CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Mikan didn't want a big celebration like the last time, the night after she said yes, we went back to the church where we were wed. There were only two of us there, she walked down the aisle wearing a simple white dress, I was just wearing a coat above my usual dress shirt.

We were both so emotional reliving what used to be, and thinking of all the memories we shared these couple of years.

"I love you... so, so much." I whispered to her ear as she met me at the end of the aisle. "I love you so much too." She chuckled while wiping her tears away. I then proceeded to read her the note I made a couple of minutes ago.

"I don't talk about my feelings as often as other people do, but I don't know what I did right in my life to deserve you. Loving you, was the biggest gamble I played my entire life, and even though you drive me crazy most times, it was all worth it."

"Natsume..." she held her tears back. "I never got why I loved you in the first place."

"Where are you going with this?" I started laughing.

"Shut up, okay? You're an arrogant, obnoxious, self-absorbed pervert. You test my patience everyday..." Wait a minute.

"This is not-"

"Shut up! ...But I love you. Falling in love with you is so hard. Every turn, the world gives me a reason not to, but when I look at you, I'm reminded that you are always worth the risk. So here I am, promising you, that I will love you, even when it's hard. I will continue loving you. You are my home, Natsume. You are everything to me." I felt a few tears in my eyes starting to pour, I grabbed her hand and pulled her close to me. "I love you. I always have, with god as my witness."

"With god as my witness."

She leaned in and kissed me like we once did years ago, except this time it felt right, it felt perfect.

As I was making my wife, wow it sounds so real now, anyway, as I was making her my hangover cure recipe I felt her hands sneaking up behind me. "Babe, what are you making?" She said as I turned around and laughed, she was basically dragging the sheets to cover her body. "Your hangover cure, your highness. Won't you at least put some shirt on?"

"Geez don't be too loud. I can't find it, my head hurts like hell and my body feels like it wants to break into pieces, I want to fucking kill someone." She sat on the counter next to me.

"Sit over there, can't you see I'm doing something here."

"Stop shouting!" She's basically on the verge of crying, hangover must've hit her so hard. Wait a second, so that means..."Hey babe, do you remember what happened last night?"

"Last night? What happened last night?" I couldn't take it, I bursted out laughing. "Natsume, what happened last night? Wait I'll try to remember, we got home Friday, went to church Saturday night, we had alcohol to celebrate so I got drunk, today's a Sunday and by the looks of it, we also probably had sex last night."

"You don't remember giving me my "reward" of having the best sex of our lives?" I started to laugh as I looked at her wide eyes trying to put the puzzles of last night together. She's so adorable I want to fucking have her all to myself.

"Nooo. That's not true! I was... I don't remember anything you're saying."

"Mikan, my whole body is filled with marks from you." I said taking off my shirt to show her the bruises I got from her last night. "...You were so wild last night, you said something along the lines of your body was like an engine, waiting for me to ride you. I've never been so amused and turned on at the same time."

"I really... No, I'm still not convinced."

"How was I supposed to know that you were doing yoga for me?"

She turned beet red, I laughed harder. "...But that was supposed to be a secret."

I went near her as I handed her the hangover shake I was making. "I thought I was gonna lose it, babe. You were amazing." I whispered.

"Did you... Did you have fun?"

"I can safely say last night was probably the best we ever had."

"Can you fill me in with what happened?"

"...No, that's gonna have to be my reward."

She protested as she stood up and straddled me in my chair. She obviously felt pain as she spread her legs across mine. "But Natsume, I want to know." I laughed, she was trying so hard as I felt her licking the back of my ear. I stopped her immediately and looked straight into her eyes.

I held her in my arms possessively, I was so afraid to let her go, even for a minute. "I swear the only reason keeping me away from you is because I know you're too sore right now, but as soon as you do, you better tell me 'cause whatever you're doing in that yoga class, you better keep it up. I promise you, I'd do you so hard you won't be able to leave this room."

She gulped. "I'd want that."

"I know. Now, drink up." I smirked, handing her the concoction I made for her.

"What the fuck is in this?" She made her way to the couch as she felt her senses getting back again.

"Hey Nat, what now?"

"What do you mean what now?"

"Well, what do we do now that you and I married each other... like for real for real?"

"Oh there's a pop quiz I didn't know about?"

"I'm serious."

"Why do you always have to be like this?"

"Are we seriously gonna fight over this?"

"Are you seriously gonna make it a big deal? I mean, I love you. It doesn't have to be complicated, it doesn't solve inequality or world hunger, but I am simply hopelessly, irretrievably in love with you."

She looked at me with that large beautiful eyes of hers and hugged me. "You're right, I love you too. You've been so sappy lately, I'd like to think I'm responsible for this."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear anything over your acceptance that I'm always right."

"Why do you always have to ruin a nice moment?"

"Why do you obsess over the smallest things anyway?"

"Because I want everything to be perfect."

"Speaking of..." I gulped as I suddenly felt nervous. "...There's something I've been meaning to ask you..." I paused as I tried finding the right words to say. "I... Can you please..." I kept stuttering, "I mean..."

"Spit it out, Natsume."

I took a deep breath. "Can you consider leaving work for awhile?" I said in one go.

"Why?"

"Because I want to try again, you're always stressed with work and all. And you heard the doctor, we can also consider the IVF procedure."

"You just want to sleep with me all the time, don't you?" She smirked, looking away from me as she approached the balcony

"Mik, please don't cry." I hugged her from behind. "It's not the sex..."

"It's having a family. I know, and it's my fault."

"I'm not blaming you! This is why I didn't want to tell you. You'd overreact again!"

"Again? Again Natsume? Really? Why do all men think that they can boss us around because they want this or that? Why shouldn't I make it a big deal, I like my job, I like working!"

"It's been hard to accept that we're not perfect. I know that. We can deny all we want that having kids isn't a big deal just because we can't have it, but we have to try Mikan. I'm not telling you this as an order, I'm telling you this as a request. Think of it this way, I need you to do this for me, for us. It's not just me who would sacrifice extending working hours, it's you, extending patience, enduring pain, giving all you got because we need it as a family." I reached for her hand and brought it to my lips. "I need you, Mikan. I want to make us work, no matter how hard. We'll fight through. You and me... So what do you say?"

She faced me and slowly lifted her head to look at me. "You make quite a convincing argument, Hyuuga." She smiled.

"So it's a yes?"

"Yes." As soon as that word slipped out of her mouth my heart swelled up of happiness. "Yes!" I shouted as I picked her up and lifted her from the ground.

"Ouch Natsume, it still hurts! Put me down! Now!"

"Oh sorry I forgot."

"I love you."

"I love you more."

It's been a few couple of months since we tried having a baby, it was invasive. We had to tell our family, we had to tell our friends, but knowing that she's right here with me makes me feel that this was the right choice. I can't imagine what my life would be without her, I mean, I'd be alive, but I won't be living.

"It's negative." She said beaten down as she got out of the bathroom.

I put my book down and looked at her, "It's normal."

"No! It's not normal! It's not normal that you have an infertile wife! It's not normal that she's fucking useless!" She said storming to the garbage can while throwing the pregnancy kit away.

"You're not useless, it takes time. You can't just have the results handed to you that quick."

"I am! You're so much better off with someone else! You could've done better without me!"

"Don't you dare fucking say that!"

"It's true!" She whispered and headed to the bed beside me facing the opposite direction.

"Listen to me." I said spooning her. "I loved you not because of what you can or can't do. I loved you just because you're you." She faced me and punched my arm lightly as she smiled, I started to notice tears coming down her face. "You mean that?" I wiped the tear from the corner of her eye. "Of course! And besides..." I went to her ear and whispered. "Having you all to myself is such a treat."

She started blushing before looking at me with those big brown eyes of hers. "But aren't you tired of me? I mean they said married sex is kinda boring."

"Well whoever said that haven't tried my wife." I said with my hand tracing the outlines of her face.

She stopped my hand as I looked at her quizzically. "Oh you knew you had it coming." She said as she tried to straddle me and removed her nightgown.

"Yes." She then covered my mouth with hers

It's gonna be a long night.

I was enjoying my morning coffee in the office the next day until my secretary busted right out of my door. "Sir, I'm sorry, I kept telling her to leave but she won't go."

"Why you won't let your boss' one true love in is such a mystery to me anyway." A familiar voice said as she entered the room.

"Luna." Even saying her name left a bad taste in my mouth. She went in and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Please call the security." I said to my secretary.

"That won't be necessary. I won't be in here too long anyway. Leave us for now, thank you." She gestured my secretary to leave.

"What do you want?"

"You, apparently."

"Luna, it's been months since I last saw you, and that was when…"

She approached me as she hushed me with her disgusting fingers. "Now baby, whose fault is that, you changed your number, I don't know where you are all the time, I mean, my only option to contact you was either here or… your house."

Blood shot up my head as she was talking, I tried to calm myself down. 1... 2… 3… "I'm gonna ask you to leave one last time before I let my security team throw you out."

"Nat, relax, I mean for someone you haven't seen in eight months, you are way too serious…"

I looked at her as she tried to remove her coat in front of me. "…Eight months, 'cause you know, he's the same age." It can't be. This can't be happening right now.

"Congratulations! I finally gave you something your temporary wife can't." I felt the world stop. This is not true, this can't be happening. This can't be happening! Calm down Natsume, breathe. Breathe. "That can't be mine."

"Oh! But it is."

"You raped me. I was unconscious."

"Baby, is that what you tell her? Is that what you tell yourself?"

"I demand a DNA test."

"I demand a lavish wedding, but we can't have everything we want, can't we?" She said walking towards me. "…So, I guess, an intimate one can be arranged."

"I'm serious."

"So am I... But if you want that, consider it done. Once the baby is born, you can have your DNA test, and I can have my lavish wedding."

"I'm not going to leave my wife for you! Are you kidding me?"

"Oh you're not, but she will."

"You wish."

"I mean, I can tell her if you want me to. I think she's on her way here anyway."

"LEAVE MY OFFICE! NOW!" I grabbed her forcefully by the shoulder, but just when I was about to throw her out of my office, in came the person I least expected to see.

"Natsume! Are you okay? Is the driver okay? I came as soon as I heard that-"

"Mikan." My world crashed in front of my eyes, seeing Mikan's expression change felt like my heart was breaking into pieces.

"What is happening here?" She asked refusing to look at Luna while staring at me with her big cold eyes, the expression I never thought I'd see again in this lifetime.

"Mikan, let me…" I stuttered as I let go of Luna and grabbed her hand.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?" She shouted as she dismissed my hand, tears started to fall from her eyes, mine followed.

"Mikan, please."

"Natsume, tell me this is not what I think it is." She pleaded.

"Mikan…"

"ANSWER ME!"

"I mean I'd love to see this soap opera unfold on its own, but I have places to go to after this, so let me introduce myself. Hi! I'm Luna Koizumi, I'm pregnant with Natsume's baby."

END OF CHAPTER FOURTEEN

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Oh my god. I'm so sorry, I realized that half of this piece was sitting on my computer for a year already, and I wish I uploaded it sooner. I know this is kinda half baked and all, but I tried really hard... and that counts! HAHAHAHA. I can't really answer if this ff is about to end or anything. But you know, I'm getting older, it needs to end soon. Hahahaha. The next chapters will be about *spoiler alert* their lives away from each other.

That being said, I have been really really busy with school, but more importantly, I was honestly so busy taking care of my mental health. I hope you guys know that mental health is as important as physical health, and that you are important, and you deserve to be heard. I finally got the courage to talk to a professional about it, after four years in hiding, and it is honestly a good experience. I'm not yet that okay, but I am working on it. I hope you guys have a wonderful day and you know, you can leave a message here if you want someone to talk to. We all need to build a supportive community for each other.

See you soon guys! And belated happy pride month to my friends over at the LGBTQIA+ community!