A.N: takes place after To Be Admired!
"Natsume! Please, don't do this!"
Mikan Sakura desperately clung onto her huasband's shirtsleeve in an attempt to hinder him from leaving her side. Her wide brown eyes were wide with panic and desperation. Tears threatened to spill over as she grit her teeth together.
Natsume Hyuuga sighed. He ran a hand through his usually messy locks before kneeling in front of his wife, who had fallen to her knees. The Black Cat gently pried Mikan's fingers off his shirt sleeve before restraining both her hands in his. He then leaned forward so that he could kiss her on the forehead.
"Your tears are hardly necessary, Polka-dots," he stated firmly, but Mikan knew he was trying to be reassuring.
"B-but Natsume-" Mikan couldn't even finish and just hung her head and let the tears fall freely.
Natsume gently lifted Mikan's face up with an index finger. Before Mikan realized what was happening, Natsume had begun to kiss the tears off her cheeks gently. He then let his hands rest on his shoulders so that he could look into Mikan's eyes.
"Please don't cry anymore," Natsume pleaded gently, realizing that his usual stoic attitude wouldn't solve things. "You're going to upset the baby."
Mikan suddenly looked horrified at the very idea and her hands quickly flew to her abdomen. She stroked the little bulge that showed up from beneath her sundress. She sucked in a breath in order to compose herself before offering Natsume a small smile.
He returned it gently before leaning forward so that he could stroke the little bulge as well. He sighed before taking Mikan's face in his hands. He gently wiped away a couple of tears that had slipped from the woman's eyelids. "I have to go now, Polka-dots."
Mikan shook her head furiously. "No!" she exclaimed before wrapping her arms around Natsume's middle. She buried her head against his chest. "D-Don't go! Please don't, Natsume! I don't know what I'd ever do without you!"
Natsume hugged her back carefully. "I promise I'll come back to you, Mikan..." The Fire Caster paused before muttering under his breath, "What could possibly happen at my boring office job, anyway?"
Natsume realized immediately that he had said the wrong thing because his wife suddenly stiffened against him. The black cat grimaced, cursing himself immediately.
"W-what did you say?" Mikan whispered dangerously. She looked up at Natsume with eyes that put her husband's death glares to shame. Her glare hardened when Natsume dropped his arms before shifting away from his wife apprehensively. She didn't even wait for Natsume's answer before exploding completely. "I swear you are so thick headed! Anything could happen to you, Natsume! You could get into an accident on your way to work! Or... you could get hit by a tree branch on your way into the building!"
Natsume sat across from his wife and let her mouth off to him. She was three months along in her pregnancy and Natsume knew that she would be like this eventually. He was ecstatic when she had told him that they were going to be parents, but a little red flag went up in his head when Mikan began to excitedly tell him all the things that she had heard about being pregnant.
His wife had mentioned the way tha she would absolutely glow when she was with child. She mentioned that she would start to crave interesting foods. She even mentioned that if she walked around to much while in her third trimester that her legs would swell.
She mentioned all this and more, but what she didn't mention was the one thing that Natsume Hyuuga had not been prepared for.
Mood swings.
Before his boring job at the office, Natsume had been working as a secret agent. He had really enjoyed the job. His poker faces and wittiness could now be put to good use. He got all sorts of interesting assignments. Just before he quit, Natsume had flown to the middle east to protect some Arabian official. It had been his first time there and he had enjoyed the experience.
When Mikan told him she was pregnant, he had to take a year long leave.
During his days as a secret agent, Natsume had hardly been home. He did his best to be home each day, but something always seemed to come up. Mikan found her husband would come home every few days. Once, when his assignment was only supposed to take 2 days, he had been gone for over a week.
He couldn't do that to her. He couldn't come back just once a week to make sure she was alright. Anything could happen to his little klutz. Natsume imagined a load of horrifying scenarios for what could happen if he was away from his clumsy and pregnant wife for that long.
Mikan would be on her way back from the grocery store. She'd be smiling that stupid sunny smile that Natsume loved so much. Her arms would be full of grocery bags.
"Oh.. I'm kind of hungry," she would say to herself. Then she would stop somewhere and set the bags on a bench before reaching into one of the bags to pull out a juicy red strawberry.
She'd reach up to put it to her lips, but somehow, the little fruit would slip from her fingers and roll into the street.
"Oh no!" his wife would screech. "I have to retrieve it! What kind of person would I be if I let that little berry go to waste? And considering all those poor little children in Africa..."
Then his too kind of a wife would rush forward, her eyes only on the strawberry. Her bulging belly would protest as she bends down to pick up the insignificant little fruit.
Then, a giant truck would speed down the road toward her. The driver, of course, would be totally oblivious to the pregnant woman bending down in the middle of the road.
His wife, of course, would not notice the giant truck as it sped toward her. She'd smile happily as she bends to retrieve her precious strawberry. She'd pick it up, polish it off before finally turning around to face the truck as it closes in on her.
Mikan's eyes would widen in horror and the strawberry would fall from her shaking hands. She'd let out a piercing scream and...
That's what convinced Natsume to put his little secret agent job on hold and take up a boring office job. He worked a seven hour shift and was home before three in the afternoon every day. He was off on weekends, but the best part of all was that he could keep a close eye on his accident prone wife for most of the time.
Apparently, it wasn't enough for his moody wife.
"Natsume... Natsume!" Mikan's screech woke him from his thoughts. His eyes widened slightly as he forced his piercing maroon eyes to focus on the woman in front of him. "You aren't even listening to me!" Mikan continued angrily. "I'm here telling you how freaking important it is for you to be with me.. and you're completely spacing out! I can't believe how inconsiderate you are! Why.. why..."
Natsume groaned inwardly as fresh tears began to slide down Mikan's cheeks. The girl buried her face in her hands and ducked her head. Her whole body shook as she began to sob delicately. She didn't even realize it when two strong arms pulled her tightly against a warm, muscular chest.
Natsume held his wife against him, wishing he could take the stress away from her. He wanted to make her little mouth lift into a smile. He wanted the little wrinkle in her brow that she got when she was stressed to disappear. He stroked her back and wordlessly rocked Mikan's small frame back and forth, planting small kisses on the top of her head as he did so.
"I-I'm s-s-sorry..." he heard her whimper as she shook against him. "I... I don't know what's wr-wrong with m-e..."
"It's fine," he told her firmly, but gently. He continued to rub her back in small, soothing circles. He pressed his lips to the girls ear. "No more tears alright. You know that I hate it when you cry." He felt Mikan nod against his chest, before she lifted her eyes to look at him.
Her eyes were red from crying and her cheeks were flushed from all the fuss, but Natsume couldn't help but think at that moment, that she truly was the most beautiful woman in the world. He was so lucky to have her.
A couple of tears escaped from Mikan's eye lids once more. She kneeled in front of her husband before setting her hands gently on his broad shoulders. Natsume knew what was happening immediately and was sure to respond passionately when Mikan leaned forward to kiss him.
Natsume knew that she needed this and he definitely wasn't complaining. He wrapped one arm around Mikan's waist while the other one wrapped around the girl's shoulders, pulling her tightly against his warm chest. He let his hand get tangled in Mikan's silky brown locks.
The two, of course, didn't know how long they held each other. Time seemed unimportant when they were with one another. They were content to just hold one another until the inevitable realities of life decided to intervene.
Unfortunately, life decided to intervene at that very moment.
"Mikan," Natsume breathed, pulling away slightly. "I need to go now."
Mikan nodded unwillingly, before murmuring softly, "I love you."
Natsume smiled genuinely. "I know," he told her gently. He stood up, before reaching down so that he could pull her up easily. Then he took her face in his hands and whispered softly, "I love you too."
Natsume Hyuuga reminded Mikan Hyuuga to make sure that all the doors and windows were locked, before reluctantly leaving for work.
Natsume knew that being with Mikan wouldn't exactly be a walk in the park. She was too complicated. When they had first met, she had seemed like such a simple character. It had been obvious that she was very simple minded. Despite that, however, she cried and got upset over the strangest things. She was weak in body, but strong at heart. Natsume had made some major changes in himself in order to adapt to Mikan's character.
They had struggled and suffered a bit through their crazy ride together. Although Natsume knew that he would probably have to adjust and change accordingly in the future, he calmly reminded himself that this was the life he chose.
And he knew in his heart that he wouldn't trade any of it for anything in the entire world.
Author's Note: Man! It's been forever since I've written a fanfic! I actually wrote this about a year ago and found it in my files. It was completed and everything! I was trying to figure out why I didn't post it when it was completed last summer… strange. Oh well! This is my gift to all of my fans for fourth of july! Hope you enjoyed another fic about our favorite gakuen alice couple!