ROD AND RENO

Reno led Rod behind some kind of plastic looking castle, where they had a bit of privacy and Rod leaned against it. "What's up big guy?" He asked him.

"Now that we're not surrounded by men wanting to gang bang Tifa, I have to tell you the truth: she and I aren't together" Reno admitted.

"Come again?" Rod said.

"She and I are...friends" Reno explained to him.

"Sure, you come and rescue her from a fate she was inviting, claim her to be yours and tell highly dangerous men with hair trigger tempers, who are disappointed they didn't get to trade her around, that she's your old lady...and you're only friends. Are you high, Man? It's a little early to be hitting the gonga" he razed his old buddy. "Besides, those kids look just like..." He dismissively added.

"Their fathers and mothers. Denzel's a kid Tifa and Cloud rescued and as for Marlene, Tifa co-parents with a male friend to provide a mother figure for her and Marlene lives with her adopted father mainly. I'm sure you remember Barret Wallace."

"He's impossible to forget, the guy's built like a tank" Rod, opening wide his eyes in emphasis.

"Tifa adopted them, she doesn't have any of her own. Cloud left her for another woman and I've been mentoring her in how to attract a man" Reno said and flushed with anger when Rod started laughing.

"You have to be shitting me. As if she would need you to find a man! How come those kids look just like you then?" Rod asked Reno.

"They don't look like either of us, look at them; really look at them. Your kids look like your wife and yourself because they share your genes but Denzel and Marlene don't because we're not their parents. Marlene's eight and Denzel's nine, I'm almost twenty-six and Tifa's twenty-four. When could we have conceived them? She would have had to have been fourteen and I think we would both have noticed if she was going around with a huge belly when we were shadowing Avalanche members movements" Reno told him.

"But the boy's hair. You know that if ginger genes are involved, you can get any type of redhead" Rod said but was forced to focus on the children and started to have doubts. The kids were too old to have been secret love children between the Turk and Tifa. Rod looked over to where Tifa and Jasmine sat on a bench together with Peter, while the kids were playing some kind of game involving chasing each other with huge water guns. They had immediately bonded with each other in the way young children did. Rod realized he's been willfully blind when he saw that although the dark-haired girl could have passed for Tifa's daughter, neither child really looked like Reno. Rod was one of those happily married men who wished everyone could be as lucky in love as him. He'd always had a soft spot for Reno because they came from the same place and had always wondered what happened to him as ex-members were supposed to stay away from active members. He'd always sensed a deep loneliness in the man despite how much pussy he banged. Therefore, when Tifa had called Reno and he had come and confirmed Rod's assumption, he'd been happy for him. "You're telling the truth. But why are you here with them on family day?" He asked him.

"I lost a bet, I would rather not tell you what it involved and Tifa made me come here" Reno explained.

"Say I decide to believe you. If you're not with Tifa, who are you with?" Rod asked him, crossing his arms over his chest. Dreading his answer. Rod had been Reno's wingman upon occasion back in the day, they made a great team with their bookend good looks. Reno had been like catnip to women and Rod had been no slouch either but he was past all that. Surely Reno wasn't still "dicking" around with causal women?

"No one in particular. I still prefer to sleep around...just lately. It's complicated" Reno said when he realized exactly how long it had been since he last had sex. "I've been mentoring Tifa for about a month now and haven't really had the time for much of anything. She's hopeless" Reno said with a sigh and explained how their situation came to be, to Rod's peals of laughter, how Tifa had attempted to approach him at first.

"So, you're with her almost every night and you're not actually involved? Man, the sex you have with her must be smoking" Rod concluded to Reno's tale.

Reno just looked away to hide his blush.

"Nooooo. You're not sleeping with Tifa? What does the bird do?" Rod demanded.

"It flies high; of course I'm not an imposter. That code is so old" Reno groused.

"Who are you and what have you done to Reno?" Rod demanded

"It's different with her, she wasn't offering and I'm helping her with..." Reno said.

"Trying to find a man" Rod said with a snicker, his sense of humour was having a field day at his old colleague's expense.

"Fine what do you do with her while giving her these "lessons"?" Rod demanded.

"We frequently dine together after the lessons are done, she likes to cook. Sometimes she invites herself to lunch when I'm at the office. Sometimes we might go see a movie and she likes to binge watch Downton Abbey with me" Reno admitted.

"Wasn't it so sad when Matthew died? All that time trying to get them together for that..." Rod suddenly said. "Jasmine got me into it" he said to Reno's incredulous look. "It sounds like you're both using these lessons as an excuse to spent time together. I mean; how could it take a month to teach someone to flirt with a dude?" Rod asked him.

"You have no idea" Reno said and shut his eyes mournfully and shook his head in sorrow.

"Does she take care of you when you're injured or just feeling ill in general?" Rod asked him.

"Only the once and she practically forced her way into my place. She was...extremely hands on with her treatment of me" Reno admitted and could feel his cheeks heat up. Why had neither questioned what was going on when she led him to his washroom after running him a bath and she helped to undress him? Also, why had she looked at his choice of underwear so strangely? It hadn't been like he'd been wearing a thong. They were basic black boxer briefs because he preferred some support to the baggier variety of boxers. They were a brand he always bought because they were the most comfortable ones he could find and rose lower than the more popular varieties as he couldn't stand the white elastic bands around the waist of cheaper ones on the market. Surely, she had seen a man in his underwear before? She lived with Cloud or years.

He remembered how she had stripped these from him and he didn't protest or think it odd in his groggy state as she helped him into the bath. It wasn't like she's washed him like he was a toddler but she washed his hair (easily locating the place on the nape of his neck he loved to have stroked) and back for him and kept him company as he enjoyed the feeling of the cool water on his feverish skin.

Rod suddenly smirked at him, an expression that looked very familiar for some reason. "Dude, you're in a relationship and you don't even know it" he stated.

"That's so not true!" Reno protested as Rod hummed the wedding march and walked ahead to rejoin the women and children.

TIFA AND JASMINE

Tifa couldn't stop staring at Peter, with his bright red hair and light blue, almost occidental shaped eyes, he could be Reno's so...

"So, you and Reno?" Jasmine asked her, interrupting her thoughts, she had already deduced that he wasn't the father of the children as she watched them run around and squeal with her own brood.

"We're not involved. He lied to Rod to protect me. I didn't know it was a gang banger bar. I was drunk and alone and practically threw myself at any available man. If Reno hadn't come, I would have been..." Tifa admitted. "I got out of the first and only relationship I've ever been in and my social skills when it comes to attracting a man are lousy. I can't flirt my way out of a wet paper bag and Reno's so smooth, so I wanted some pointers from him. But was too shy to ask him. I kinda went over the top in getting his advice. I guess you wouldn't understand being how glamourous you are" Tifa said with a blush.

"I can't flirt worth chicken scratch and don't see it as being a bad thing. You shouldn't be ashamed of that, it means you're an honest person when it comes to being in a relationship. I'm not glamourous and never have been. My appearance can be a curse at time. I've only ever had one boyfriend before Rod, he was my best friend in high school until we became more. I had so many men claiming I did stuff with them when I hadn't. I grew up on a farm and choose not to remain there. After hearing how pretty I was all my life, I decided to cash in on that and become a model" Jasmine explained.

"I could see that, you're so beautiful" Tifa agreed.

"I was a dismal failure. I got a couple magazine spreads but no one wanted to represent me, I was never a stick figure. I had butt and boobs and that doesn't sell. I also had no marketable skills. So, I wound up dancing at a road house for tips and staff price drinks, it was a miserable way to make a living and the only way I ate, was the cook took a shine to me and fed me from her kitchen. It was there I met Rod and his gang. I was used to men assuming I would go home with them and thought he was just the usual guy. But he was always so respectful of me and I was attracted to him. One night, I opened up about my life to him, I was lonely and had no real friends. He gave me money that night to go home but I couldn't take money from a drunken man. So, I tried to return it the next day and we started dating. I wondered why he wasn't trying to seduce me and finally asked him and he explained he thought I was too much of a lady to be taken to bed so cheaply. We got married that day and have been together ever since. I know what he's done and what he does for a living. But also know that he lives by a strict moral code and trust him" Jasmine explained. "So, I understand about being lacking in the social graces."

"But I heard you flirt" Tifa said.

"I can only flirt with Rod. He brings out my sexy side and makes me feel beautiful. I feel so good when I'm with him" Jasmine said and her smile glowed when her husband came to rejoin her with sulky looking Reno in tow.

Tifa felt slightly troubled by the other woman's last statement, it was like she was describing how Tifa felt about Reno...

"Tifa, what is this bet that Reno lost?" Rod asked her.

"We bet that I was better than him at hand to hand and I punched him out" Tifa said, being unable to lie. Both members of the married couple stared at her and then both cracked up.

"You got punched out by a little girl?" Rod exclaimed. "Man, you're getting soft in your old age."

"You know how good she is, you fought against her too" Reno said as he pursed his lips in annoyance and Tifa averted her eyes that she longed to kiss them.

"It sounds like you need to go back for retraining" Rod observed.

"I have to starting Monday; Tseng told me it's mandatory" Reno said in a voice tight with anger, certain it was going to be a long day.

As if by mutual agreement, the married couple and the other almost-couple decided to remain together as they walked around the park as a unit. This allowed them to have more sitters on hand if they decided they wanted to go on certain slides or rides. Tifa's expression when she held Peter stirred something deep inside Reno.

They actually had fun and the couple's children were just a whimsical as them. Anthony or Tony, was seven and had his father's outgoing personality and looked more like his mother, Sarah was a little shy and five years old and Peter seemed to be a clone of Rod.

Tifa was a little envious of how happy they seemed to be, whereas Rod and Jasmine watched how the other couple interacted as they crushed heavily each other, that was obvious at how they looked at each other. They seemed relaxed in each other's company and obviously loved to tease each other. Reno seemed to get along with Tifa's children and it seemed like Marlene had a bit of a crush on him, which was cute. He spoke to them as he did with everyone regardless of age or social rank; he spoke to them like they were short adults. He didn't act like he was their father as he wasn't but seemed to like to play with them. He was young at heart to begin with.

They all grinned when Reno held Tifa's protesting form pinned on a bridge that was a known splash zone for a water log ride and she cried out when cold water drenched them both and Reno released her so she could push back her sodden fringed bangs and glared at him. "I'll kick your can again" she told him.

"Then you might make me go to so sordid event like a garden party or a book signing? I'm so scared. Thanks, you shall remain the undisputed champion of hand jobs" he said in a perfectly serious voice.

His long legs took him far from her while she chased him but he deliberately slowed down and allowed her to "pin" him in an embrace when he cried defeat, all of the children rolled their eyes at each other that the adults were acting goofy. Denzel made a gagging sign at Marlene that made her mobile mouth to twitch with mirth.

At the end of each night, the water park had a lame parade but a beautiful fireworks display. Everyone had showered and got into their clothing in preparation of this. But Tifa couldn't find her sweater to wear over the sundress Reno admired so much. "I know I brought it" she said.

"Take mine" Reno said, taking his off and offering it to her.

"Then you'll be cold" she said.

"I'll live" he said.

"Share your sweater with her" Jasmine suggested.

"How?" Tifa asked.

"Like this, silly" Jasmine said, settling her back against Rod's lean torso and he obliged her by pulling her as close as possible and drawing his hoodie as far forward to cover her and then looped his arms around her to cover her more.

"Do you mind?" Tifa asked Reno as her heart raced.

"Come here" he said and drew her against him and she settled into the warm shelter of his arms and her eye stared up as the sky exploded and her world seemed to shine as his body warmth engulfed her.

They parted once the water park closed. Reno promised to bring them all by for a Sunday barbeque and Tifa promised Jasmine she would come to her book club with her and send her her recipe for her barbequed ribs.

She was happy she made a new friend in the gorgeous wall flower of a woman as Reno drove them home while the kids were asleep in the back, tuckered after the day of dealing with three children with unlimited energy. The street lamp's light flitted furtively across his features and made her long to touch him, if even to just brush her hand against his, but she dared not.

Dinner had been at the roadhouse where Jasmine used to work, it was a bit sketchy a place but they had arrived before the onset of the partying crowd and had only gone there as the cook doted endless on them and provided them all with "the best and juiciest chicken wings on Gaia", as was promised.

Reno drove them home feeling pleasantly full and surprised he'd actually enjoyed the day. He glanced at how the children were cuddled up and it felt...he didn't know how he felt.

He turned into their parking lot and waited until Tifa roused the sleepy children, Marlene didn't want to wake up but was all wide eyed as Reno carried her to bed as she insisted and grumped when he departed the room and Tifa wrestled her into her nightie and kisses a sleepy cheek departing for slumber land.

Tifa excused herself to check her email related to the bar while Reno opened up a bottle of cheap but good wine to share as was their habit. They both enjoyed sharing one when they got together but didn't want to bite into the stock of decent wines.

Her eyes went wide as she read the email from Lorna and thought about it. Reno wouldn't talk about his past but she paused to wonder. An orphan? Was it possible? She remembered how he clung to her when he was ill and remember how Denzel was when coming home from the first time. Denzel was a scrappy little survivor who would probably outlast the cockroaches. Yet he'd been so vulnerable. If Reno had been a loveless orphan...

Tifa had been avoiding examining her developing her feelings for Reno in view of her past...behaviour. Nothing says I love you like tying a person to a bed and reading to him. She didn't want to lose him, she was...in love with him? Tifa shook her head in denial, she couldn't be. He was just her friend.

Her pulse quickened when he approached her and she turned to look at him. Was it possible of him? She remembered his confession of being in love when an adolescent.

She thought of Lorna's advice and said the first thing that came to her mind. "I've been invited to a single's night tomorrow at Sneaky Dee's. I think it's time I venture out on my own. What do you think, handsome?" She said with a perfect purr to her voice and she gently traced a single finger in circular patterns on his solid chest.

Reno swallowed hard and made himself focus on her face. She looked pretty and provocative at the same time and yet wholesome too. "Yes, I have nothing further to teach you obviously. I shall come over to...bolster your confidence before you go out" he promised her.

"Great, see you tomorrow. I have to go shopping for a new dress" she said and he pursed his lips at this. She saw him to the door, closed it and leaned against it in a giddy way and bit her hand against a victorious whoop so she wouldn't awake the slumbering children.