"Welcome back, Gokudera-kun"

Haru smiles, walking towards him along with her son. Gokudera placed his suitcase down along with the eager boy who continuously informed him about his adventures while he was out of the country. The silver haired man, sat down on the sofa trying his best to keep up with the constant speaking of the young lad.

"Slow down, Sora" He chuckles, ruffling the boy's hair who was now sitting on his lap, clearly thrilled to have his father back home.

"You must be hungry; I'll go prepare dinner"

Haru left her child in Gokudera's care as she made her way towards the kitchen and started preparing for their meal.

She couldn't believe that they had been in this kind of situation for a long time now. She had been lying to her child up to this point. She never meant to drag Gokudera into this mess, but when she needed someone the most, Gokudera was the one there for her.

She could still remember vividly how Gokudera first found out about her 'condition'. They unexpectedly bumped into each other as Haru walked along Namimori shopping district. Haru's physique had grown thin and pale. She looked all worn-down and there were dark circles underneath her once lively eyes. She didn't want him to see her in such state so she began to flee away from him, but due to her failing strength her body collapse and the last thing she saw was Gokudera rushing to her side as he called her name.

She woke up eventually lying in a hospital bed, with Gokudera sitting beside her; his hands slid inside the pocket of his ripped jeans. She noticed his eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes were close but he doesn't seem to be asleep. She tried to sit up, and it was enough to alert the bomber man beside her.

"Don't force yourself too much, stupid woman" He says, opening his eyes and glared at her.

"Hahi! Haru's not stupid!" Haru yelled.

"When did you plan on telling us?" Gokudera suddenly asks

"T-tell you wha—"

"Don't play dumb with me!" He roared. "The doctor said you're three weeks pregnant!"

Haru felt as if she was a little girl caught lying and was being yelled at by her parents. She gripped the white sheets that covered her lower body. She forced a smile. "Ah. it seems that Haru's been found out," She says giggling sheepishly.

"Is the child Juddaime's?"

Haru fell silent for a moment before replying, "No," and before the silver haired man could even chastise her she added, "This child is not anyone's but mine, I will be raising this child alone"

"Gokudera-kun" Haru looked at him intently, "Let this be a secret between you and me"

He fumed at her for not wanting to tell any of their friends about that matter. But Haru explained that she didn't want to burden Tsuna with her condition, she didn't want to be a hindrance to him and his goals in life as she understands that he was far too young to be a father. She told him about keeping the baby. It was hard for her at first to convince her parents not to look for the baby's father, but as the day passed they eventually gave it a rest and respected her decision and supported her both financially and emotionally. It was only a matter of time before she convinced Gokudera into keeping her situation a secret.

As Haru finished setting the table for dinner, she went back to the living room to find Gokudera playing with her child. It was a heartwarming sight. She had never seen her child so filled with joy and she could say the same to Gokudera whom she believes had grown fond of the boy and treats him like he's his own.

"Dinner's ready" Haru states and the two turned to her.

"Time to eat!" Gokudera shouts as he picks Sora up and placed his legs between his neck and they all headed towards the dining room.

As they ate, Sora continued telling Gokudera about school, how he excels in most of his class especially in arts, which Haru believes the boy inherited in her. He also told him about how he's made many friends in school which pleased the two adults in the room very much.

"Ah, and a while ago, when Sora was playing ball outside, Sora hit it too much and it went WHOOSH!" Sora held his arms up, "Up in the air, Sora was glad a man took it before the ball rolled towards the road" Sora explains, making Haru freeze in her spot to which Gokudera took notice of but made no further comment. "Though Sora didn't hit the man, I swear" He quickly added.

"Sora, do you know this man?" Gokudera asks, glancing to his left where Haru was seated, seeing how she seemed bothered with his question.

"No," He answered right away, "but he was nice because he gave back the ball to Sora"

"Sora, what did I tell you about talking to strangers?" Haru reprimands, her hands gripping the chopsticks in her hand. "You shouldn't be interacting with people you don't know, he could've kidnapped you!" her voice went a bit higher that she wanted.

Gokudera eyed her intently, confused by her aggravation towards the subject. "Haru," he voiced, putting a hand over hers attempting to calm her down.

Haru's eyes met his emerald ones, and she suddenly realized how badly she reacted. Haru sighs, seeing as how the child stiffened in his seat. She knew that her son was not at fault.

"I'm sorry Sora, It's just that mama is afraid that you'll be taken away from me" She says with a slight smile. "You're very precious to me and I wouldn't know what to do if anything bad were to happen to you,"

Sora slowly rose from his seat and went towards Haru, embracing her with his little arms. "Sorry, mama" Haru hugged her son back and kissed his forehead.

Dinner went on smoothly afterwards. Gokudera volunteered to bathe Sora while Haru washed the dishes.

It was nice having Gokudera back, but Haru knows that he won't be staying for too long. Perhaps a couple of months, then he'd be out of town again for his mafia duties. She knows that it's quite selfish of her to ask Gokudera to pretend to be her child's father. She was taking his time that he should be giving to the family of his own, that she should have, but doesn't, and Haru feels as it is her fault. It was like taking Gokudera's freedom from him, although he never seemed to complain.

Thinking about it, Haru can't remember even one single time that she had conversed with Gokudera regarding his family, or anything about his personal matters. He had never told her about his girlfriend or if he even had one. Haru then wondered if he had not accepted her request, would he be married now?

He would probably be coming home to his beautiful loving wife, a real aristocrat and well educated kind woman, and a child of their own and they would live in this extravagant and sophisticated home. It would be a picture of a perfect family.

Haru felt a thump of pain in her head. She was having a headache.

"I've tucked Sora to bed"

Haru turned around upon hearing Gokudera's voice. "Ah! thank you, Gokudera" She utters looking back to the dishes she was washing.

He then asked, "Who was it?"

Haru's abrupt pause didn't go unnoticed. She continued nevertheless. "Who?"

"The man Sora was talking about," Gokudera replied. "Who is he?'

Haru slowly placed the last plate on the rack as she forced a smile on her lips and tried her best to sound believable, "I don't know, just some stranger who happened to pass by," She says, feigning innocence.

"I'm done cleaning; I'll just be in my room" She then began making her out of the kitchen hoping that he would let the conversation end there.

But of course he didn't.

"Tch, you actually think I would believe that?" He says grabbing her arm, forcing her to face him. She stopped but didn't turn around. Gokudera let go of her arm. "I saw how you reacted when Sora brought him up,"

He reached out his arm once more when she didn't speak and just stood there silently but he halted mid-air as he noticed that she was trembling. He could hear her muffled soft cries that she tried to cover with her hands. "O-oi" He says, not knowing what to do, crap I made her cry—

"He's back," Haru inhaled sharply.

Gokudera had expected this. Ever since they had arrived in Japan the other day, he heard that Tsuna began looking for Haru's whereabouts, finding out that she was no longer residing in Namimori. Using his influence as the Vongola boss, it was inevitable that he would eventually locate her sooner or later. And Tsuna finally did.

It irked him to see her cry.

He wasn't good at comforting women, even though this wasn't the first time he saw Haru cry. Although before when she cried, he just let her weep until she's satisfied. Until there's no more tears she could shed. Until she'll forcefully wear that smile on her face again.

But that didn't feel right, it never did.

Gokudera wanted to do something, but didn't know what.

"I'm just scared that he'll try to take Sora away from me," Haru said between sobs.

"You know Juddaime wouldn't do that,"

"It doesn't matter," Haru says, wiping the tears from her face. "I won't let him get anywhere near Sora," Haru declares.

"Haru, "

"Don't worry, He doesn't know that you've been helping us" she utters and made her way towards her room, leaving the silent silver haired man behind.

In his mind the storm guardian disagreed. If Tsuna finally knows Haru's location and that they have a child, he's bound to know that his right-hand man had kept it a secret from him for all these years.

Chapter 3 coming very soon~ (really)