A/N: The sequel to Still Assuming, Always Assuming, has finally been started. The first chapter is up, so go check it out if you want. For this story, glad you liked the twins' story. I can just picture them being saddled with someone just like them… and switching the pairing on their grandmother, well that may not have been intentional, but you know they liked it. Enjoy the new chapter… and don't worry, more hits are coming. I wouldn't leave out something so important for too long. LOL.
Chapter 8 – A Request
"Maybe I should have personally delivered the letter…" Haruhi thought aloud after she had sent the note by courier to the twins. Throughout the years (and hanging out with the Host Club… mainly the twins), Haruhi had learned that she had a little bit of a devilish side (no doubt forced out by the twins dear reader). Part of her, a very large part, wanted to see the look on the twins' faces when they received that missive, but since her daughter was sick, she had other things that took priority than torturing her twin friends. Then again, she could always call their wives and pull them in on helping her. It was something to consider.
Mori shook his head, holding in his laughter. He tended to like the devilish side to Haruhi (actually he loved everything about her dear reader and felt as if he was addicted to his wife and family, but mainly his wife). Plus, he couldn't find fault with teasing the twins since they gave most of the club hell since they had joined their third year of middle school; so he figured this was just paybacks… in a way. Now, he would never say that to anyone else or admit it under oath, but it was the truth of the matter. Throughout the years, Haruhi had learned how to maneuver and deal with each of the club members (and yes, dear reader that included Kyoya. Hard to imagine, I know). "What did you write?" He questioned. He had been giving Hitomi some lunch when Haruhi had decided to send a message. So although he knows something was sent, he doesn't know what it contained.
"Huh? Oh, just maybe something about paybacks for that awful dress. They know better than that," Haruhi responded, "I think it's short enough to be a normal dress for Hitomi."
The little girl mentioned lifted her head from her father's shoulder and asked, "I get a new dress?"
Shaking her head, Haruhi snickered, "No, not today. It was your uncles playing a trick on mommy and daddy."
Hitomi thought about it for a moment before scrunching up her face and questioning, "Which ones?"
The sound of a little boy's laughter reached both parents, "Hitomi, you should know it was the ones we have to protect mom from: Uncle Tamaki, Uncle Hikaru, and Uncle Kaoru." He turned to his mother, "Why does Uncle Kaoru go along with the other two?"
Lifting a brow, Haruhi answered, "Don't think your uncle is as innocent as he appears. He is just as bad as Hikaru."
"Uncle Tama is a baka!" Hitomi announced.
Haruhi and Mori had to gain control of their mirth before they spoke, and Mori was able to before his wife, "Why did you say that?"
"That's what Uncle Chika says," the little girl proclaimed and then squirmed to get out of her father's arms, "Daddy down."
Mori placed his daughter on the ground and watched her run up to her older brother. The siblings were close, and although Hitomi still had a small fever, she had started to feel better late in the morning. Glancing at his wife, he could see the sparkle in her eye, but that could be either good or bad, "Haruhi?"
"There are many times when I will agree with that statement, but it is probably best if we tell Chika not to say things like that in front of the kids," the brunette grinned (dear reader, inside she was laughing hysterically because it seemed so out of the blue and yet so apt sometimes).
Knocking at the door prevented further discussion at the moment and Mori went to answer the door, only to find one of the subjects of their previous discussion standing on the other side, "Tamaki?"
"Hey Mori!" Tamaki said as he pushed past the taller man and invited himself inside. When he made it into the living room and saw Haruhi, he started to quickly make his way over to her, but tripped and flew right past her before he could go too far.
The quiet mutterings of his son told Mori exactly who was responsible. Of course the dump truck the boy had been playing with suddenly appearing in front of Tamaki's feet was also a good indicator. Rolling his eyes, he looked down at his son, "Akio."
"Yes, father?" The young boy said looking the perfect picture of innocent, but Mori knew neither of his children were angels.
"You know better."
"What? I pushed the toy harder than I thought I did and it accidentally got in Uncle Tamaki's way," Akio got to his feet and walked up to his father, pulling him close, "Besides dad, he was going to hug mom too hard and she is not supposed to throw anything heavy."
Tamaki apparently heard the last part and squawked, "I am not heavy!"
Akio, Mori, and Haruhi all sweat dropped (dear reader, Hitomi would have probably been included in that, but she was sick, not paying attention, and only four). Shaking his head yet again, Mori gave his son a somewhat stern expression. Yes, it might have been funny and rescued Haruhi, but Akio had to learn that he couldn't do stuff like that whenever he wanted. Restraint was the key… maybe he needed to talk to his brother about some of the training Satoshi was teaching Akio whenever the little boy stayed over at his uncle's house. It was definitely something to consider.
Upon seeing the look his father was giving him, he knew he was in trouble. He approached Tamaki and bowed, "Sorry Uncle Tamaki for accidentally pushing the dump truck in your path."
Well, Mori knew it wasn't exactly an accident, but it was the best they were going to get right now, "Go meditate."
"Hai," Akio agreed and left the room. Now if anyone would have been watching him closely, they would have seen him stick out his tongue to Tamaki (dear reader, there is no record on if the parents were watching their son, but Tamaki had been and could not understand why the boy hated him so).
"Me too daddy?" Hitomi asked.
The tall man looked at the time and answered, "No, it is almost time for more medicine. I don't want you doing too much." Kneeling down in front of his daughter, he felt her forehead and ruffled her hair, "Do you want to sit in here with me and mommy?"
Nodding, Hitomi ran over to Haruhi and crawled in her lap. When she got settled, she glared at her blond uncle almost daring him to do something to her mother.
Haruhi had sat down after Tamaki fell believing it might be a safer position, and now with her daughter snuggled up in her lap, she addressed her friend, "I would have figured that you and Yumi would be spending the day together after last night's proposal."
"No, she had a business luncheon today and could not get out of it," Tamaki sighed looking suddenly morose.
"So you're here because…" Haruhi prompted.
Suddenly perking up, the blond announced his plan, "Because I thought daddy and daughter could have lunch today."
"We just ate," Haruhi announced with a deadpan expression.
"How about coffee or dessert?"
"Akio is meditating and Hitomi is sick, so we can't take the children out," she looked at Mori because she suddenly got the feeling that Tamaki was trying to pull one of his father/daughter days. It had been a while since he tried one, and the last time she had gone with him since he had been looking for a gift for Yumi's birthday; it actually killed two birds with one stone since she needed to get the kids a couple of things and it was always easier when they weren't with her. This time though, she didn't have a reason.
Tamaki started to get a sheepish expression on his face. Said face started to turn red and he couldn't hold Haruhi's gaze, "Well, I was thinking that since you couldn't come last night, that we could go just us."
"No."
"But Haruhi…"
"Hitomi is sick and I'm not going, and it isn't exactly right to ask to spend time alone with a woman who is married and not your fiancée without said fiancée knowing. Unless you told her."
"Well no, but you went the last time."
"I had to get clothes for the kids and you needed help birthday shopping, and she knew."
"But… but…" Tamaki shut up when he was hit in the face with a doll, "What?"
The little girl that threw the toy glared, "Mommy said no! And when mommy says no, you have to listen or you get in trouble."
Tamaki's gaze moved quickly between mother and daughter and back again, "Hitomi, this is adult…"
"Don't patronize my children," Mori announced causing his blond friend to jump. "Haruhi told you no, so accept it. I explained last night that when Hitomi is sick she prefers Haruhi. So stop, and Haruhi is right. She would never go out with one of you or any man without me being present without telling me first. The fact that you are coming here and asking for her to go out with you without telling Yumi is wrong. Stop pestering her. If you want, we can all have tea here and you can tell Haruhi everything you wanted to at the restaurant and it is more private."
"What makes you think I have…?" Tamaki started.
Narrowing his eyes on the other man, the kendo champion answered, "The only times you get persistent like this and ignore common rules of our society is when you have something to tell Haruhi. So, your choices are to stay here and talk or leave, but if you leave, Haruhi is staying."
Tamaki looked like he was about to bristle and say something else, but the wind was knocked out of him when a shinai hit the back of his head. Whipping his head around, he found Satoshi standing behind him, "When did you get here?"
"When you were arguing with Taka-bro and I decided you needed some sense knocked into you," Satoshi answered. He turned to his brother, "Where's Akio?"
"Meditating because he got into trouble," Mori replied. He had seen his brother enter and knew what his sibling planned, and didn't even bother to stop him (dear reader, even Mori has a devil side sometimes when it comes to certain situations, and really I can't blame him for allowing his brother to do that… plus the last couple chapters lacked hits and I know you want to see more).
"I see," the younger Morinozuka walked over to where Haruhi and his niece were sitting and bent over, "Hey little one, how are you feeling? Your aunt and I got something for you." He pulled out a new stuffed rabbit in blue that held a striking resemblance to Usa-Chan.
Grabbing the bunny, Hitomi held it to her chest, "Thank you Uncle Sato." She gave him a wet kiss on his cheek and smiled when he straightened up and did not wipe it off… that she saw (he waited until she was preoccupied with the new toy before he swiped his cheek against his shirt).
"Where is Kayo?" Haruhi asked.
"She is over at Yasuchika's visiting Kiku. I was going to see if little man wanted to work on his sparring today since Hitomi is sick and I know how clingy she can get," Satoshi explained.
Mori nodded and went to get Akio. It wasn't that they ignored Akio when Hitomi was sick, but when the little girl was sick, Mori didn't go out to the dojo or outside as much and Akio was a lover of both the outside and the dojo. He would play with his sister indoors, but if he had a choice… the little boy wanted to be outside or working on his kendo. Then again, when Akio was sick, he tended to be clingy too, and Hitomi didn't get to do everything she wanted to do. Entering his son's room, he found Akio sitting on the floor and meditating like he had been told to do. Mori had to admit that although his children were not angels, they were good kids and he loved them. Clearing his throat to get the boy's attention, he said, "Satoshi is here to spar with you."
Eyes widening, Akio shouted, "Can I?"
"Yes, make sure you practice what we have been working on and I will try to come out in a bit," Mori grinned and chuckled as his son blew past him in search of his favorite uncle. When he returned to the living room, Akio was pulling Satoshi towards the back door so that they could go to the family dojo.
"I thought he was being punished," Tamaki stated as soon as he spotted Mori.
"He wouldn't be in trouble if you knew how to control yourself around my wife," Mori retaliated, "He thinks he needs to protect Haruhi, especially right now when she is pregnant. If you want to discuss behavior, let's discuss how you came in without an invite, you tried to hug my wife without permission, and then invited her out to lunch like you did. As Haruhi told you before, don't talk to me about my children unless you want to own up to your own actions."
Tamaki felt like he had just been chastised, "Sorry Mori, Haruhi."
"I'm going to go make some tea. Tamaki, do you want tea or coffee?" Mori inquired.
"Coffee please," the blond answered.
When Mori was gone, Haruhi studied her friend for a moment before asking, "Ok, what's up?"
"What makes you think…?"
"Because Takashi is right, you only get like this when you have something you need to tell me something."
"We want to have the wedding in a month and we need help planning it."
Haruhi scowled, "What about the twins?"
"They laughed at me and Yumi wants a dress made by them. They will listen to you. They think we are joking and we aren't."
"Why do you have to get married so quickly?"
Tamaki ran a hand through his hair, "Her parents are moving and want to take her with them until the wedding. They leave in a month. If we wait for the wedding, we will be apart for several months and I don't want that."
"She can't get her own place?"
"No, they are afraid of what we will do."
"Do they know that you two have already had… relations?" Haruhi snickered. She couldn't help it.
The blond turned red and then purple, "Don't say that out loud! There is a child in the room!"
"Which is why I worded it the way I did."
Shaking his head vigorously, he emphatically declared, "No, and they will not find out!"
"So you want me to tell the twins to put off their stuff for their upcoming fashion show in 6 weeks and focus on a wedding dress?"
"YES!"
Rolling her eyes, Haruhi knew she might regret it, but hey, the twins owed her after the dress they made for her for the previous night, "Alright. Anything else?"
"Help us plan…"
"No. I will give you the name of a wonderful wedding planner and she can help you plan everything."
Tamaki pouted, "Well, I just thought it would be nice for daughter to help daddy plan his wedding… OUCH!"
"Huh, Satoshi was right; a shinai does give you a longer reach," Haruhi muttered before she focused on her friend again, "No. I have cases going to trial this month, a family to take care of, and I'm pregnant. I will help, but I will not plan."
"Fine," Tamaki said as he rubbed the side of his head where he had been hit twice now.
The rest of the afternoon passed without incident. Tamaki was happy for the small carrot he had been given and he knew he would not get more. With Haruhi's help, he was sure Yumi would get her dream dress and everything would be perfect for their special day. A month wasn't long to plan for a wedding, but they were the Ouran High School Host Club (former), and they could accomplish anything they put their minds to!
