered a baby, a small, wet and amazingly loud baby.

However, that said, it was Cid who managed to find his voice first.

"It's a boy!"

"No Cid, that's the umbilical cord." Vincent helpfully corrected him as he set about cutting the cord with the now sterile wire cutters.

"It's a girl!" The pilot hollered joyfully as handed over the child to her tired mother. But then something caught his eye. "Wait… what's that?"

"That's the after birth Cid."

Thud!

And that's how Shera's baby girl entered the world. Ten minutes after her speedy arrival Barret came bursting through the door with Marlene, the Mid wife and ice cream in tow to Mother and Daughter doing well and Cid out like a light on the bedroom floor with a goofy expression plastered over his face. Although in retrospect it was probably a good thing he was out cold, as Barret had forgotten his Cigarettes.

Vincent laughed at the ridiculous look on the pilot's face when he finally came to, in fact, everyone did. Even the kindly old mid wife with the most insanely filthy this side of the planet. But then all was soon forgotten when they all got to witness Barret hold his new daughter for the first time, as his glowing, but utterly tired, wife looked on with pride.

"Amazing isn't it?" The blond man muttered, not wanting to disturb the peace.

"Indeed." Vincent happily concurred as he watched the scene before him.

"I mean, just look at her. I didn't think it was possible to make something so… right. Yer know?"

"Yes."

The Ex-Turk smirked a little at the wonderful rambling that spewed from his lover's inarticulate mouth and then felt it slip from his face. An uncomfortable question popped into his head.

"Does it make you want one?"

Cid paused for a second, before chuckling to himself.

"Na'h not right now, I'm full."

Vincent rolled his eyes.

"Cid."

Well if the Mate doesn't want the child, can We have it?

"You know what I mean." The man in red pressed, ignoring Chaos's tasteless comment. "Have you ever thought about having children of your own?"

The pilot just shrugged.

"Sometimes… But I never figured I'd be a good Dad. My Pop's was such as bastard to me and my Ma, I just figured I'd go the same way. Plus the whole gay thing happened, ya know?" The blond froze and then turn "Wait, you ain't offering are ya?"

Vincent's eyes glowed with the fires of all damnation, whilst in the deep recesses of the Ex-Turks mind his demonic companions chuckled darkly.

"Heh, I'll take that as a no eh?" Cid chuckled and turned his attention back to the bundle in his arms. "But I guess every now and then I get a little broody. Hey, who'd a thunk it huh? Me broody? Ha!"

Vincent shook his head softly and squeezed his lovers shoulder. Truth be told, it wasn't all that hard to believe at all. His partner really was a softy at heart, no matter how hard he tried to deny it.

"How about you Vin, ever want a spawn of your own?"

"When you put it like that Highwind, no." He sighed. "But, even in my days in the Turks, there were those rare occasions when I did consider the possibility."

"Never the right time huh?" Cid offered.

"Something like that…"

"Well, none of that really matters now huh? All water under the bridge and all that nonsense right?"

"Indeed…"

They smiled at each other warmly, letting the moment linger between them. Until Cid began to feel a bit uncomfortable and shifted the focus back onto the new parents.

"So what's her name then?"

"Oh er…"

"Well we kinda though this little one right here was gonna be a boy, so we…"

"… Only choose boys names."

"What was the name you had chosen?"

"Zechariah and Cidney." "And well, I don't think she looks like a Zechariah Cidney."

"Hey, whadda'ya mean?" The pilot said, a little put out his Niece wasn't going to be gifted with his name. "Cid's a great girls name!"

Everyone, even Marlene, turned to the pilot and raised an eyebrow. Cid just frowned at the implication.

"That came out wrong…"

"But he does make a point." Vincent considered thoughtfully. "Sydney, with an 'S', is indeed a very respectable girls name."

Shera and Barret mulled it over for a moment, before the new mother replied.

"Maybe, but what about the other name?"

"Yeah, there ain't no way my baby girl is going with out two names." Barret added rather defensively.

"Well… I suppose we could go with the back up name."

"Back up name?" Vincent asked.

"Yes, I always like to be prepared." The mechanic smiled wearily. "Francis."

"Francis Sydney Wallace…"

"Or Sydney Francis."

"How about Francesca, sounds more girly." Marlene chipped in merrily, eyes fixed on her new little sister. Already planning all the tea parties and dress-up sessions they were going to have.

"Sydney Francesca Wallace."

The room fell silent again as they let the name linger in the air. Barret sighed and looked to his wife and smiled sadly.

"I hate to say it, but it does sound good."

Shera couldn't help but agree and nodded.

"Told ya! I told ya Cid was a great girls name." Cried out Cid, oblivious to all the funny looks he was yet again receiving. Fuck it, the child was named after him, why the hell should he care if it was a girl or not?

So it was that Shera and Barrets first child was named Sydney Francesca Wallace, and she was loved by all. Including a grumpy, ill shaven foul-mouthed pilot and his sullen overly pale partner, whom delivered the child safely into the world. And as both men watched the Wallace family bask in the warmth of the new little life, Cid turned Vincent and took his clawed hand in his.

"Say Vince?" He leaned into the taller man and whispered. " How do you feel about adoption?"

The End…