Just a bit of a braindump...
... bunny won't leave me alone.
Rikka had never thought his parents were particularly cool.
Sure, Papa worked with airplanes and Dad (Rikka was too old to call him 'Daddy' anymore) did construction stuff, but that was sort of normal and not particularly interesting after the age of ten or so. Mom (not 'Mama', he wasn't a baby) was even weirder, since he stayed at home most of the time taking care of everyone, except for those times when he'd disappear for a week or more (sometimes with Papa, sometimes with Dad), and come home looking terribly tired but pretty happy. It was also confusing as to why exactly Mom was called 'mom' when he was clearly a man. Rikka just attributed it to stereotypical gender roles regarding places in the home, but that still didn't explain why he had a Papa and a Dad. Rikka had to fend off questions for weeks on end from the Twins once, having to find a way to not answer the question without making it seem like he didn't know the answer.
Thankfully, all of his younger siblings were quite used to Rikka ruling over them with an iron fist, so after kicking each of the Twins off the Paopu Island once, they'd stopped hounding him. Rikka didn't mind though, having so many brothers and sisters, as well as two father figures and a 'mother'. That didn't even count his aunts and uncles and cousins. But Rikka was the oldest of the 'kids' -- hmph, he wasn't a kid anymore -- so taking care of the younger ones usually fell on him when the adults were busy. And he sort of enjoyed it. He could always count on Kira to take his side against the Twins and Baby (his youngest sister who was born years after the others, and had never quite lost the nickname); Kira who was irresponsible and a flirt and completely manipulative when she wanted to be, but she needed him to take her out since Dad didn't trust any boys outside of family near Kira.
She covered for him when he had 'study groups', and he covered for her when she wanted to go guy-watching. They both benefitted from the truce.
Rikka did wonder about his family sometimes. He'd often heard from other adults that Papa and Dad were cousins, even though they looked more like twins. But then he'd overheard discussions between his three parents late at night, where they'd talked about how Papa and Dad weren't even related at all. And then Mama -- Mom -- was right there with them, and it was sorta obvious that all three of them were together since there was only one big bed in his parents' bedroom. Rikka had never thought it was particularly weird, since he'd been raised by them and hell, even his Uncles came in three and Dante had been raised by them and was perfectly normal. But as he grew up, Rikka had begun to understand that having three parents wasn't exactly normal; he'd heard the hushed whispers and seen the covert looks when his family went out together.
And there was one time when Dad had almost lost his job, because he'd punched a contractor in the face after he said something rude about 'silver-haired bastards'. Rikka had been younger at the time, but he clearly remembered the rage on Dad's face, and it was only Mom holding him back that kept Dad from turning the contractor's face into mincemeat. The contractor had pulled his job from the company, and Rikka remembered sitting on a hard plastic chair outside of the office, Kira crying softly in his lap, while Dad and Mom yelled. Eventually Mom had come out, grabbing up him and Kira (even though he was getting a little too big to be carried), and stalking straight home. Papa had come home right away as well with the Twins, and Rikka had been put in the playroom with his siblings and asked to be quiet and take care of them. He remembered more shouting once Dad had finally gotten home, and the quiet silence after. He remembered wondering if maybe his parents had left him in the playroom all alone with his siblings -- Kira had started crying again and she set off the Twins -- and eventually they were just a big pile of warm bodies hiding under one of the blankets on Rikka's bed.
Things got better, of course, and that particular incident was never spoken of again. Though, Dad had spent almost a month at home helping Mom around the house before he went back to work. It had been a novelty at the time. and it wasn't until when he was older that Rikka had figured out that Dad had been punished in some way.
It was like one of the plots in those old Russian novels the Rikka liked to read. With secret plots and forbidden love and lots of drama. That was sort of cool, and very different, so he figured that his parents weren't a total loss. Afterall, his family was cool, full of love and laughter, and if he had to, he'd throw a punch to protect them, too. And he had, though no one had expected it from the skinny quiet art geek. It had been Kira who'd patched him up afterwards, and helped him hide the fight from his parents. Rikka'd had to go to the mall with her for a month of Sundays to make up for it, but it was worth the price.
Rikka had never thought his parents were particularly cool.
Sure, Papa worked with airplanes and Dad (Rikka was too old to call him 'Daddy' anymore) did construction stuff, but that was sort of normal and not particularly interesting after the age of ten or so. Mom (not 'Mama', he wasn't a baby) was even weirder, since he stayed at home most of the time taking care of everyone, except for those times when he'd disappear for a week or more (sometimes with Papa, sometimes with Dad), and come home looking terribly tired but pretty happy. It was also confusing as to why exactly Mom was called 'mom' when he was clearly a man. Rikka just attributed it to stereotypical gender roles regarding places in the home, but that still didn't explain why he had a Papa and a Dad. Rikka had to fend off questions for weeks on end from the Twins once, having to find a way to not answer the question without making it seem like he didn't know the answer.
Thankfully, all of his younger siblings were quite used to Rikka ruling over them with an iron fist, so after kicking each of the Twins off the Paopu Island once, they'd stopped hounding him. Rikka didn't mind though, having so many brothers and sisters, as well as two father figures and a 'mother'. That didn't even count his aunts and uncles and cousins. But Rikka was the oldest of the 'kids' -- hmph, he wasn't a kid anymore -- so taking care of the younger ones usually fell on him when the adults were busy. And he sort of enjoyed it. He could always count on Kira to take his side against the Twins and Baby (his youngest sister who was born years after the others, and had never quite lost the nickname); Kira who was irresponsible and a flirt and completely manipulative when she wanted to be, but she needed him to take her out since Dad didn't trust any boys outside of family near Kira.
She covered for him when he had 'study groups', and he covered for her when she wanted to go guy-watching. They both benefitted from the truce.
Rikka did wonder about his family sometimes. He'd often heard from other adults that Papa and Dad were cousins, even though they looked more like twins. But then he'd overheard discussions between his three parents late at night, where they'd talked about how Papa and Dad weren't even related at all. And then Mama -- Mom -- was right there with them, and it was sorta obvious that all three of them were together since there was only one big bed in his parents' bedroom. Rikka had never thought it was particularly weird, since he'd been raised by them and hell, even his Uncles came in three and Dante had been raised by them and was perfectly normal. But as he grew up, Rikka had begun to understand that having three parents wasn't exactly normal; he'd heard the hushed whispers and seen the covert looks when his family went out together.
And there was one time when Dad had almost lost his job, because he'd punched a contractor in the face after he said something rude about 'silver-haired bastards'. Rikka had been younger at the time, but he clearly remembered the rage on Dad's face, and it was only Mom holding him back that kept Dad from turning the contractor's face into mincemeat. The contractor had pulled his job from the company, and Rikka remembered sitting on a hard plastic chair outside of the office, Kira crying softly in his lap, while Dad and Mom yelled. Eventually Mom had come out, grabbing up him and Kira (even though he was getting a little too big to be carried), and stalking straight home. Papa had come home right away as well with the Twins, and Rikka had been put in the playroom with his siblings and asked to be quiet and take care of them. He remembered more shouting once Dad had finally gotten home, and the quiet silence after. He remembered wondering if maybe his parents had left him in the playroom all alone with his siblings -- Kira had started crying again and she set off the Twins -- and eventually they were just a big pile of warm bodies hiding under one of the blankets on Rikka's bed.
Things got better, of course, and that particular incident was never spoken of again. Though, Dad had spent almost a month at home helping Mom around the house before he went back to work. It had been a novelty at the time. and it wasn't until when he was older that Rikka had figured out that Dad had been punished in some way.
It was like one of the plots in those old Russian novels the Rikka liked to read. With secret plots and forbidden love and lots of drama. That was sort of cool, and very different, so he figured that his parents weren't a total loss. Afterall, his family was cool, full of love and laughter, and if he had to, he'd throw a punch to protect them, too. And he had, though no one had expected it from the skinny quiet art geek. It had been Kira who'd patched him up afterwards, and helped him hide the fight from his parents. Rikka'd had to go to the mall with her for a month of Sundays to make up for it, but it was worth the price.