Hello Dad, Meet My Wife

Ioran Hyuuga dreaded the day that his son would finally introduce him to a young lady— almost as much as he dreaded the mere idea of his daughter telling him she's dating someone.

But it's happening right now.

He carefully watched them as they got off the car. He's known her from the photographs and the letters, though they were all brief. It was obvious to him that his son is not a fan of telling stories. The lady looked worried when she closed the car door, and for a heartbeat, he was a little too, even more when his son came out of the driver's seat.

No one could blame him. The moment both his children were put in the Academy, he believed he could and would never see them again.

She opened her mouth and said something, but his son brushed her words away. Then for a moment it seemed that they bickered, and he couldn't help but smile in amusement. In a moment's time, his son's and the lady's hands clasped together, and both went for the front door.

"Daddy?" His little girl's whisper drew across the room. He turned and saw her gently taking her last step from the stairs. "Can I please answer the door?"

She was excited as well.

"Of course, princess."

"Thank you, daddy."

He moved slowly and quietly to follow after his princess' steps. He was always worried about her, couldn't even leave her without anyone's supervision. But when he found out that she's got no more Alice in her, he was able to breathe a little normally. He wasn't afraid of what she could do; he was afraid of what it will do to her.

He lost his wife to her own Alice. He didn't want to lose his children to it, too.

But since all she could do all day was measure how many steps it took from point A to point B, she bagged it hands down, almost as if she could see. The moment the knocker hit the door, she was already in front of it.

And it hurt him nothing more to see his daughter's eyes wandering around while his son and his alleged future daughter stood watching her.

"Hello, Aoi," Mikan Sakura's voice was first to break the silence. She had leant to touch Aoi's elbows. "Do you remember me?"

Slowly, Aoi nodded, and handed Mikan the letter slightly crumpled on Aoi's left hand.

"She couldn't wait to see you," Natsume said just as gently. "I had to strap her on the car just so she would stop jumping."

"Aniki?" Aoi softly whispered.

Mikan slowly took her hands away to let the brother and sister finally touch each other. And when they did, she was in tears.

Ioran was, too.

He stepped forward to greet his guest.

"Good morning, Mr. Hyuuga," Mikan said, stepping away from the two to greet him. "I hope you don't mind me for letting myself in."

"I've been meaning to see you all this time, Ms. Sakura."

Mikan glanced back at the siblings before smiling back at Mr. Hyuuga. "I am, too. Both of you, actually. But Natsume… he didn't want me yet."

Ioran nodded understandably. They wanted to take precautions. "He still treats you the same."

She drew out her tongue. "He treats me like a child." Her face sobered, and softly, her red lips formed another beam. "Then again, I'll have him, flaws and all."

He thought about this, until they all gathered in the dining room for a snack.

That was when his wife's last words came back to him.

"You're a great father, Ioran."

The three were huddled, talking. Natsume had on one of his satisfied and laidback smiles. Mikan was leaning against his arm. Aoi was telling them a story.

"Ms. Sakura, are you sure you want to be with my son?"

Aoi stopped talking and Natsume looked up, but all Mikan had was a soft and gentle smile before replying.

"I've made many wrong judgments in my life before, sir, and those wrong judgments had wronged me and the people around me. But I've never been surer of a decision as to this before."

"Right." Ioran breathed deeply. He shoved the pastry in front of them. "Here's the cake," he set down the glasses of fresh orange juice, "Here's the wine," and from his pocket, pulled out a ring wrapping around a wooly cloth, "And here's the ring. You now have my blessing."

"Dad—"

"Mr. Hyuuga—"

"Father."

"Father—"

"Mikan, I've lost people before, to an accursed life. I know that one day, I will lose my son to the same accursed fate, and maybe even my daughter because you can never tell. I want your word that when that day comes, when they have to go, I wouldn't see you groveling like I did."

"I think it's normal that you were devastated, but I wouldn't agree that you groveled after your wife's. Because if you did, I wouldn't meet the kind of person Natsume is today."

"You mean rude and obnoxious?"

Mikan had to smile. "Yes, Father. I mean exactly like that."

A/N Yes, I am aware that Natsume's father's name is not Ioran Hyuuga. :-) I think this is the last of my Hyuuga family series. That is, unless I suddenly want to join the bandwagon and write stories on the future Hyuuga generation, but I'm not sure.

I'm not updating any of my multi-chaptered stories because, as I've said a lot of times before, my laptop is being fixed and had been reformatted. I have no news as of currently if my GAFFN files have been saved.

And yes it's kind of boring. Hihi.