Everyone marked it on their calendars, received email reminders and also text reminders on their PHS phones. They all knew it was coming and mourned it. The atmosphere at Crescent, Rhapsodos & Hewley LLP. was tense over it. The normally bubbly receptionist was unusually despondent with the tension that was almost palpable over two ghastly words: flu season.
They dreaded it all year long when the world's worse patient was exposed to the hazards of being out in public with carriers of the dreaded sickness, dangers lurking at each stop light and the man could unwittingly pick it up by a cough or a sneeze in his direction. The other partners reminded their wives and wives bickered over whose turn it would be to nurse him back to health, trying to contain the damage so it wouldn't be inflicted on some unwitting soul who would volunteer to nurse him out of kindness. Not realizing that the hot tempered and passionate man turned into something akin to a whiny and demanding two year old on crack when sick, who put said toddler to shame. That person was one Genesis Rhapsodos.
Meanwhile across town Tifa and the would-be flu patient lay side by side in her bed. "Tying me to the bed was fun, but you make a horribly unbelievable rapist" she observed.
"And why is that?" He asked her.
"You were struggling not to laugh when you were saying "I'm going to do whatever I want to you", I'm pretty sure an actual rapist doesn't laugh when they rape people" she said with a fond smile at him.
"Okay it appears you don't have a rape fantasy" he said with a chuckle. "How about I try and pretend to pick you up at a bar and we do it in an alleyway?" He suggested.
"That sounds so appealing; surrounded by filth and with possible brick burns on my back while you pin me there like a butterfly. Anyone ever accuse you of being romantic?" She asked him. "If you want to try fantasies, think of ones that include a bed for us to stretch out in, besides you hate quickies" she teased him.
"Very true, but there must be something in the book you want to try" he said to her.
"Sorry Mr. Rhapsodos, the only thing I want to try is this" she said going to kiss him again and touching his groin in a way that caused him to stir back to life. He grinned then reached for another condom.
"You're insatiable" he commented drily.
"You're one to talk" she said with a soft smile and soon neither was really able to talk outside of heated moans and meaningless pillow talk.
Neither realized that danger was on the way as an aircraft landed at a local airfield and a tall blonde in his early sixties got out and pushed up his goggles, followed by four more brunettes and a blonde, two of whom looked suspiciously Wutaian, though one was a very pale version of one and had red eyes, the other had black hair and looked strictly Caucasian and last man was blonde like the older man. They all piled into a rented jeep and drove towards Tifa's condo. All of them were blissfully unaware of the sight that awaited their eyes as the two lovers, innocent of the impending danger, coupled without pause. Oh the horror.
The tall blonde man knocked on the door and the other men he exchanged glances with; that their Tifa would be out on a Saturday night was virtually unheard of. Not able to understand where she could be and concerned over her, the blonde unlocked the door with the key she had given him for emergencies and they opened the door. Hearing what seemed to be sounds of assault coming from the bedroom, they hurriedly pushed open the door. All the men froze at the sight of a naked redhead with his buttocks flexing on Tifa's bed, with a pair of long feminine legs draped over his shoulders as heated moans filled the room.
Genesis looked over his shoulder at the invading men and with lighting fast reflexes, yanked himself free from Tifa, threw himself off the bed and hovered at the end of it in defense of his lover. Tifa herself screamed and covered herself, causing Genesis to go even more on the defensive as he glared a challenge at the six men who stared back at him, especially at a glistening and still erect condom covered part of him.
"Daddy? Guys?" Tifa suddenly said with mounting horror to have her worst nightmares come true.
"Is that real?" Genesis heard one of them ask and blushed and covered himself with his hands
"Tifa, you know them?" He asked her.
"Yes this is my father, Cid Highwind. Beside him is my brother Vincent and these are my other brothers: Zack, Tseng, Rufus and Reeve" she said blushing dark red as she pointed to each and handed Genesis a plush red throw pillow to aid in covering himself.
"I'm pleased to meet you...sir, gentlemen" he said as formally as possible.
"Who the hell are you and what are you doing to my daughter?!" He demanded. "Who is this?" Cid cried to his daughter.
"This is Genesis Rhapsodos, he's a divorce lawyer" Tifa explained.
"A lawyer? They're the scum of the earth. Tifa, what were you thinking? You both have five minutes to get dressed and then I want some answers" he demanding sweeping from the room and taking the others with him.
"Tseng" Vincent said pausing in the doorway to get his brother's attention where he was still openly ogling the young lawyer.
"Coming" he said with a final appreciative glance, followed Vincent out and left the two mortified people alone together.
"I don't think I made a very good first impression" Genesis sourly said as he discarded the condom and started redressing.
"Perhaps you did when it comes to breeding material" Tifa suggested, starting to see humour in the situation.
Both people felt like a pair of guilty teenagers as Cid paced back and forth in front of them as they sat on Tifa's couch together.
"Your blood pressure, Dad" Zack reminded him.
"It's fine, though my precious baby girl is trying to murder me. Shit, we flew in as soon as we heard about idiot Cloud out of concern over you, only to find you rolling around with this pretty boy lawyer. How could you do this to me Tifa?" Cid all but wailed.
"I assure you what you saw was completely consensual" Genesis started.
"Be silent, haven't you done enough damage? Taking my daughter's virginity and all that. Oh what I had to witness as her father" Cid said with a theatrical sob.
"Your daughter's twenty eight" Genesis deadpanned while Tifa muffled a giggle.
"Okay so she became sexually active later on in life, some people do" Cid challenged back.
"Dad, Tifa's been with Cloud since she was sixteen" Zack pointed out.
"Daddy I wasn't a virgin" Tifa softly said.
"Not a virgin? Tifa how could you do this to me?" Cid sobbed.
"I was living with Cloud at some points. Where did you think I was sleeping?" She asked her dramatic father.
"So you see, she wasn't a virgin. We're both consenting adults, so there's no problem here" Genesis said.
"And it's great that Tifa has such an attractive new beau" Tseng said eyeing Genesis up and down in a way that made him blush, proving that brother and sister had similar tastes in men.
"I don't see a ring" Cid snapped, looking at his daughter's left hand.
"Daddy I don't have to be engaged or married to someone to sleep with them" Tifa said. "I mean you and Shera have been together for years after Mom died and you still aren't married" she said looking pointedly at her father and then it was his turn to blush.
"Yes, I could just be her boyfriend or something" Genesis concurred.
"Are you?" Cid asked them.
"No, we have an arrangement" Genesis explained.
"An arrangement where she's going to end up in a white dress and standing before an altar? 'Cause that's the only "arrangement" I will allow with my little girl" Cid said.
"Daddy, you're so old fashioned" Tifa objected.
"It's not that sort of arrangement" Genesis empathically said.
"Why, isn't she good enough for you?" He demanded.
"It's not that, I just don't believe in conventional relationships and your daughter knows this. It has nothing to do with your daughter's worth" Genesis explained.
"I've heard enough. You mean to tell me you're some kind of playboy..." Cid hissed at him.
"Divorce lawyer" Rufus supplied.
"I won't have you treating my daughter like this. Vincent, you're ordained online. Marry them" he ordered him.
Vincent gave them a devilish grin "Dearly Beloved we are gathered here to join in matrimony this man and this woman..." he read pulling out a pocket sized book of vows he just "happened" to have with him.
"Oh Vincent" Tifa said with exasperation in her voice. "Vincent's the funny one in our family" she explained to Genesis, who was getting a headache over the whole situation.
"I cannot allow this, I'm a divorce lawyer and know you need a marriage license to show intent to marry, without that, you can't be legally wed against your will nor not" Genesis objected as a good lawyer should.
"My sons Vincent and Tseng are TURKS and always armed. I'm sure they could "persuade" you to sign a marriage certificate if my two highly placed government officials sons, Rufus and Reeve arrange the paperwork for you" Cid snarled at the young punk. "Then Vincent can marry you."
Vincent just smiled and nodded, "I love to help with shotgun weddings, they are my specialty...and killing people on government orders, or just on our father's orders" he said in a toneless voice and pulled out an extra large crazy looking gun and training it on Genesis.
"Vincent, put that thing away. What did I tell you about pointing weapons at people?" Tifa said with a laugh. "See what I mean about his sense of humour? He kills me" she declared to Genesis, rolling her eyes.
"I have a killer sense of humour" Vincent agreed with an evil grin and tucked it out of sight.
"What is it with you people? Are these even your children? They look nothing like you" Genesis demanded.
"Of course, they're my children born of my deceased wife. Are you implying that my saintly wife was cheating on me?" Cid demanded of him.
"Yes Gen, are you implying that?" Tifa said in a deadly calm voice and the siblings all suddenly did look alike as their matching glares trained on him.
"I'm not implying anything. But your two TURK sons both look Wutaian, though Vincent is pale for that. Tseng even has a Wutaian name. Vincent has red eyes and Tifa has burgundy eyes. Rufus is blonde like you and Zack broad like you, but the rest all have different looks, skin tones and body types and Tifa is petite. None of you even look alike" Genesis commented.
"My wife was half Wutaian, genetics can be wonky" Cid replied.
"Daddy it's not going to happen, beside I would insist on an prenup" Tifa said.
"Why?" Cid said.
"Because of who he is" she explained.
"Who are you, a god or something?" Cid snapped.
"No he's a Rhapsodos" Tifa said.
"Yes and you're a Highwind. So what?" Cid asked with irritation.
"My father owns the Rhapsodos resort hotels" Genesis explained.
"So you're the High Lord Muckity Muck of a some fancy stables. So what? Are you saying my daughter isn't good enough for you?" Cid demanded.
"No that's not it..." Genesis objected, feeling his headache coming on even stronger, cursing that he ever met the Highwind clan.
"He doesn't want to marry anyone" Tifa replied, coming to his rescue.
"I don't care what he wants, he seduced you" Cid insisted.
"Actually, I seduced him this time" Tifa said with amusement in her voice.
"Come on Dad, Tifa's old enough to have her own life" Reeve the quietest one finally stepped in.
"We should get back, Tifa's fine. More than fine" Tseng insisted, eyeing Genesis with appreciation.
"Very well, call me later" he said giving her a hug. "As for you, you young punk. I'll be keeping an eye on you, you lecher" Cid said pointing as his eyes.
"You realize that I'm thirty two and a well established lawyer, who's partner at the most prestigious laws firm in town, right?" He asked the strange man.
"Don't remind me. Tifa couldn't you have just found yourself a nice fast food fry cook?" Cid said with a theatrical sigh as he allowed himself to be led from the place by his supportive sons.
"Those men were truly your family?" He asked her.
"Yes they truly are" she said.
"Your father sure hates lawyers" he said with a frown.
"Would like to shoot them all on sight, well Vincent would on his orders" Tifa agreed. "So now that you met mine. When you I get to meet yours?" She teased him.
"Perhaps someday. It's pretty small, there's my father Barret, my brother, Reno his wife, Elena and their twins" he said dismissively.
Barret Rhapsodos was an extremely well built black man in his late fifties. He still retained the muscles of his youth when he was in the military and hadn't allowed them to soften after he'd married into the rich hotel family and rebranded them with his own name when he took then over. He had two sons; one of them a happily married man and one still playing the field like some overgrown teenager. It's not that he thought Genesis's lifestyle to be hedonistic, he just wanted both of his children to be happy as a good father should.
Little did Genesis know that his own father was paying a detective to let him know of his coming and going of his social life, wanting no nasty surprises when it came to a sudden daughter-in-laws or unexpected grandchildren. He trusted his son and knew he wasn't an idiot but some women could be conniving. "So which despicable damsels has my son been into?" Barret asked, not one to mince words.
"Most of the women he dates are respectable" his detective pointed out.
"The married ones are, the others seem pretty nasty" Barret said dismissively.
"For the last two months he's been dating his condo neighbour exclusively, one Tifa Highwind" the lawyer read out and held out her file.
"I'm sorry, my son doesn't date one woman at a time. Heck I'm sure three women were somehow involved when he lost his virginity, but don't rightly wish to know. Did you fact checker verify this?" He asked him .
"Just Tifa" the detective assured him.
"So is she an exotic dancer or perhaps a snake dancer or her exotic dance act involves a snake?" He asked him facetiously.
"She's a librarian" the detective replied.
"That seems way too boring for my son, perhaps she moonlights as an exotic dancer?" Barret asked him feeling perplexed.
"No she's just a librarian. She draws a modest salary, owns the condo she lives in and has no criminal records, she doesn't have so much as an unpaid parking ticket. She's doesn't have known criminal associations either. Or belong to any dubious religious orders. She seems completely respectable. Her father's an airline pilot that runs his own small airfield. He's also an inventor and mechanic. She has five older brothers: two are in the TURKS and have received many commendations, two are higher ups in the government and her remaining brother is in the military. All of them are solid citizens like herself. They are all married except for her. Other then that one is married to a man, which isn't abnormal these day, I could discover no skeletons in their closets either. Or snakes" he added.
"Her father, I would like to meet him. Please invite him to tea" Barret requested.