The-almost-good-day

"Good morning," Cloud greeted her.

Tifa was surprised when she found him downstairs, absent-mindedly stirring his juice.

"You should tell me you were up," she complained, "I would've prepared breakfast,"

"I made myself some bread,"

"You don't even know where I kept the jams," Tifa pointed out.

He almost smiled, "Plain bread wasn't that bad,"

Tifa shrugged, and went to sit next to him. He looked surprised, and edged away a little.

"So," the brunette looked at her, "Any deliveries today?"

"No; actually, I'm taking the day off," he said, then added, "It's Denzel's birthday,"

Oh, god. Tifa glanced at the calendar. 21th october. How stupid, I forgot my own son's birthday. Not his birthday, I just forgot the date today… and well, he's not my son either, but still…

Cloud looked at her, puzzled, "What's wrong?"

She shrugged, "Nothing, nothing,". You're frikkin stupid mother, Lockheart, "What about the present?"

"I bought this couple of days ago, you know, as a present from us," Cloud said, showing her a box of pirate ship legos. He seemed unsure as he looked at her, and he looks so much like a kid Tifa had to smile, "He'll love it, Cloud,"

"I hope so,"

Tifa stood up, "Well, I'd better cook him some hearty breakfast," and went to the kitchen.

At nine o'clock Tifa decided to wake Denzel up. Vincent, Yuffie, Reno, Cloud, and Marlene were hiding behind the tables of the bar.

"Don't make so much noises," Tifa warned them.

"Definetely!" Yuffie shouted, then covered her mouth, "oops,"

The barmaid rolled her eyes, and went upstairs. Denzel was still sleeping, his head buried deep between his fluffy pillows. Tifa sat beside him and stroke his smooth auburn hair, smiling slightly at his peaceful face.

"Denzel…" she murmured, "Denzel…wake up,"

The boy's eyes flickered open, still hazy. "…Tifa?"

"Come down," she said, pulling him into sitting position, "I cooked something for you,"

"…Eh, yeah," Denzel nodded, following her downstairs. As soon as he reached the bottom, the others leapt from behind the table.

"SURPRISE!" they said, with Yuffie's voice being the loudest. Reno blew at a makeshift colorful trumpet, emanating horrible sounds.

Tifa looked at Denzel's expression, which quickly turned into a big grin. Marlene ran toward him, giving him a big hug.

"Happy birthday!!!!" she said, pulling away and giving him a colorful box. Denzel opened it, holding out a basketball.

"Thanks!" his face brightened. Tifa watched as Yuffie pecked the boy on the cheek, making him blush, and gave him an overlarge cap. Vincent shook hands with him, saying happy birthday in a flat voice, and gave him a book about space. Denzel looked surprised at the book, but muttered thank you anyway. Vincent really have no idea how to dealt with kids. Reno came last, ruffling Denzel's hair and gave him a gun.

Tifa immediately looked horrified, "A gun, Reno? Seriously,"

"It's a prototype. No bullets either," The redhead scowled, "It's a limited-edition."

"Fine," Tifa shrugged. Then Cloud, who stood beside her, called Denzel.

"Happy birthday," the blonde said, handing him the clumsily-wrapped gift. Tifa kissed him on the cheek, "It's from us,"

Denzel smiled brightly, and opened the gift. His eyes shone as he saw the legos.

"…Do you like it?" Cloud's voice was unsure.

"Yeah, it's awesome!" Denzel answered, and gave Tifa and Cloud a hug, "Thanks!"

Cloud's face looked strange. He looked kind of happy and sad at the same time. Tifa then took Denzel's hand.

"Now, eat. All those food are for you," she said gently, "Happy birthday, Denzel,"

He grinned at her, and suddenly the world seems twice as brighter, "Thanks, Tifa,"

As he ran toward the dining table, the 23-year-old brunette watched him eat with Marlene by his side. Yuffie was talking to Reno, and Cloud was standing next to her, looking almost…content.

And as she caught sight of Vincent, blowing the trumpet Reno made earlier, she had to smile.

The rest of the day went quite well. Denzel and Marlene were all-smiles, Yuffie and Reno were being annoying, Vincent was quiet, and Cloud seems detached, but he smiled a lot too. And it makes Tifa wonder, that no matter how much she felt like she was lonely, maybe the whole thing was worth it.

"You're smiling to yourself," Reno's voice caught her off her reverie.

"Does that bother you?"

"No…" the Turks grinned, "It's good to see you smiling."

Tifa shrugged, and looked across the room where Marlene was feeding Cloud a bunch of ripe grapes. Reno followed the direction of her gaze and smiled, "See, he cares about you guys a lot,"

"... Maybe," Tifa muttered, "I just hope things will stay like this forever, you know,"

"It will," Reno promised, but something about his voice made her scared, like there's something about the whole thing he's not telling her.

Lol. Okay, please reviews. This is kind of a happy chapter, preparing for the worst-to-come at the next chapter. What do u think??? and some suggestions, please

Ill appreciate it

-Rukichigo93