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Cloud was yawning, exhausted from a particularly long week. He moved around the kitchen on autopilot, putting away the groceries that had just been delivered.
“Damn Spike.” Zack looked around, at a loss for what he was seeing. “You got enough to feed an army.” There was so much food that they weren’t even in bags but in cardboard boxes.
“I have an army.” Cloud nodded his agreement. “Seven kids, six of them growing boys. They’re eating us into debt, or they were at least.”
Zack poked around the groceries and went about helping Cloud by unpacking things. It seemed the least he could do since he was loitering around the house. “What changed?”
“Squall’s dad. Got us some grocery subscription where everything gets delivered. He’s been paying for it too.” Cloud explained.
“Huh.” Zack said, pulling out a truly impressive amount of cereal. “Your man strikes me as someone that would hate that.”
Cloud grunted. “He wasn’t a fan at first, but the grocery bill was hitting us at over a grand a month and we just didn't have it. We were starting to get behind in everything else.”
“A grand? Like a thousand? Like three zeros?” Zack blinked.
“It’s nine of us, Zack.” Cloud nodded. “Six little boys and one very hungry little girl. Play hard, eat hard. Just to buy the bare minimum for seven kids is expensive. There isn’t enough couponing in the world to help us though we hung on for as long as we could.”
“Well shit.” Zack muttered. With only two kids and technically four mercenary incomes, they hadn’t quite had such a steep change. When Zack had arrived earlier it was with Zexion and Ienzo trailing shyly behind him. Both boys knew Xion already and were relieved to see a familiar face but a house filled with boys that wanted to play only added to it.
Zack for one, was relieved to hear the laughter from his boys. They were still getting used to their permanent family and Zack was grateful for the normalcy Cloud’s family helped provide.
“So Squall was telling his sister about it bam, the next day we got a delivery. Laguna doesn’t fuck around. He knows Squall prefers his independence but not at the kids expense.” Cloud laughed softly, walking towards a hall closet just outside the kitchen. It was supposed to be some kind of linen closet or odds and ends closet but it was an impromptu pantry now. He had so many packs of noodles to put away.
“And that was that?”
“More or less. Without such a huge grocery bill, we’ve pretty much caught up on all our bills. There was one questionable mortgage bill that disappeared but i think i got my own pops to thank for that one.” Cloud rolled his eyes.
Zack chuckled. “Hell of a support system.”
“Right?” Cloud snorted. “And it’s not the bare minimum anymore. Laguna’s sending us stuff from bulk stores.”
Cases of juices and soda’s were sent. Two gallons of milk. Variety packs of snacks that would last two weeks. Gallons of detergent and shampoos. Bags of flour and sugar. Nurmourous packs of canned goods. Enough meat and veggie products to last the week. They had an impressive amount of ketchup and mayonnaise too.
Laguna would call and ask what they were low on but he’d occasionally throw in other things too. Packs of toothpaste and jumbo packs of toilet paper. It was a relief to have those burdens off of them.
Cloud and Leon could each admit now that they’d been floundering and both on the urge of bartending at night again.
“I mean i guess i never thought about it that way.” Zack said, setting aside things that would head to the laundry room when they were done. “But i guess that makes sense.”
Cloud was actually removing one of the drawers from the fridge to fill up before replacing it again rather than continuing to move back and forth. “Yeah. Dinner’s a feast every night and there’s almost never any leftovers.”
Zack just nodded, suddenly truly wondering what it must have been like to cook for so many on a daily basis. He picked up a single bag of bread that was in a box that held several more loaves. He paused as if counting the slices. “This is one meal.” He blinked. “This is a sandwich for all nine of you. This is one damn meal.”
“One?” Cloud snorted. “Most of the boys can eat two sandwiches depending on what’s on it. Grilled cheese night? Shit, even Xion tries to get a sandwich and a half.”
“And my kids are here.” Zack muttered. “And you watch Lightning’s kids and Leon’s students kids…”
“We make it work.”
“Gaia…” Zack looked floored. “Lucky your dads have money. I’m gonna have to start pitching in on your groceries too if you babysit my kids any kind of regular.”
Cloud hummed, replacing the drawer into the fridge. “I am often grateful, yes. Doesn’t do any good to have so many kids and not be able to support them. We don’t mind the babysitting either. Especially now that they’re older.” They essentially played and took care of themselves.
He and Leon had come a long way from adopting just one child. They’d never foreseen this.
“Snacks alone could put you in the red.” Zack said, still partly stunned by this revelation. There were so many fruit cups… He’d have to mention it to Sephiroth and the others when he got home. It was wild what Cloud and Leon went through.
He winced at a new thought.
“Couple years your older boys will be driving.” Their insurance was going to be nuts.
Cloud made a face. “I’m actively not thinking about that.”
“Say no more.” Zack agreed. He got it…
“Yeah. The groceries are always changing too.” Cloud commented. “Sometimes so slow you don’t even notice.”
“Change how?”
Cloud stopped unpacking for a moment, his hands on his hips. “Well, not buying formula like we used to. No diapers. None of the toddler snacks. Not babies anymore, you know?” He looked around at the mess still to be put away. “Their tastes change too. Especially after buying in bulk, they get tired of the same cereal but will eat it until it’s time to pick something new. Stuff like that.”
“Yeah, i guess them getting older means they have more opinions on what they want.” Zack muttered, having not run into that problem himself yet. His boys were still a little bit nervous in that respect.
“Boy, do they.” Cloud snorted. “Suddenly Riku doesn't like apricots and Roxas doesn’t like yogurt. They’ve only been eating them their whole lives, and Squall’s no damn help. ‘Palates change, Cloud’.” He mocked in his husband's tone. “Okay, bite me. Pops would have told me too damn bad, eat it.”
Zack grinned, unable to help it. “An old argument i take it?”
Cloud just shrugged. “I get it, it’s just annoying. Sometimes it’s like these kids just grow overnight.” Cloud kicked the box with the toilet paper in it off to the side to take to the bathroom later. “That shit is going to double as soon as the boys figure out masturbating.”
“Wha…” Zack’s laugh sputtered out so hard he started coughing. “Cloud!”
“What? Ven and Van are almost teenagers. It’s gonna happen.” Cloud shrugged. He seemed oddly desensitized to the next milestone.
Zack’s laughter rang so loudly throughout the kitchen that all of the kids no doubt heard him. It wasn’t just the topic that got him but Cloud’s matter of fact tone.
“C’mon Zack, how old were you when you had sex the first time?” Cloud taunted. “Young right? You joined SOLDIER young. I know you masturbated before that.”
Zack was still coughing, waving Cloud off to stop. “We’re not talking about me!”
“No.” Cloud couldn’t help his own smile. “But i know all about teen boys. Straight, gay, whatever. Doesn’t matter. Whether they like it or not they’re gonna end up trying it.”
Zack was wiping away the tears in his eyes the laughing had forced. “You’ve thought about this before.”
“Got to. Squall refuses. He’s still half hoping they’ll stay little forever.” Cloud mused, that thought alone putting a smile on his face. Leon was a softie.
It took several minutes for Zack to get himself under control. It wasn’t as if he didn’t realize it would only be a few years now until Zexion was a teenager but it felt so far off. For Cloud, it evidently felt much closer. He was preparing for it like he was headed back to war.
“It’ll be here before you know it.” Zack offered.
Cloud hummed an affirmative. “And i know what i was like as a teen. Squall too. Hopefully, we’ll have already done anything our kids get into and we’ll know how to handle it.”
“Handle it?” Zack repeated.
“Yeah.” Cloud snorted. “What were you doing at fifteen?”
Zack was going to answer and snapped his mouth shut for a moment. “Um….”
“Exactly.” Cloud grinned. “We just gotta hope we raised them to be less combative than we were as teens. They all already communicate better.” Therapy was still helping the oldest twins though Xion elected to stop going after a visit or two.
“You make teenagers sound scary.”
Cloud nodded. “Again, what were youdoing as a teenager?”
He just made a face, “Let’s not talk about me.”
“Exactly.” Cloud repeated, looking amused.
“Papa, can we go to Zack’s house some time?” Sora had all but materialized into the doorway. For a child that was so clumsy and loud everywhere he went, he had this secret ability to occasionally move so silently that no one knew he was there until he started talking.
“My house?” Zack smiled.
Sora bounced on his heels, grinning wide and overall looking delighted. “Uh huh. Ienzo said you have a pool at your house.”
“Ah!” Zack grinned. “That’s what you wanted then, huh? Not to come spend time with me but the pool!”
“I mean, kinda?” Sora said, biting his lip to keep from smiling too hard.
“Sora…” Cloud raised a brow at him. “Is that nice?”
Sora pouted a little. “Well Zack would have to be there anyway. We can’t get in the pool without a grown up.”
Cloud was shaking his head at the bluntness, borderline rudeness of his own child. That seemed to be the same thing Zack was laughing at. The audacity.
Ienzo was quiet as he crept around the corner, peeking over Sora’s shoulder at Zack. He didn’t know how to ask for things as loudly like Sora did. He was engulfed in a giant jacket that was ridiculously huge on him. It belonged to Angeal and the child hardly took it off.
“You said…” he mumbled. “You said we could have a pool party. It’s not a party if it’s just us...”
“Yeah! A pool party sounds fun!” Sora beamed. “I can be floaty in the ocean but i’ve never learned to swim in a pool. I wanna learn how.”
“Seph is teaching me and Zexion to swim.” Ienzo pointed out softly. It just made Sora’s eyes grow huge.
“Cool….” He whipped around to look at Cloud, full puppy eyes engaged.
Cloud sighed. “It’s not up to me, Sora.”
It was slower, but Sora turned his attention to Zack. “We’ll be good?” he offered the vague promise for all of his siblings.
“Will you?” Zack chuckled. “You know, i don’t particularly have a problem with it. I’ll talk to your daddies and we’ll pick a day for a pool party.”
Sora’s eyes weren’t the only ones that lit up. Ienzo looked suddenly thrilled that he was going to have something big like this to share with his new friends.
“What do we say, Sora?” Cloud asked.
“Thank you!” Sora nearly yelled it, spinning around to Ienzo. “C’mon, let’s go tell everyone.”
“Kay.” Ienzo smiled shyly, trailing along behind Sora as they dashed back out of the kitchen. At least most of the kids seemed to be in the basement where all the games were.
They were left in silence before Cloud sighed. “Kid still wants to be a mermaid.”
Zack laughed, his face almost hurting from how much he’d been doing that afternoon. “You know what, it’s probably a good idea. Let's my kids know they can have their friends over our house too. Can be just as much fun. I just need you or Leon to hang out too because there’s no way i can keep an eye on that many kids around the pool on my own.”
Cloud rolled his eyes, but a part of him was pleased. Zack was taking to fatherhood rather well.
“Sure. Sounds fine.” Cloud agreed. His kids spent a lot of time in the ocean in summer but not usually a pool. This would be good for them.
“Next weekend?” Zack asked, getting back to work and digging out the frozen foods to be put away.
“Yeah, sure.” Cloud said, far more aware than Zack that they had mere minutes before all nine kids reappeared to ask when this pool party would be taking place.
Zack still had a lot to learn.