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Title: Another homecoming.
Description: Mpreg arc. I wrote this for Race's birthday, and it kept growing... and growing... Warning for MPreg, of course. Set in a world where time compression didn't end, and Squall's team failed in their battle against Ultimecia.
Pairing: seifer/squall
Rating: PG
Word count: 1704
Notes: Drabbles/ficlets tend to be written at work, so they're not as lucid as some of my writing. They're also completely unbeta'd unless otherwise stated, please forgive this.
“I have to go,” Seifer had said. “I need to… figure things out. Work out what my head is doing. Just give me six weeks.”
Squall had started to beg him to stay, Caden such a heavy weight in his arms that he wasn’t sure he could keep holding the baby alone… but then he paused and sighed. It wasn’t his place to ask Seifer to stay. It wasn’t his place to beg Seifer to suffer for him. So he’d just nodded, gripped Seifer’s arm tightly and said “Come back soon.”
Six weeks passed, dragging by. Each day felt like a thousand years and then, six weeks to the day the phone rang. Seifer asked for more time. He rang over and over again, every few weeks, asking for more time or just telling Squall that he wouldn’t be back yet.
And then, at long last, Seifer returned. The door was locked, and even if he had had a key, he couldn’t remember where he’d left it or lost it. So he knocked.
And Laguna Loire opened the door.
“Oh,” he said. “It’s you.”
Seifer was not entirely surprised to see the door of the small house that Laguna had acquired for Squall and his grandson start to swing shut, but he was ready for it. He caught it at the last moment, the heavy wood swinging and catching on his boot. Fortunately Seifer’s toes were protected by heavy steel toe caps, so the thud was nothing dangerous. “Please, Loire. I need to see Squall, and my son.”
“After the way you ran out on them? You’ve been gone six months!” Laguna glowered, his deep green eyes like poison, venom as he stared Seifer down despite being a good six inches shorter than his opponent. Seifer couldn’t help but feel relieved that he’d made the right decision in telling Squall about his father.
“Six months. Not seventeen years,” Seifer countered, folding his arms over his chest and very determinedly not moving his foot. “Why are you here, anyway? I thought you had a country to run?”
“Vacation to take ca…. Never mind. None of your business. He doesn’t want to see you.”
‘Take care of. Take care of Squall? Caden?’ Seifer’s mind whirled with all the possibilities, what had happened, who needed taking care of. “How would you know if you haven’t even asked him?”
“its okay, Dad,” A tired, entirely too familiar voice muttered from somewhere out of Seifer’s sight. “Let him in, he won’t leave until he gets what he wants.”
Laguna looked off to his left, wherever Squall was. “Squall… You need to rest, not deal with this prick.”
“Give him ten minutes. If he’s pissed me off by then, you can shoot him, I promise.”
The door relented, and Seifer slipped inside, just in time to catch the last glimpse of Squall shuffling back up the stairs and along the corridor that led to the bedroom. It was a small, unobtrusive house and Squall’s bedroom was right in the far corner from the front door – that had to be where he was heading. Seifer gave Laguna a smug look and followed.
By the time he reached the bedroom doorway, Squall was gingerly lying back on the bed, one leg propped up on pillows and pulling a woollen blanket over himself. Seifer felt guilty for being relieved that his son wasn’t the one who needed looking after, and pulled up a chair to the bedside. “I’m sorry…”
“So you should be,” Squall said, closing his eyes and resting against the pillows. “funny
six weeks.”
“I told you I needed more time. I had to do something to make up for all that crap I pulled on people…” Seifer pulled a chair up to the side of the bed, watching the leg as though it was about to pull a blade on him. “I needed to make amends.”
Squall regarded him coolly, the expression one that Seifer had not seen on Squall’s face for years. He looked so distantly angry, and the ice was back in his eyes. “I needed you. Your son needed you.”
“I know, and I’m sorry,” Seifer rested his head in his hands. He was racked with guilt enough without Squall adding to the already heavy burden on him. “But… I had to make peace with myself before I could do this. Be with you and my son. If you’ll take me back… I didn’t realise it would take so long.”
“If. It’s a big if, Seifer.”
The tone was so cool, even though the words gave him hope. Squall had said if, no matter how big it was and how hard it would be to find a way back into Squall’s heart. “I know. I wanted to be better for you and Cade. I wanted to get over all the crap before I came home to you.”
He looked up at Squall. Pale Squall, his eyes smudged with dark circles and his face thinner than Seifer remembered. Was that his fault?
Somewhere in the house, a baby began to cry. Seifer was on his feet in a moment, his heart pounding. Every little cry of a child had made him think of his son, the one he’d left behind too small to protect himself and too young to remember him. “Is that…?”
“Sit down,” Squall growled, as the crying continued muting as someone – Laguna, Seifer figured – went to the baby. “I needed you and you ran out on me, why should I let you back in here? Why should I even keep Laguna from kicking you out?”
“I don’t have an answer, Squall. I don’t even know why you’d want to, except I love you and I’ve come back, just like I promised. I’ll always come back to you, and to Caden.”
Squall was silent, his eyes closed, listening to the crying, and thinking of what Seifer had said. Finally he sat up. “Dad, bring the baby here!” he yelled loud enough to be heard over the needy little cries. Then he turned to Seifer and scowled at him. “I need time to think about it, but you should know about this.”
“What?” Seifer blinked, confused by Squall’s words until Laguna bumped the door open with his hip and carried a small bundle in. Caiden would be bigger than that now – approaching a year old, at least. This wasn’t right – something was wrong.
“Sorry, son. She wanted you.”
Laguna handed over the bundle as Seifer watched, the cries almost instantly quieting to soft little grumbles and then to nothing. He caught sight of little, chestnut brown curls peeking from beneath the blanket and a chubby little hand. “Its okay, Dad. We were almost finished.”
Shifting his grip on the baby, Squall levelled a glare on Seifer again. “Seifer. This is Caralyn Almasy.”
“You…” Seifer began, his mouth suddenly dry and his heart pounding. “You were pregnant and you didn’t tell me? But… when? How?”
Squall winced when Seifer raised his voice, putting a finger to his lips in a shush gesture. “Hyne, don’t wake her, she’s hard enough to get to sleep as it is.”
She. They kept saying she. He had a daughter and he hadn’t even known about her. “….when was she born?” he asked, sitting back down. He’d barely noticed himself standing up.
“Two weeks ago,” Laguna interrupted. Seifer had forgotten him as well, focused on the bundle and his lover completely, and suddenly Seifer felt a lot more understanding about his almost-father-in-law and the way he’d tried to keep him out of the house. Even more than that, he felt like a heel. He should have noticed the signs, he should have realised that Squall was… Hyne, Squall had to have been pregnant before they’d returned to their own world. “Took him to Esthar but he wanted to come back here in case you
returned.”
“Dad, we’ll be okay. Go keep an eye on Cade.”
“Okay – coffee?” Laguna tipped his head in question offering his easy smile to Squall. When he received a nod and a smile in return for the question, he added “Maybe a shot of brandy for numb nuts there.”
As soon as the door clicked closed, Squall turned his attention to the baby in his arms. He wasn’t quite ignoring Seifer, just focusing on the little girl. “Must have happened before we came home. I’m surprised she made it through time compression.”
“I thought the spell was only a one time deal. One kid, one heir… Ultimecia must not have taken it back after Caden arrived. Hyne, I’m sor…”
“Shut up,” Squall glowered at him and cutting him off mid-sentence, his eyes dark and threatening. “Don’t you dare apologise for her being here, she’s done nothing wrong.”
Seifer stared at Squall for a moment, seeing the wicked little bastard he’d fallen for originally in the war, ice and fire that had become a little muted under the control of Ultimecia’s spells. Now he was back and Seifer wanted him more than ever – he was struggling not to grin. “Who told you she was a mistake?”
The petulant child look. Squall wore it well, especially when he knew he’d been found out. “One of the doctors in Esthar. Called her an abomination.”
“Want his head on a plate?”
He saw Squall consider it for a moment, his grip tightening on his bundle in the blanket and then it was dismissed, forgotten. “No. Your pardon will be revoked if you kill someone now.”
“So you do want me around?” Seifer asked, leaning closer to touch the chubby hand that clung to the blanket gently. She was so cool, just like Squall and for a moment, Seifer wondered if somehow she’d been given shiva’s gifts like her other father. It was a stupid thought though, she was too young for such magic.
“I won’t keep you from seeing your kids. You have a right.”
Somehow, it wasn’t as comforting as Seifer would have hoped. Still, it was something and that was all he could ask for right now. “Can I stay? Or should I look for a hotel.”
“You can have the sofa, dad’s sleeping in the spare bedroom at the moment.”
Description: Mpreg arc. I wrote this for Race's birthday, and it kept growing... and growing... Warning for MPreg, of course. Set in a world where time compression didn't end, and Squall's team failed in their battle against Ultimecia.
Pairing: seifer/squall
Rating: PG
Word count: 1704
Notes: Drabbles/ficlets tend to be written at work, so they're not as lucid as some of my writing. They're also completely unbeta'd unless otherwise stated, please forgive this.
“I have to go,” Seifer had said. “I need to… figure things out. Work out what my head is doing. Just give me six weeks.”
Squall had started to beg him to stay, Caden such a heavy weight in his arms that he wasn’t sure he could keep holding the baby alone… but then he paused and sighed. It wasn’t his place to ask Seifer to stay. It wasn’t his place to beg Seifer to suffer for him. So he’d just nodded, gripped Seifer’s arm tightly and said “Come back soon.”
Six weeks passed, dragging by. Each day felt like a thousand years and then, six weeks to the day the phone rang. Seifer asked for more time. He rang over and over again, every few weeks, asking for more time or just telling Squall that he wouldn’t be back yet.
And then, at long last, Seifer returned. The door was locked, and even if he had had a key, he couldn’t remember where he’d left it or lost it. So he knocked.
And Laguna Loire opened the door.
“Oh,” he said. “It’s you.”
Seifer was not entirely surprised to see the door of the small house that Laguna had acquired for Squall and his grandson start to swing shut, but he was ready for it. He caught it at the last moment, the heavy wood swinging and catching on his boot. Fortunately Seifer’s toes were protected by heavy steel toe caps, so the thud was nothing dangerous. “Please, Loire. I need to see Squall, and my son.”
“After the way you ran out on them? You’ve been gone six months!” Laguna glowered, his deep green eyes like poison, venom as he stared Seifer down despite being a good six inches shorter than his opponent. Seifer couldn’t help but feel relieved that he’d made the right decision in telling Squall about his father.
“Six months. Not seventeen years,” Seifer countered, folding his arms over his chest and very determinedly not moving his foot. “Why are you here, anyway? I thought you had a country to run?”
“Vacation to take ca…. Never mind. None of your business. He doesn’t want to see you.”
‘Take care of. Take care of Squall? Caden?’ Seifer’s mind whirled with all the possibilities, what had happened, who needed taking care of. “How would you know if you haven’t even asked him?”
“its okay, Dad,” A tired, entirely too familiar voice muttered from somewhere out of Seifer’s sight. “Let him in, he won’t leave until he gets what he wants.”
Laguna looked off to his left, wherever Squall was. “Squall… You need to rest, not deal with this prick.”
“Give him ten minutes. If he’s pissed me off by then, you can shoot him, I promise.”
The door relented, and Seifer slipped inside, just in time to catch the last glimpse of Squall shuffling back up the stairs and along the corridor that led to the bedroom. It was a small, unobtrusive house and Squall’s bedroom was right in the far corner from the front door – that had to be where he was heading. Seifer gave Laguna a smug look and followed.
By the time he reached the bedroom doorway, Squall was gingerly lying back on the bed, one leg propped up on pillows and pulling a woollen blanket over himself. Seifer felt guilty for being relieved that his son wasn’t the one who needed looking after, and pulled up a chair to the bedside. “I’m sorry…”
“So you should be,” Squall said, closing his eyes and resting against the pillows. “funny
six weeks.”
“I told you I needed more time. I had to do something to make up for all that crap I pulled on people…” Seifer pulled a chair up to the side of the bed, watching the leg as though it was about to pull a blade on him. “I needed to make amends.”
Squall regarded him coolly, the expression one that Seifer had not seen on Squall’s face for years. He looked so distantly angry, and the ice was back in his eyes. “I needed you. Your son needed you.”
“I know, and I’m sorry,” Seifer rested his head in his hands. He was racked with guilt enough without Squall adding to the already heavy burden on him. “But… I had to make peace with myself before I could do this. Be with you and my son. If you’ll take me back… I didn’t realise it would take so long.”
“If. It’s a big if, Seifer.”
The tone was so cool, even though the words gave him hope. Squall had said if, no matter how big it was and how hard it would be to find a way back into Squall’s heart. “I know. I wanted to be better for you and Cade. I wanted to get over all the crap before I came home to you.”
He looked up at Squall. Pale Squall, his eyes smudged with dark circles and his face thinner than Seifer remembered. Was that his fault?
Somewhere in the house, a baby began to cry. Seifer was on his feet in a moment, his heart pounding. Every little cry of a child had made him think of his son, the one he’d left behind too small to protect himself and too young to remember him. “Is that…?”
“Sit down,” Squall growled, as the crying continued muting as someone – Laguna, Seifer figured – went to the baby. “I needed you and you ran out on me, why should I let you back in here? Why should I even keep Laguna from kicking you out?”
“I don’t have an answer, Squall. I don’t even know why you’d want to, except I love you and I’ve come back, just like I promised. I’ll always come back to you, and to Caden.”
Squall was silent, his eyes closed, listening to the crying, and thinking of what Seifer had said. Finally he sat up. “Dad, bring the baby here!” he yelled loud enough to be heard over the needy little cries. Then he turned to Seifer and scowled at him. “I need time to think about it, but you should know about this.”
“What?” Seifer blinked, confused by Squall’s words until Laguna bumped the door open with his hip and carried a small bundle in. Caiden would be bigger than that now – approaching a year old, at least. This wasn’t right – something was wrong.
“Sorry, son. She wanted you.”
Laguna handed over the bundle as Seifer watched, the cries almost instantly quieting to soft little grumbles and then to nothing. He caught sight of little, chestnut brown curls peeking from beneath the blanket and a chubby little hand. “Its okay, Dad. We were almost finished.”
Shifting his grip on the baby, Squall levelled a glare on Seifer again. “Seifer. This is Caralyn Almasy.”
“You…” Seifer began, his mouth suddenly dry and his heart pounding. “You were pregnant and you didn’t tell me? But… when? How?”
Squall winced when Seifer raised his voice, putting a finger to his lips in a shush gesture. “Hyne, don’t wake her, she’s hard enough to get to sleep as it is.”
She. They kept saying she. He had a daughter and he hadn’t even known about her. “….when was she born?” he asked, sitting back down. He’d barely noticed himself standing up.
“Two weeks ago,” Laguna interrupted. Seifer had forgotten him as well, focused on the bundle and his lover completely, and suddenly Seifer felt a lot more understanding about his almost-father-in-law and the way he’d tried to keep him out of the house. Even more than that, he felt like a heel. He should have noticed the signs, he should have realised that Squall was… Hyne, Squall had to have been pregnant before they’d returned to their own world. “Took him to Esthar but he wanted to come back here in case you
returned.”
“Dad, we’ll be okay. Go keep an eye on Cade.”
“Okay – coffee?” Laguna tipped his head in question offering his easy smile to Squall. When he received a nod and a smile in return for the question, he added “Maybe a shot of brandy for numb nuts there.”
As soon as the door clicked closed, Squall turned his attention to the baby in his arms. He wasn’t quite ignoring Seifer, just focusing on the little girl. “Must have happened before we came home. I’m surprised she made it through time compression.”
“I thought the spell was only a one time deal. One kid, one heir… Ultimecia must not have taken it back after Caden arrived. Hyne, I’m sor…”
“Shut up,” Squall glowered at him and cutting him off mid-sentence, his eyes dark and threatening. “Don’t you dare apologise for her being here, she’s done nothing wrong.”
Seifer stared at Squall for a moment, seeing the wicked little bastard he’d fallen for originally in the war, ice and fire that had become a little muted under the control of Ultimecia’s spells. Now he was back and Seifer wanted him more than ever – he was struggling not to grin. “Who told you she was a mistake?”
The petulant child look. Squall wore it well, especially when he knew he’d been found out. “One of the doctors in Esthar. Called her an abomination.”
“Want his head on a plate?”
He saw Squall consider it for a moment, his grip tightening on his bundle in the blanket and then it was dismissed, forgotten. “No. Your pardon will be revoked if you kill someone now.”
“So you do want me around?” Seifer asked, leaning closer to touch the chubby hand that clung to the blanket gently. She was so cool, just like Squall and for a moment, Seifer wondered if somehow she’d been given shiva’s gifts like her other father. It was a stupid thought though, she was too young for such magic.
“I won’t keep you from seeing your kids. You have a right.”
Somehow, it wasn’t as comforting as Seifer would have hoped. Still, it was something and that was all he could ask for right now. “Can I stay? Or should I look for a hotel.”
“You can have the sofa, dad’s sleeping in the spare bedroom at the moment.”
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