Not that easy - Drabble - Gladifa
The last few months where difficult for the two unlikely duo, with the death of their beloved prince and the former savior as well as the new responsibility to parent an infant life had become difficult. Mourning a life while cherishing another, staying in the home by the beach side Tifa slept. Exhausted from taking great care of her niece. Gladiolus allowed her to slumber while watching over the precious child, making faces at her while she starred blankly at him. Brown hues rolled shaking his head “Just like your mother” he said breaking the silence in the home. He had gotten use to filling in the father figure role, Noctis upon his death had requested he’d be in. Well, he’d done almost everything, nothing scared the Caelum shield, well almost nothing. He still refused to change a dirty diaper, but today that would all change.
Elena fussed in his arms, rocking her gently he paced the hall. Over thinking in his head what the little princess needed. Wither that was to be fed again, which he doubted, to be changed or simple that she was uncomfortable. Finally deciding that it indeed might be time for a change, he laid her on a blanket spread out on the floor. For a long moment starring down at her, Tifa had told him the diapers and wipes where there for his use but of course it was the first thing the guardian forgot to grab. Digits struggled to unbutton the onesie, his fingers to big for the buttons. It took a moment before he got it off, moving to the next step. For the longest, he couldn’t figure out how to even take off the diaper. The tabs where a big hint though, so he pulled the tabs and took off the diaper, with a heavy sigh he was glad to see his first diaper change would simple be an easy one and not poop.
Cursing under his breath as his eyes glanced around he finally realized he forgot to grab another diaper from the nursery. “Stay here, don’t you move El.” he said giving her a ‘i mean it’ look which finally brought a smile to her face. “Oh yeah now you smile.” Gladiolus continued getting up from his spot on the floor running off to another room. With no one in the room Elena started to make bubbles with her saliva and making little babbling noises. He cursed under his breath, forgetting the monitor was on, the other end in Tifa’s room. He couldn’t find them, perhaps he should have been paying better attention to where Tifa said the diapers where. However he did find an outfit he thought would look cute on her. He had been spending way to much time with Tifa and Elena to know that.
“In the drawer of the changing table” A voice was heard, Tifa who had woken up and was leaning against the door frame to her niece’s room. He turned to her rubbing the back of his head, a slight ‘heh’ fell from his lips “Yeah, I knew that”. Tifa shook her head, knowing very well he hadn’t know that fact. Once he grabbed one he slid through the door side ways, pausing when he was face to face with the Caelum. His eyes starring down into her eyes, she glanced up as him. They where paused frozen for a second in awe with each other, until he nodded awkwardly remembering he had something to do. “Diaper” he moved forward through the door and off to finish what he had been doing.
“Do you need help?” Tifa asked still in the same spot she had been before, only to hear him uttered a confident “no” to her. She couldn’t help but respond with a sure “Oh really?” Tifa was pretty sure he was missing something, simple because it was sitting on the changing table. Gladiolus sat back down turning the diaper one way then the other and back words then upside down. Why was changing a baby so hard? He threw the diaper on the floor and took off the rest of her onesie, he was going to put her in a new outfit any way so he might as well do that while trying to remain confident, especially in front of Tifa. Walking over with the powder in her hand, she glanced down at Elena and her god-father. “She doesn’t have to be naked to get a diaper change”
Gladiolus shot her a glance holding out his hand for the powder, brows lowered with his narrowed hues. “I aware of that, she also needs a new outfit.” He huffed even more so when Tifa held the powder out and pulled it away as soon as he went to grab it. She stuck her tongue out at him with a smile. “Admit you need help and I’ll give it to you” He folded his arms over his chest looking away from the Queen. He wasn’t going to admit it, not yet any way. He wasn’t done! So how could he admit something if he wasn’t even done trying. “I don’t. Now give it to me.” replied reaching for the powder once more. Tifa pulled it away fast, only causing the man to jump to his feet trying to grab it.
Tifa turned around holding it out as far as she could, only to find herself with Gladiolus’ arms wrapped around her from behind also reaching out for the bottle. Feeling his arms around her body, a light blush appeared on her visage trying to hide it while holding the bottle away from him. She laughed at how hard he tried to grab the bottle. “Stop it, your tickling me” She chuckled, his hands on her waist where defiantly tickling her even if he didn’t mean to. A brow rose as she said that, it gave him an idea and if it would get him the powder it would be well worth it, that and to hear her adorable laugh would be a plus. He started to tickle her, causing laughter as she leaned more into him. Squeezing the powder, it came out of the bottle and sprayed every where. Yet he continued to tickle her causing a chain reaction of powder to get every where. She sprayed it at him, the only visible thing of his face where his eyes.
The queen of Lucis couldn’t help but laugh harder at how funny he looked and the continuous tickling. “Okay, Okay stop!” She yelled out as he stopped. She took a clean rag from on the side of the couch and whipped his mouth, hues lost for a moment starring at his lips. He starred down at her, the tension between them drawing the two closer. Inches from each other’s lips, Tifa pulled away as she said “Elena” which broke both of them from what was about to happen. Gladiolus turned to glance at the child, only to find her gone. They starred back at each other and began to panic but only for a moment as they saw baby hand prints in the powder scattered across the floor leading one way and then another.
“I’ll go this way!” The both yelled out pointing in opposite directions, if Noctis was alive they’d both be dead for being to distracted by each other to forget about his little girl. The house they stayed in outside of the castle wasn’t too big so it only took a moment to find her. Tifa came out of one room with a now baby powdered baby. “I got her” She chuckled softly as she brushed away some of the baby powder off of her. Gladiolus looked at both Tifa and Elena in complete awe how beautiful Tifa looked despite the powder all over her. “Looks like she needs a bath now.” She only nodded with agreement both walking into the bathroom.
Water set in the baby bath, both guardians helped to wash up the little princess. Now clean and wrapped snug in a towel, Tifa walked out with Elena in her arms with Gladiolus following right behind her. She showed him how to put a diaper on the child and then changed her into something warm. Handing her over to Gladio, now sitting on the couch. The little girl wrapped snug in a blanket, her aunt walked out of the room and into the kitchen for a bottle. Returning a minute later with it to give to Gladio. As he feed the little heir watching her slowly drift to sleep, Tifa leaned over the touch and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Returning back to her room before he could even say anything about it. Her back pressed to the door of the bedroom, cheeks heated from a blush across her face. Still in shock that she kissed the man.