Reno and Tifa both were taken aback by the feelings his impulsive kiss created in themselves, and they hastily separated, their faces flushed with emotion.
"That was…er…nice." Tifa managed to say, blurting out the first thing that came to mind..
"Nice?" Reno frowned. "It was great and you know it!"
Tifa frowned as well. Reno was right, but everything was happening too fast and she was unsure of herself with him, with how he kept going between hot and cold. "Tell your parents I enjoyed the party. If you want to talk, you know where I am." She quickly opened the door and left, unaware Reno was staring after her, equally as confused.
"What happened here?" Tifa smelled an almost overpowering disinfectant scent as soon as she entered her apartment.
"Um, Tseng got sick." Cloud sheepishly informed her, but neglecting to mention it happened during their midnight kiss. "I think we got it all."
"Smells like you did…for the next five years." Tifa remarked. "Are they asleep?"
"Yeah, they barely made it to their own beds though. Congratulations by the way. Marlene and Denzel couldn't contain their excitement. Do you mind if I ask who the lucky man is?" Cloud asked.
"I'll be telling everyone tomorrow at lunch, you can stop by if you want to know." Tifa told him.
"Are you okay?" Cloud became concerned that she didn't seem that excited.
"I'm just tired." she replied indifferently. "See you tomorrow maybe." As she crawled into her own bed once Cloud had left, she half-wished he hadn't fallen in love with Tseng and that they could have made it work. She understood him at least…she hadn't a clue about the man whose child she was carrying. He may have been an awkward kid, but he had loving supportive parents behind him the whole time, and Tifa's last thought before sleep overtook her was that she envied him for it, and how sad it made her that she didn't know if that was possible for their child.
"Will you tell us now?" Denzel asked as soon as everyone sat down to lunch, even Barrett who had dropped in for a quick visit.
"Tell us what?" Barrett poured Marlene's milk for her.
"Tifa's having a baby!" Marlene excitedly told him, and Barrett nearly spilled the milk.
"You're what?!" He give Tifa a look that was almost angry. "Who's the father?"
"I was just about to…" Tifa paused her announcement when she heard someone knock on the door. "That's probably Cloud, I told him he could stop by if he wanted to know too." Heading to the door, she was stunned to find Reno on the other side when she opened it. "What…what are you doing here?"
"You said if I wanted to talk, I knew where you were." he reminded her as Turkey came running excitedly over to the familiar voice and smell. "Oh no you don't!" Reno bent down and picked the puppy up, holding him at arm's length. "You're not ruining my outfit again."
"Don't hold him like that!" Tifa chided him, and took Turkey from him, cuddling him against her. "Go into the dining room."
"Lucky puppy." he muttered as he strode past the kitchen into the dining room, Tifa right behind him.
"Someone else stopped by instead." Tifa unnecessarily explained, her voice full of forced cheerfulness at Reno's presence, spoiling what she had hoped would be a private family discussion, even if she knew he of all people had a right to be here for this one.
"What's he doing here?" Barrett's eyes narrowed as he glared at the Turk who returned his gaze casually.
"Am I too late?" Cloud asked, joining them all. "The door was open, so…Reno? Why are you here?"
Tifa took a deep breath and decided there was no point in waiting any longer. "He's here because he's the father, that's why. Reno and I are having a baby." Finally saying it out loud like that changed something for Tifa, but she couldn't figure out what because chaos erupted at her revelation.
"Have you lost your friggin' mind?! You let yourself get kn…pregnant by him? Of all people, you picked him?! " Barrett stormed at her, shooting up out of his chair and knocking over the milk in the process, and then he started swearing as he tried to clean it up. Marlene and Denzel were still jabbering excitedly as they tried to help, both of them only knowing Reno as a nice man who brought them presents. Cloud was stunned and kept looking back and forth between them, trying to think of something to say. Reno himself wasn't happy about her telling everyone, even though he had already told Rude and Tseng knew before he did. The atmosphere in the dining room became too much for Turkey, who freed himself from Tifa's light hold and ran yapping through the room, and then jumped up on Barrett's empty chair and onto the table, licking up some of the milk and then tried to eat everyone's lunch until Barrett chased him off, and Turkey made a beeline for Reno, needing to relieve himself again.
"That's enough!" Tifa suddenly yelled, her patience evaporated. "Everyone either leave or go to your room! You all wanted to know, now you do!"
Tifa was cleaning up the mess from lunch herself when she felt someone staring at her. She turned and found Reno in the kitchen doorway. "Why are you still here?" she asked.
"Would you have even told me if you hadn't found out at my parent's house?" he asked her quietly.
"Of course I would have!" Tifa snapped. "You found out before anyone else anyway, didn't you? Well, except Tseng…how did he know?"
"We're Turks." Reno shrugged. "It's our job to know stuff no one else does."
"I'm sure. Look, I know you came here to talk, but this really isn't a good time, so would you mind leaving?" Tifa asked, surprised the downside of domestic life hadn't already scared him off.
"If you promise me something." Reno said, an idea occurring to him.
"What's the something?" Tifa was put on her guard by his offering a compromise.
"We talk during the Valentine cruise. It's all paid for, after all." he said.
She eyed him dubiously, getting rather fed up with how he kept barging into her life for no apparent reason, but now he did have reason, she amended. But a romantic cruise when she would be just starting to really feel the effects of pregnancy, according to that book? That sounded like a recipe for disaster to her, though maybe she could make sure Reno understood that she would not tolerate his routine of coming and going as he pleased with regards to their child. He was either going to be totally involved or not at all. And a vacation would probably be a good idea in her condition. "Fine." she agreed.
"See you in about a month." Reno gave her a rather charming smile before he left, thinking how he'd finally get the opportunity to lay down the law about his manhood with her, and if she wasn't interested, there'd be tons of other chicks wanting some loving on a romantic-themed cruise. Tseng was still pushing him to find a wife, but he never said it had to be permanent.
Tifa's doubts about the cruise increased as she stood in line to board the vessel. It seemed so silly now, taking a romantic cruise so she could talk about how they didn't need to be a couple just because she was pregnant. Finally it was her turn and she handed in her ticket to get her boarding pass.
"Ah, yes, Mrs. Lockhart, your husband has already boarded, and he's waiting for you in cabin A3." the steward told her.
"Husband?" Tifa didn't move for a moment, disbelieving what she had just heard, then made herself relax, they probably just assumed she and Reno had to be married since they were taking this cruise together. But she was holding up the line, so she hurriedly went to find her cabin and settle a few things with Reno.