Yes, I'm still plugging at this crazy one. There will probably be two more chapters (cause I hate leaving things unfinished). I'm still not sure why I wanted to do this one... Oh, well.

So, reminder that I don't own the characters, it's m-preg which isn't everyone's cup of tea, I know, so we can skip the flames, and reviews are very welcome. Thank you for reading.

"Well, you're cheerful today." Zack greeted with a hand wave as Cloud approached him. "I love the giant sweatshirt. I think about four of you could fit in it."

"Shut up," grumbled Cloud, though it was more irritated than angry which was improvement. "Let's just get this part over with. It'll only be a minute."

"After you, Spike."

Zack followed Cloud into the shop, smiling at the woman who greeted them who Cloud had completely ignored. Although it wasn't terribly abnormal of him, it wasn't normal. Zack just watched him as he went over to a rack of pants, searched them a minute, and then pulled a few pairs out. Passing Zack, he thrust the collection upon him."Here."

Zack accepted them awkwardly. "Uh, okay."

Cloud continued toward a set of shelves with folded pajama pants. He took a few of those also and returned to Zack. "I'll take those back. We're done."

"Yeah, sure." He again followed Cloud. "That was fast."

"I hate clothes shopping on a normal day," muttered Cloud, dumping his armload of pants on the check out counter. He didn't care if the cashier heard him.

Zack shrugged, hands in his pockets. "With luck you won't have to do this again for like a month."

"I don't have luck." Accepting his bagged items, Cloud quickly moved for the door. "I'm really thinking about living in sweatpants and never leaving the house for the next four months."

"I'd say you'd get bored, but you probably wouldn't. You really don't look that different, Cloud."

"You haven't seen me naked."

"Well, not in several years, but if the opportunity came..."

Cloud shoved him.

"You wear baggy pants, anyway, so you got some flex time on becoming super noticeable. You're halfway into this and everyone starts complaining about ballooning out around now."

"Well, I haven't done that... Yet." Cloud hoped there were a lot of pregnancy 'norms' he wouldn't deal with. "I guess we'll know if it does. At the least, we know the waist will blow out."

"Yeah." As they walked down the street, Zack laced his fingers behind his head. "You and Riku still butting heads?"

Cloud sighed. "It's better... I think he's finally getting why he needs to take a few steps back. It's not anything personal toward him, but he's taking it that way."

"I can see why he would, but yeah."

"I can, too, and if the roles were reversed... I don't know that'd I'd take the brush off as well as he has. I really couldn't have a better partner in this." Cloud turned his eyes to the cobblestone walk. "I wish I could have the enthusiasm he does. Maybe if this had come about differently..."

"As long as you don't end up resenting the baby, or him for wanting the baby," said Zack softly. "Right now, that's my worry. It's obvious you don't want this for yourself, Cloud. You're only going through with it because it's what Riku wants, and that... is really dangerous."

Cloud only made a quiet noise of acknowledgment.

Zack abruptly brightened. "But, it'll all work out."

"Sure."

"So, let's get some ice cream before going home!"

"Sure." That was one thing Cloud was always up for these days.

-0-0-

They were already unloading the new shipment of supplies when Cloud entered the warehouse and he sighed. At least someone had shown initiative and gotten started. Cloud covered a yawn with his hand as he moved toward the office.

"Hey, Cloud!" Sora greeted, sitting on a large crate and kicking his feet.

Cloud was surprised by his presence. "It's seven in the morning."

"That's when you come in usually, right?" Sora grinned. "If I'm gonna be you, I have to keep your schedule."

He had a point. Cloud shrugged, passing Sora to rinse out his empty milk bottle. "It's six on shipment days, six-thirty the rest of the week."

"Cool. It'll be like I'm in school again."

"I guess so."

"Doctor visit the same?" Sora asked. "Going every two weeks would suck."

"It does, and yeah. Weight's dropped a bit, but Chase isn't worried." Cloud wondered how quickly that would get back to Riku.

"As long as the baby has everything it needs, who cares? I don't think there's a standard with that."

"Yeah."

"Riku will be glad everything's on track." Sora slid off his crate. "He's worrying too much. I told him he needs to up his anxiety medicine, and you'd tell him if there was a problem. He's really trying not to hover."

Cloud pursed his lips a moment. "I know. He's doing better."

"Good. You guys need each other.. So, is there anything I need to know about the shipment or is everything on the manifest?"

"Should be on the list. No special orders." Cloud pressed a spot on his abdomen, muttering, "Enough, kid, I know you're there."

"She's getting pretty active, huh? That's got to be super weird."

Cloud dropped his hand. "Yeah."

"I bet. Okay, you go do boring paperwork." Sora grinned and mock-saluted. "I have the floor!"

He watched as Sora ran out onto the floor, encouraging the workers and getting an overall positive response from them. Sora had all but been running things for several weeks now, and had a really good grasp on the daily and weekly process. The monthly audits were next week, but they weren't hard if the weekly paperwork was right. He could leave instructions that Sora would have no problem following.

Sitting at his desk, he glanced around. He then placed a hand on his swollen stomach and looked at it. Twenty-eight weeks in now which meant they had reached the next critical phase. He had been able to feel movement for a couple of weeks now, which Riku had been disappointed he couldn't feel when he held his hand to Cloud's stomach. In an odd way, Cloud was glad that he couldn't. It prevented Riku wanting to touch him all the time. He hated when someone tried to touch him.

On the desk was a single stack of papers and he was fairly certain Sora had already sorted the dailies. Realistically, there was nothing here for Cloud to do. The doctors had recommended the previous two visits that he should stop working. The compromise with Riku had been he would only do desk work. A full day of desk work was still exhausting, and it took a toll on his body that was already strained by the changes happening to it. There was no reason outside his own stubbornness to be dragging it out further.

Cloud called Leon to tell him he was going on leave tomorrow.

-0-0-

"They actually repainted the lobby to a decent color." Riku noted, holding the door open. "I'm impressed."

"It was really ugly," agreed Aerith, entering the lobby which did smell of fresh paint.

Cloud shrugged indifferently ahead of them, going to sign in. It made no difference to him what the healer ward looked like. He didn't think the other two really cared, either; it was all just small talk. His mood had been terrible for the past week, and he wasn't sorry for it. It got them to leave him alone most of the time and that was what he really wanted. Despite this, he did do his best to make sure Riku understood that it wasn't a personal issue with him. Things had definitely been... tense.

Riku took his usual seat and after a few minutes, Cloud came to sit beside him. This put them in a part of the waiting room where they wouldn't be so prominent of a sight. Usually, no one else gave them any particular notice. Those who did would often give them odd looks, but go about their business. "It's crowded today."

"I noticed," murmured Cloud. Aerith had sat on his other side. "We're getting into cold season."

Aerith crossed her legs casually. "Hopefully it won't be bad this year. The winter is likely to be frigid. We're already stocking up on remedies."

Cloud wished he cared more. "And here you are on your day off."

"I figured you would both appreciate it."

Riku certainly did. "Thankfully these visits have been short. I usually don't even come with anymore, but today's an ultrasound day." And they should be able to get a really good picture this time if Chase and Cameron were right about the timeline.

It wasn't long for them to be called back, the whole process routine by now. All vitals were again in range and they were left alone in an exam room. Cloud climbed on the table, Riku standing against the nearby wall, and giving Aerith the lone chair in the room. When she sat, she crossed her ankles and watched the two men. Though her expression was neutral, her eyes were concerned.

"I guess you'll want to go home after this." Riku glanced at Cloud who merely shrugged. "Right. Mind if I have some people over?"

"That's fine. I know you'll want to show off our pictures."

"Well, yeah." Riku grinned. "I'm excited to see if my guess is right."

Cloud offered him a small smile. "Yeah."

"I have a feeling it will be." Aerith smoothed her skirt out. "A lot of us are in agreement."

Riku looked over. "Really?"

She nodded. As she did, the exam room door opened for both Dr. Chase and Dr. Cameron to enter. The later was pushing the ultrasound cart before her to setup near the table Cloud sat on. Chase approached Cloud.

"Good afternoon. You're looking well. Any updates?"

Cloud shook his head. "Nope. Just getting fatter and feeling lazier."

"Well that's to be expected. Go ahead and lay back." When Cloud did as ordered, Chase immediately started pressing and feeling around his abdomen. "From here on out is when I worry. We're going to have to really pay attention to weight gain and how the cavity expands. The concern is that the fetus will push back instead, placing pressure on the liver and displacing the colon."

"If that happens?" Riku asked, watching.

"It will depend on how distressed Cloud's body becomes as a result. Have you noticed any change in sensitivity or feel to your chest area, Cloud?"

"...no..."

"Good. That means it isn't likely the breast tissue will start developing." Chase smirked. "No breast-feeding."

Cloud hadn't thought of that complication. Now he sighed in relief. "Thank the Summons."

"Yeah, gonna have to agree." Riku smiled. "He doesn't need boobs."

"There's enough happening," agreed Chase. "Well, everything feels right. We'll get this ultrasound going to get a visual and this week's lab done, then you can leave."

Cloud was grateful for that. "Great."

"All right, I get the fun part today." Cameron was showing all the enthusiasm that was probably expected of Cloud and Riku as she brought the equipment over. Getting the gel out and preparing Cloud's abdomen, she continued talking. "With luck, we'll be able to identify some more features today. We should also be able to tell the gender."

"That's the whole reason Riku's here."

"Not the whole." Riku countered, moving from the wall to stand beside Cloud. No sooner had he then Cameron deposited some gel on Cloud's skin. Despite the warmer it had been stored in, it was still cold to the man. "I need to know how you're doing, too. This part is bonus."

"Right," said Cloud dryly, The press of the imaging wand was a little more uncomfortable than in the past.

"Okay...Everything looks good...Let me try to get a clearer image..." Cameron was peering intently at the screen, occasionally pressing a bit firmer or dragging the wand in short runs. After a few moments, she seemed happy and stopped. Her free hand turned the screen more toward the couple. "As you can see, she's nice and cozy."

Riku was quiet for quite some time as that processed. "...she..."

Cloud watched Riku's reaction, saw the expression on his face, and it warmed his heart."Looks like you were right."

"Y-yeah."

Aerith observed the couple, pleased when Cloud reached and took Riku's hand as the volume was brought up so a faint heartbeat could be heard. "Now you can narrow down that massive list of names, Riku."

"Not even by half, but yeah. " He glanced at Cloud. "It's not that big a list."

Cloud smirked back. "Of course not."

"Do you two need another minute?" Chase asked. Cameron added, "The image and sound have been recorded so you can take them with."

"I'm good." Cloud was eager to leave, but he waited on Riku's reply.

"Yeah, this is fine." He kissed the top of Cloud's head. "I know you're ready to go home."

Cameron began cleaning up, handing Cloud a few towels to get the gel off his body. "The file is copying now. Things are going well and the baby's growth is on track."

"Awesome. I can't wait to show Sora and Sephiroth. Sora might be able to recognize her as a baby and not a tadpole now."

Cloud sat upright, clothes straightened. "I still don't understand the tadpole thing..."

"Me neither."

"An embryo does look a bit like that." Aerith took the jump drive from Cameron. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah." Riku continued to hold onto Cloud's hand.

"Have them get your blood on the way out." Chase opened the door for them. "And let's go ahead and change to weekly visits."

Cloud grumbled but inclined his head in acceptance.

-0-0-

Riku didn't wait to find Sephiroth when they got home, rushing up the stairs with jump drive in his hand. He found his brother in his room, folding laundry. Not waiting, he pulled out Sephiroth's computer to pop in the drive and pull up the video file. He only chuckled at the look he was getting. "You wanna see your niece, right?"

"Of course, but I also could have waited until I could come downstairs and view it with both of you."

"Cloud is calling Zack so he can come over with Sora, and he told me I can show you now."

"I see." Sephiroth stopped his activity and joined Riku. "I trust the visit went well."

"Yeah, everything's great and going in the right direction. We're changing to every week." Riku grinned. "Here we go!"

Sephiroth watched the looped recording with a calm expression. Upon the third repeat, he indicated the screen. "The pregnancy does appear to be proceeding satisfactorily. How is Cloud doing?"

"He's okay. Moody as ever, but we're working through it." Riku removed the jump drive. "I know he's uncomfortable, and I wish I could help more with that."

"The physical discomfort you can do much for. Everything else, you can only offer support and understanding."

"Yeah." Riku's mood fell slightly and he sat on the bed. "At least we're over halfway through it. Once the baby's born, everything will go back to normal."

Though he raised an eyebrow, Sephiroth chose to not address his brother's choice of words.

"I'll treat him to a massage and rub his feet."

"I think he would appreciate that."

Riku nodded, moving for the door. If he got Cloud relaxed enough, maybe he'd be up for more than that. They hadn't been intimate in a few weeks. "Dinner will be whatever Cloud wants, so just keep that in mind. Sora and Zack will probably be here, too."

"I have no doubt of that."

Riku went back downstairs. Cloud was still on the phone, looking annoyed and amused. When he wrapped up the call, Riku approached him. "Only you can pull off that expression."

"Zack put me on speaker so everyone was listening. Wasn't looking for an audience."

"At least it was only speaker and not video." Riku brushed at Cloud's bangs. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired mainly," he assured. "It was pretty cool, getting that clear of a picture. I'm glad she's developing well."

Riku smiled. "Yeah. We're almost there, Cloud. I know how hard this had been on you."

The blond moved his head to keep Riku's hand in his hair. "Physically, it hasn't been terrible."

"But it's taking a toll on your head."

"...it's trying to."

"I'm sorry."

"Few more weeks, and it'll be over, right?" Cloud took a step back, pulling away. "I'm going to lay down."

Though disappointed, Riku nodded. "Yeah, okay."

"You can come with."

"I don't have to, Cloud." Laying down was usually code for leave me alone.

Cloud held out his hand. "Come with me."

Riku looked at the hand for a moment before taking it. He was led upstairs and into their bedroom, Cloud not releasing him. The door was kicked closed behind them and that was when Riku's hand was let go. Cloud stretched his back, raising his arms above his head.

"She's started kicking."

Riku blinked. "She has?"

"Yeah, it's... a really weird sensation... almost like an upset stomach... or a cramp... But you know it isn't. I asked Tifa about it, because I was worried... That's how I know what it is."

"Oh." It would have been nice if he had been told any of this. It explained why Cloud had been almost dismissive of Riku's concerns. "I'm glad you've been talking to her."

"She's the only one who's been through this." Hopefully Riku would understand. "It's been really reassuring."

Riku folded his arms. It hurt that he hadn't been told before now, even if it wasn't surprising. "I guess so."

"It started a few days ago, and I've only felt it a couple of times." Cloud faced him. "I'm sorry I haven't told you."

"Yeah, okay." Cloud was Cloud and why should Riku expect him to behave any differently? Riku was about to sigh, but was suddenly wrapped in a tight hug. He stiffened for a moment, then relaxed and placed his arms around Cloud. "This hasn't been good for our relationship."

"Well, the point was to punish me." Hades had certainly gotten what he wanted, even if it wasn't to the extreme likely intended.

Riku tilted his head, his chest suddenly getting tight. "You still see her that way. That's what's wrong, isn't it?"

"..."

"That...makes so much sense." Riku wrapped his arms around himself. "It all fits. She's not your daughter... which explains the indifference. She's just...punishment."

"That isn't- That's not exactly right." Cloud sat on the bed. "I don't see her that way...but everything around her, the situation, all of this," he motioned at his body "it's a burden I don't want."

"I... I guess I can't understand because it's not me. She's just our child. That's it."

"I'm sorry it's not like that for me." Cloud meant that deeply, for he knew it had to not only hurt Riku, but seriously worry him. "When I don't think about the how, I am happy we're having a kid together."

"Okay," said Riku quietly. He supposed that would have to be enough now.

"Sit with me." Cloud prompted him, and when Riku settled beside him he took hold of his hand. Quickly, he placed Riku's fingers on a spot just below his navel. Riku should have felt the tail end of the little thump.

Riku stared. "Oh, wow."

"She'll probably do it again in a minute. Seems to happen in brief bursts." Though uncomfortable with being touched, Cloud enjoyed the look on Riku's face. Even if he himself couldn't be excited, he could be with Riku. "If you lay with me, you'll catch more."

"Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah." Cloud's smile was true. He laid back, pulling Riku with him by keeping his hand in place. Once he was settled, Cloud ran fingers through Riku's hair. "I want to share this with you. It's about the only thing I can."

Riku felt another tiny bump against his hand, and for the moment, everything was okay.