Hey hope yall enjoy this chapter. :)
Chapter 55: Glimpse of the Feutrue
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Cid bolted upright and his breaths came out in uneven gasps. For a second he was disoriented; he couldn't place where he was, the last clear memory he had in the hot spring. Then this. He was in a bedroom on a soft mattress, with dim morning light coming through the curtains.
"Cid?"
He turned to see Yui… but not as he remembered.
She looked like herself and not like herself at the same time. The same face, but she matured into something far more beautiful in a motherly way . Her body had filled out in ways that made her feel warmer and caring rather than the version he knew.
She leaned in close, worry clear in her eyes, and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead.
"Cid, Are you okay?"
He stared at her, still lost, while her fingers brushed across his skin checking for fever and also checking his eyes for anything wrong.
Then the door slammed open.
A little girl about eight years old shot into the room like a missile. She had black hair, red eyes, and she blatantly took more after cid in the looks department, she was already launching herself at the bed. She crashed into them with a bright, unrestrained smile on her face as she hugged them both.
"Good morning, Mama! Good morning, Papa!"
She hugged Yui for only a few seconds before letting go and latching on tighter to Cid, rubbing her head into his chest with complete familiarity. When he looked down at her in shock, she tilted her face up toward him and smiled like this was the happiest place in the world for her to be.
Then something in his head clicked.
Memories settled back into place in a smooth ordered way, this house, this life, his children. The confusion didn't vanish so much as it got muted all the love and happiness from.
'T-that's right, how could I forget this.' He thought to himself
Cid's expression softened despite himself. He lifted a hand and ran it through her hair.
"…Morning, sweetheart."
Yui was still watching him closely. She pressed her forehead lightly to his, brows drawn together.
"You're a little warm. Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah," Cid said after a second. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just had a weird dream. It left me a little disoriented. Sorry, dear."
The worry in her face eased. She smiled and started to pull back.
"That's good. I'll go make breakfast this morning instead, so you can rest some more."
She moved to get up, but Cid caught her wrist before she could leave the bed and drew her back in, kissing her once.
"No, it's fine. I'll do it."
From his chest, Claire's head popped up, eyes bright.
"Really? Papa's making breakfast?"
Cid nodded.
She scrambled out of bed immediately, grabbed his arm with both hands, and started trying to drag him out of bed. Yui laughed under her breath.
"Claire. Go get your brother and sister. Your father will be there in a minute."
Claire paused, then gave a small, determined nod, like she'd just been given an official mission, and ran out of the room.
Yui watched her go, still smiling.
"She's always such a handful." she sighed fondly
Cid leaned over and kissed Yui once more before they got up. She headed for the bathroom while he made his way to the kitchen.
By the time the pan was heated, he had bacon, eggs, and pancakes started already. He worked through this like he'd done them hundreds of times already.
Claire appeared in the doorway a minute later, leading her younger siblings by the hands. Both looked about four or five. Each of them clutched a stuffed animal in their free hand and still looked half-asleep and dead to the world.
On her right was Flare. She had beautiful red hair, soft features that took strongly after Yui, while her eyes took after Cid's pure black. On her left was Arc, a near carbon copy of Cid right down to the way he carried himself, only smaller and clearly still tired.
Cid looked over and smiled without thinking.
"Morning, you two."
"Good morning, Papa," they answered together, brightening a little as they let go of Claire's hand and rushed over to hug him around the legs. He rested a hand on each of their heads for a second before going back to cooking. He then nodded toward the table.
"Go sit. The food's almost ready, I made bacon eggs and pancakes."
""Yes, bacon/pancakes"" they said in unison. Then snapped towards each other.
"Bacon way better then pancakes." said Arc
"Nu uh pancakes are the best." Flare shot back, while glaring.
"Bacon!"
"Pancakes!"
"Bacon!!"
"Pancakes!!"
Claire rolled her eyes then helped the two of them into their chairs, making sure they were settled, then promptly ignored their argument.
"Tch so childish." She muttered as she walked back to Cid's side
She took hold of his pajama pant leg and stayed there, watching the stove with serious attention, like she was trying to memorize every movement.
Yui came in a minute later, causing them to stop arguing instantly, she walked to the fridge and grabbed some apple juice and started pouring it for the kids. She kissed each of them on the cheek as she set the cups down, then glanced over at Claire still glued to Cid's side.
"Claire, go sit with your brother and sister."
Claire's face pulled into a small pout. At the table, Flare and Arc immediately started snickering.
"Suck-up," Arc muttered.
"Yeah, Mrs.Clingy. " Flare added, giggling at her own joke.
Claire spun toward them with fury written on her face, already starting to argue with them, and the three kid's voices rose in a mess of yelling over each other that quickly faded into background noise.
Yui walked up behind Cid instead, sliding her arms around his waist and resting her chin on his shoulder as she watched him cook. Her voice was quieter this time.
"Are you sure you're feeling better?"
Cid turned his head enough to kiss her cheek, then looked back at the pan.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Just had a really strange dream." He was silent for a second. "It felt… really real. More than it should have. You know"
Yui's fingers threaded lightly through his hair.
"It was real, dummy," she said softly. "That did happen when we were at camp. It was just a memory. Nothing to worry about." as she placed a few kisses to the side of his neck.
Cid let some of the tension ease out of his shoulders, leaning back into her a little more.
From the table, Arc made a loud, disgusted sound.
"Ewww. Mama's giving Papa kisses."
Flare and Claire both broke into hysterical giggles. Yui laughed under her breath against Cid's shoulder, and even he huffed a quiet, amused sound as he kept cooking
When the food was finally done Cid and Yui brought the food over to the table, setting the plates down while the kids straightened up with sudden interest. The moment everything was within reach, manners disappeared. All the food started vanishing at a rate that would surprise even fat gum, the three of them were eating like they'd been starved for days.
It stayed mostly peaceful, if a little loud, until there was only one piece of bacon left.
All three of them stared at each other then their hands shot toward the plate.
"I saw it first!"
"No you didn't!"
"I'm the oldest, so I should get it!"
Cid watched them for a second as they fought over the last piece.
Then the bacon vanished from the plate and reappeared between his fingers.
He tossed it into his mouth, chewed and smirked at them.
"You gotta be faster than that."
There was a second of pure betrayed silence on all three of their faces.
Then they launched at him.
They all hit him at the same time, in a messy pile of limbs. That caused his chair to fall backwards with all three of the kids still fighting him and each other..
Something on the table was knocked into the air when his foot hit the table as they went down.
A bowl of whipped cream was launched into the air and landed square on top of Cid's head with a soft, *plop*.
The fighting stopped at once.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Yui covered her mouth, shoulders shaking as she tried and failed to hold back a laugh. That broke the kids first, they all burst out laughing immediately while looking at the cream on Cid's head.
Cid lay there on the floor while, whipped cream dripping down onto his face, and after a second he let out a breath that turned into a genuine bright burst of laughter that pulled his face into a broad smile as the kids kept giggling on top of him.