She was on the bed, thunder crashing around the outside world. She instinctively squeezed her eyes shut, and was suddenly held by something warm. Now wrapped in someone's tight embrace, she assumed that it was perfectly normal to be feeling safer… But there was something about this particular embrace that hit her hard. Kami-sama knows why she thought that way; the alcohol invading her brain, perhaps? Or something more? Thinking that whatever she did now could be excused by the fact that she was drunk silly, she used her hands to guide herself towards that face… And she kissed him…
Poke.
Still half-terrified from the lightning and thunder, her eyes were still kept firmly closed. She allowed her other senses to explore, however; and she made out the faint scent of alcohol drifting towards her as he bent down on her neck, gently nipping her collarbone like some lust filled vampire… His lips traveled upwards, met hers again and this time she responded…
Poke. Haruhi tossed around on the bed. For a dream, that poke sure felt real…
Would she dare open her eyes now? Could she look at that face?
Poke. Haruhi didn't want to open her eyes just yet. She was so close this time, so close to seeing him…
Poke. No… The dream was fading.
Poke. Haruhi grumbled and flipped onto her back. Poke. Poke. Poke.
She cracked her eyes open, just a fraction of a centimeter, to see who her tormentor was. What seemed like a medium-sized flame was bobbing up above her head. She groaned. Need she have wondered? This was their house after all.
"Hey, Hikaru. I think she's awake."
Haruhi sat up and blearily rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Her brain was still too woozy to allow her to form coherent words, so she resorted to giving the Kaoru the dirtiest glare she could muster.
He didn't mind; in fact he seemed totally oblivious. He sat down beside her and stared her down keenly. She blinked.
"What?"
"Nothing," he said with a grin. "You look really cute when you've just woken up."
Hikaru walked in with a couple of maids. "Oh great, you're up," he said upon seeing Haruhi. "Breakfast."
The twin maids set down a couple of trays on the table at the window side of the room, bowed respectfully, and left the three alone.
The calling of the food was almost too much for Haruhi to bear. She stood up and casually strolled down to the table, the twins following and exchanging knowing smirks behind her. She sat down none too gracefully and sighed at the sight of the magnificent spread. Magnificent here defined as everything Haruhi had been craving for the past week—the twins had kindly taken note of those details; from the maple syrup-covered natto to the fish, banana and apple sauce sandwich. They also thoughtfully added a lot of other things that they figured she would like.
Hikaru watched her in amusement. "Overwhelmed? We made it ourselves."
"Really? I can't finish all this," she mumbled.
"Well me and Hikaru just woke up too, you know. We aren't just gonna watch you eat," Kaoru said, parking himself on the couch opposite hers and accidentally picking up a pickle dipped in peanut butter. He dropped it instantly. "Of course, we had to have our own food made," he continued as he pulled closer to him the tray that actually had edible food on it.
"Seems a shame to have all this great food, though," Haruhi thought aloud halfway through her third serving.
"Why?"
"Akachan doesn't seem to like it when I eat," she said as if it were something they discussed every day. She raised a glass of water to her lips and soon enough it crashed to the floor when she made wild sprint for the guest's bathroom.
--
"Goodness, is everything alright in here? I thought I heard something break earlier." Yuzuha asked when she walked in the door. Fortunately, Haruhi was done with her morning sickness and was recovering on the couch.
"Uh, yeah," Hikaru said. "We were eating breakfast in here, and we had a bit of a clumsy moment…"
"But it's all okay, mom, the maids cleaned it up," Kaoru told her reassuringly.
Yuzuha smiled and sat down next to Haruhi. "You look pale, sweetheart! Are you feeling alright?"
"Just fine, Mrs. Hitachiin," Haruhi replied. "Oh, I'd like to thank you for the great food. You really didn't have to go through all this trouble. And I'll pay you for the broken glass."
The older woman waved a hand impatiently. "No, no. You're our guest. No need to worry yourself over silly things like that." Then her disposition became sunnier. "Actually, I just came in here because I thought I would catch you three in action."
Haruhi and Kaoru froze. Hikaru almost spit out his iced tea. Luckily, he was behind his mother and she hardly noticed his spluttering.
"What do you mean?" he asked as innocently as he could after recovering.
His mother beamed. "Oh, you know. That surprise you were telling me about. I was hoping I could find out what it was."
"Oh, that," Kaoru said, hand behind his head. Should we tell her now, guys?
Haruhi shrugged and looked at Hikaru. Better do it now while she's in a good mood.
The latter obviously thought the opposite and still wanted to hold it out for as long as he could, but he tilted his head in defeat. Haruhi's logic prevailed. Hikaru began massaging his mom's shoulders.
"What's this for, honey?" she said, clearly happy but still curious. "You don't do things like this even for Mother's Day. Is something going on?"
"Can't a son be nice to his mom when he wants to?" Hikaru said with just the right amount of pout in his voice. His mother softened even more. Haruhi wondered if the boy ever considered becoming an actor; he would definitely make the cut.
"Say, mom, a thought just popped up in our heads," Kaoru said. "I know it's pretty random, but me and Hikaru were wondering. The Hitachiin designer line… It's mostly for women, right?"
"Mm-hmm. Well, we do offer styles for men as well. Now that you mention it, things have been dragging along lately…"
"Maybe because… there's not enough variety! And that's what me and Hikaru thought of. Have you ever considered doing something new?" Kaoru cut through his mom's monologue with a fake stroke of inspiration.
"Like?"
"How about," Hikaru said, catching the drift. "A whole new line for, say… Maternity?"
Yuzuha snapped into focus again. "That would be brilliant, Kaoru! But starting from scratch, I don't know… And besides, I don't have a model. It's hard to find a pregnant woman with an angelic face..."
Haruhi caught wind of where this was going and an alarm bell went off in her head. But it was too late to say anything now.
"What if we know someone?" Hikaru went on.
"Then that would be fabulous! Tell me who, boys!"
The twins' grins were so natural, it scared Haruhi. But it was even scarier when they directed those smiles at her.
Yuzuha's eyes widened. "Haruhi! Really…?"
Haruhi gave a feeble nod.
The woman gasped. "If that were true, things would make sense… So my boys slept over at your place because they wanted to watch out for you? How sweet of you, Kaoru, Hikaru!" Then she turned back to Haruhi, a little sadder. "Though… that does put you in quite the spot now, doesn't it?"
She suddenly snapped her fingers. "I understand. You want to work as my model to be able to support your baby! Darling, that's so grown up of you! But now…" she paused. "I don't mean to pry, but what happened to the father of your baby? Did he… Run out on you? And does your family know?"
Haruhi almost smirked at the looks on the twins' faces. "I don't think he ran out on me," she replied nevertheless. "Truth be told, I think he really is standing up for me." She could practically feel the twin egos blowing up to tremendous proportions, and she was momentarily distracted by the need to knuckle them. Instead, she continued, "And no, my father doesn't really know yet..."
"What about the father's family, does he know?"
Haruhi bit her tongue a little, unsure of what to reply. Her eyes met the twins.
"She's kinda working on that as of this moment," Kaoru said, his voice suppressing the urge to either burst into laughter or tears.
Yuzuha looked at the trio inquiringly, still not getting the whole picture. At least, not until she followed the way Haruhi was looking at her diffidently and how the twins were staring holes into the floor. She took all this in; that was when it clicked.
She just about slapped herself when her hands flew to her mouth. "You… You mean…" She slowly turned to face her sons.
For a few seconds, the entire room was filled with crickets. Then Hikaru and Kaoru returned their mother's gaze awkwardly from under their lashes.
"Um… Surprise?"
--
A long while later—which involved Yuzuha suddenly jumping up and hugging Haruhi and her sons as tightly as she could while screaming with joy for about an hour—Hikaru and Kaoru managed to calm their mother down enough for her to be able to let them breathe again. And even then, she was still hyperventilating.
The woman finally sat down with her arm still around Haruhi. Yuzuha was wiping the corners of her eyes with a scrap of lace every now and then.
"Well, let me hear it," she began after a few more minutes and a glass of water. "The whole story."
And so Hikaru and Kaoru told her about it all. They were a little afraid when they reached the part about the alcohol, but all they got was a concerned frown. She also nodded with understanding when they said this was the reason why the three of them had no idea who the father was. By the time they reached the part about their proposal to Haruhi, Yuzuha was beginning to tear up again.
"Since when have you boys grown up?" she wept. "I remember when you were still in middle school; they used to call me over at Ouran for some trouble you've gotten yourselves into… But this!" Yuzuha trailed off, reminiscing about the old days.
Now Haruhi might be wrong, but it seemed to her that this woman was just a little bit pleased about the shenanigans that the twins pulled off. Maybe I'm not in any place to think this way, but I have a feeling she was exactly like the twins when she was young…
Kaoru was still a little puzzled. "I just don't get it. How come you didn't freak out? I mean; yeah, you freaked out, but… you're not mad?"
He received a motherly smile from her.
"Honey, I can't say I'm entirely happy. But the way you're handling this; it makes me so proud." She spoke to Haruhi this time. "And don't you fret, alright dear? The Hitachiins will be behind you all the way. Oh, I just can't wait to start designing the maternity dresses… and the wedding gown! They'll be talking about your gown for the rest of the century! I'll be the sexiest grandmother alive! And the twins' father…
Then she stopped. "Oh, my… he's in Africa, he won't be back for quite some time—but he has to know about this! I'll call him right now!"
And she went off to heaven-knows-where to find the phone.
Haruhi had been silent all this time, and she just couldn't hide the wave of relief that washed over her. One down, one to go…
Hikaru and Kaoru plopped down beside her.
"You know," she told them. "All this went better than I expected. You guys made your mom sound as though she could never handle the news."
"Are you kidding me?" Hikaru said, incredulous. "Did you see her? She practically exploded!"
"But at least it was a happy explosion," Kaoru noted wistfully.
They were silent for a while, then they heard a shriek come from somewhere in the house.
"YES DARLING, DID YOU HEAR ME? YES, YES! WE'RE GRANDPARENTS!!!"
The trio started to laugh heartily.
"Ah… Now if only Dad would react the same tonight," Haruhi sighed, wiping away a tear.
The twins' guffaws ended abruptly.
A/N: Woohoo!!! Quickest update yet. xD
Okay, so what do you say about this chapter, guys? I think I may have overdone Yuzuha's character a little. (A little?! *scoffscoff*)
That, plus you guys had a little sneak peek at Haruhi's dream... Unfortunately for her (and for you?), the twins had to interrupt when she was FINALLY about to find out who the daddeeh is... Oh well. xP
So next chapter will be... confrontation with Ranka-san! *doom music*
Don't forget to tell me what you think, 'kay? x)
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