Parenthood'z Nightmare

Chapter XVI - Let Me Out

Posie continued to haunt Sephiroth's dreams. He dreamt of the day before, the day at the park. He sat on the bench, but this time Posie sat beside him, watching Alice play.

The very first time Posie had appeared to him had been the day after her funeral. He'd been so mortified he'd run to Angeal, asking him if he could see her too.

He couldn't.

Angeal had suggested that Sephiroth interact with her to understand the state of his own mind. So the ghostly conversations had begun and somewhat helped him cope. So, with his arm around Posie's shoulders, he sighed and noticed that she wasn't herself.

"I apologise if the things I said in Banora... hurt you." He recalled the last dream he'd had, sat in Banora with her, trying to dismiss her.

She was quiet for a while. "I want to come home." She finally said. "This is hard..."

"I don't pretend that it's easy to exist without you. I wish you were home too." He nodded in Alice's direction. "Lately I think that she makes it easier."

"I'm glad." Posie began to relax.

"But it also worries me... because if she does heal my heart... my mind... then we might not meet like this anymore."

"That won't happen!" Posie insisted. "I just need you to listen!"

A loud cough broke Sephiroth's dream. His eyes flew open, he ran a hand down his face and rolled over to look at the alarm, 1:00 AM.

A knot began to form in his throat, so he pulled a long blue t-shirt from the pillowcase beside his. He held it to his thin nose and breathed in the flowery scent. It was his comfort blanket, his secret.

The t-shirt had been Posie's; it still bore her scent and was something that made him feel better yet worse at the same time.

As the coughing stopped Sephiroth dozed off for a few moments, still clutching the garment, but awoke again when the coughing loudened.

Alice stood at his bedside, a ghastly white and hugging Pancake.

Sephiroth quickly pushed the t-shirt back into the pillowcase and turned on the lamp to see his very sickly child sticky with mucus.

"Go back to bed Alice." He sighed. But instead she crawled in beside him and stretched her arms into a hug.

He tiredly reached for the bedside table and retrieved the neatly arranged notepad. He scanned through a few pages until he found what he was looking for.

Should the child become ill:

Allow her to sleep in your bed. Do not become angry, keep calm and take care of him/her in a kindly manner.

(REF: A SINGLE PARENTS GUIDE TO PARENTING.)

He returned the notepad to its rightful place and switched the lamp off.

"Daddy..." Alice choked. "Stowy time." (Story time.)

"Once," he yawned, "there was a man who found a little monster and regretfully took it home with him. Then that monster became ill and refused to allow him rest..."

*

Alice awoke in the early morning when Sephiroth was perched on the edge of his bed sliding his socks on. It was his last day off, the Shinra Building would be free of contamination tomorrow and he was determined to make the most of his free day.

"Get off me." He grumbled when Alice lid across his lap and gripped his shirt, refusing to let go. She replied with a series of gags and vomited on his lap, then climbed off him and curled back on the bed.