Yugi Muto gulped. This was the hardest thing he ever had to do. He took a deep breath and got on his knees. Time seemed to have gone to slow motion. He stared into blue eyes, afraid to look elsewhere. His own eyes were pleasing. His hand was deep inside his pockets fumbling on a case that held a diamond engagement ring. Yugi closed his eyes and blurted his question out before he could lose the guts.

"Will you let me marry your daughter?" He blurted out quickly. Now he shivered, his eyes meeting Mr. Gardner's harsh chocolate brown ones. His mouth quivering, he now looked back to the other pair of eyes stood before him, blue eyes this time, belonging to Téa's mother. He looked to them with his own eyes pleading for help, once again. 'Please help me Mrs. Gardner!'

"You want to marry my Téa?" Mr. Gardner's voice boomed at Yugi.

"Yyesss... Yes sir." Yugi his voice suddenly becoming loud as he said 'yes sir.' He might as well get out with it.

One of Mr. Gardner's eyebrows shot up looking at Yugi under a critical light. "Get up." He commanded.

Yugi immediately got off the floor. Mr. Gardener stood up. "I'll make some tea." Mrs. Gardner said in a sweet voice and quickly rushed off to the kitchen, knowing it wasn't a good idea for her to stay in the middle of this.

"Look at me boy." He stared at Yugi, meeting his gaze. "So, I am told you want to ask Téa, MY daughter to marry you."

"Yes, sir."

"Of course, you do. My little angel is not only, beautiful, but she is talented and smart too." He boasted.

"Of course, sir." Yugi gulped.

"She is also a Broadway star." He added. "That means she makes a good deal of money." Yugi nodded, not sure where this was going.

"You're not marrying her for the money are you now?" He said in a surprisingly calm voice.

"No sir."

"Hmmp. Alright then, well, either way, my Téa's money would be helpful in supporting your marriage and lifestyle, wouldn't it?" He asked.

Yugi was taken aback. There was some sort of trick to this, he knew it. "No Mr. Gardner. I, myself am quite comfortable. I am the King of Games, so I do make quite a lot of money, sir. There is no need to use Téa's money." He said carefully.

"King of Games? Ah, yes. So, you play a lot of these card games, don't you?"

"Yes, sir." Yugi pulled on the collar of his shirt.

"That must mean you play a lot of other games, don't you?"

Yugi gulped. "Well, my grandfather owns a game shop...so certain ones."

"Oh, like say playing with my daughter's heart, huh?"

"No sir! I would never hurt your daughter! She is the only one I have ever loved and the only one I will ever love! I love her and care for her deeply!" Yugi exclaimed in an exasperated voice.

Mr. Gardner smiled and then recomposed himself. He put a hand on Yugi's shoulder. "Good, good."

"So, I suppose you want to sleep with my daughter?"

"Pardon?" Yugi asked his eyes bulging nearly out of their sockets.

"Sleep with her, on the same bed."

Yugi gulped. "Well sir," how was he supposed to answer this? "Married couple do usually sleep on the same bed."

"Oh, I always wanted grandchildren!" Mrs. Gardner piped out walking in with a tray of tea. "Imagine it honey, little Téas running around the place!" She smiled, placing the tray on the table.

Mr. Gardner smiled. "Little Téas!"

"And little Yugis too!" Mrs. Gardner smiled.

"Little Yugis? Aghh. NO!" Mr. Gardner shook his head.

"Well dear," Mrs. Gardner said while putting her hand on her husband's shoulder. "Little Téas and little Yugis will be one and the same won't they now?"

"What?!" Mr. Gardner exclaimed, his mouth opening wide. "One and the same?!"

Mrs. Gardner made a face. "Téa's children are also going to be Yugi's children so..."

"Téa have that boy's children?!" He yelled, pointing his finger at Yugi as Yugi grimaced.

"Of course! Whose else's children would she have?! Don't you think she should have her husband's children?!"

"Who said he would be her husband?"

"He's going to ask her to marry him!"

"What?! But I didn't tell him he could!"

"Oh heavens! You didn't tell him he could yet?" Yugi wearily looked on. What had he gotten himself into? Téa and him weren't even expecting! "Yugi, honey, you have our blessings, now please go ask Téa to marry you!" Téa's mother shouted at him, trying to make her husband collect himself.

Mr. Gardner started breathing heavily. "I never..." Mrs. Gardner gave him a stern look.

"Mom, Dad! I'm here!" A voice shouted out.

"Téa." Yugi breathed.

"Yugi!" Téa exclaimed, surprised. She went to hug him and Yugi hesitantly hugged back feeling Mr. Gardner's gaze on him. Téa knew better than to kiss Yugi now so she merely pecked him on the cheek. Having been Yugi's girlfriend for years didn't mean her father was ok with her kissing him openly.

"Yugi." Mr. Gardner called sternly. "Do you love my Téa?"

Yugi nodded his head. "With all my heart sir."

"You will take good care of her and treat her with the upmost care and respect?" He asked in an authority like manner.

Yugi raised his arm. "Of course."

Mr. Gardner patted Yugi's arm. "Then you have my blessings. "

Téa squinted making a face. "Ah... thanks Dad. I think? I thought you finally accepted Yugi as my boyfriend back in high school?"

"Well, yes, but now I have blessed him." He said simply.

"Ah...ok then." Téa responded confusingly. 'I'm not even going to ask.'

"Téa Gardner will you marry me?"

Téa gasped. "Yes, yes, yes!" She yelled at him. Yugi hastily slipped the ring on her finger and immediately both of them pulled in for a passionate kiss. Yugi spun her around in his arms and Téa giggled, kissing him once more.

"Well, this is a relief!" Yugi laughed.

Téa smacked his arm. "Did you really think I was going to say no?"

"Nope. Not really."

Téa smacked Yugi, shaking her head. "Mr. Overconfident."

"Well... you see. I was confident because," he twirled his fingers, "I know that you and I are meant to be and marriage is just the next step. What we have is too perfect," he said putting his free arm on his chest where his heart would be, "for us to have any reason not to get married." He nervously smiled.

Téa widened her eyes. "I have a very clever boyfriend." She grinned.

"Fiancé." He corrected.

Téa laughed. "Yes, fiancé! I've taught you well Yugi." She said pecking him on the lips once more.

"Well, honestly I was a little worried, but it was mostly about your dad."

Téa gasped. "Oh my gosh my dad! How are we going to..."

"I already asked his permission to ask you to marry me."

"You asked for his permission?" She asked in disbelief.

Yugi blushed. "Well...yes."

"Now you know why I said yes. You're so sweet!"

"Aren't I?" Yugi asked smirking and tilting his head.

Téa quickly kissed him again. "Yes." She gleefully agreed looking at her ring. "Oh my gosh. Yugi, this ring is perfect!" She gushed.

"I picked it out myself!" He told her with pride.

"How on Earth did you know my ring size? I thought that only happened in movies, TV shows and anime!"

Yugi laughed. "Oh, I stole one of your rings..." Téa whacked him on the arm. "Ow. Hey, it was for a good cause! That and Mai helped me."

Téa shook her head. "Of course! So how are we going to break it to the world, my husband to be?"

"Hmm..." Yugi tapped his fingers on his chin.

"Oooh. Let's go out to eat! Then I can flash my ring to everyone. I can picture the headlines now!" She pictured grinning mischievously as her fingers created a rectangle. "It's going to get out anyways, might as well have some fun with it." She shrugged winking.

Yugi and Téa ended up getting dressed and ready to go to a fancy, up-scale restaurant. Yugi was able to score a special reservation, one of the perks of being the King of Games. Yugi opted for a suit and a bow ties that was red, because Téa wanted to match. She had opted to war a long strapless red dress, with a slit to show off her legs and accessorizing the look with a pair of sparkling earrings and necklace.

"Shall we milady?" Yugi bowed.

Téa giggled. "You're so cute. We shall," she said taking Yugi's arm.

At the restaurant Yugi and Téa walked up to be seated. "Yes, I have a reservation for me and my FIANCE." Yugi told him, stressing the fiancé. Téa made sure to have her ring in full view.

The man raised his eyebrows, eyeing the diamond ring on Téa's finger. "Yes of course Mr. Mutou, right this way." He seated them.

Soon the waiter arrived to take their order. "What shall you have Madame and Monsieur?"

Yugi gave his order and then asked, "and what would you like my soon to be wife?" He grinned.

"Well," she said. "I'm in the mood for..." She pointed at something in the menu, and the waiter nodded. After he was done taking their order, he handed him her menu with her left hand showcasing her diamond ring.

As soon as the waiter was a good distance away Téa and Yugi giggled, covering their mouths to muffle their laugh. Yugi was very glad that his reservation was for a more private table, so no one would be near to hear them.

"It must be up now..." Téa eyed Yugi.

"Quite possibly..."

"How many people have become aware?" He asked.

"Well, there was the table attendant, the waiter, some ladies in the restroom saw a peek at my ring..."

"I made a call outside the restaurant when a couple people walked by telling Mr. Hawkins about it on the phone..."

Téa bit her lip and Yugi looked at her. "I'm going to do it!" Yugi declared.

Téa slowly looked around the area before quickly whispering, "Go Yugi, go!"

In a blink of an eye, Yugi whipped out his smart phone from his pocket and his fingers started moving furiously searching the internet for news of their proposal!

"It's up!" He exclaimed.

"Breaking News: Téa Gardener Spotted Wearing Diamond Engagement Ring"

"What else does it say?" Téa urged him to tell.

"Téa Gardener, long-time girlfriend of Yugi Muto was spotted wearing a diamond engagement ring while out to dinner with the Game King himself. What does this mean? A wedding is definitely in the works for this couple. Congratulations on the engagement of the happy couple! More information as it is received,"

"Aw. Isn't that sweet Yugi?"

Yugi nodded quickly returning the phone to his pocket before the waiter returned. Gosh he loved being with Téa. They always had the most enjoyable and fun time together. He couldn't imagine being apart from her and he couldn't wait to marry her!

He was happy that this time they had a hand in making sure that the headline from the paparazzis was good and accurate one.

Did I trick you in the beginning? ;) This chapter was supposed to be more lighthearted and fun. I really enjoyed writing Mr. Gardner's personality.

A review would be lovely! :D

~Startistica