Chapter Thirty-Nine: Meetings…

I smiled sleepily as I reached over to cancel my alarm; today was the day that Ushio and I would head over to the Hiiragis' place to finish moving my bride's things to her new home…well, apartment.

That trailing thought muted my smile slightly; I may have been overthinking it, but I was still concerned about how adding someone to the household would affect the family finances. Of course I never thought of Mika as a financial burden, but I couldn't ignore the reality that I'd…well, we'd need to make sure that I was making enough to support a family of three.

I filed away the sobering thoughts as I padded down the hall to the washroom to give my face its morning splash over the sink; Mika had been unusually yet understandably excited the night prior during dinner prep as well as the meal itself, which got me worked up and made it harder for me to get to sleep. I dried my face and padded back out of the washroom and down the hall to see what delicious smells would greet me.

"Bacon and eggs over rice!" Ushio announced as she exited the kitchen area with our breakfast bowls and chopsticks, setting them down before heading back into the kitchen.

"Sounds good, thanks," I managed to grunt as I plopped down into my spot at the kotatsu…then sighed at the sight of the closed curtains.

I was settling back into my spot when she reentered the room, this time with a couple of steaming bowls. "I cut the bacon into small strips before cooking them so we can use our chopsticks," she told me.

"Good thinking, thank you," I replied; while I did like the long and wide strips like they served at restaurants, as a general rule I really didn't feel like touching my food.

We put our hands together, but before we could say our usual she asked, "Daddy? Could I try something different this time?"

I blinked in surprise at her request. I wasn't put off by it or anything; it was just unexpected. "Um, sure. Go for it."

I noticed that she started to blush as I closed my eyes and put my hands together. "Lord, thank you for the food we're about to eat. Thank you for my daddy, who I love very much." There was a pause, then: "Oh! I'm done."

I blinked in surprise again as I opened my eyes and gathered up my chopsticks. "What brought that on? Was it something Pastor Jeff said?"

Her hair waved with the shake of her head. "No… Well, sort of. It's just that…" She sighed in such a way that her breath flapped her bangs. "It's just that he's done so much for our family that…that I wanted to try what he does."

"I see…" I still wasn't sure what to think of the pastor's god, but… "Well, if that's what you want to do from now on, I'd have a hard time arguing against it."

"Thanks, Daddy," she giggled before turning her attention to her meal.

We finished breakfast and tidied up before officially starting our day.

"We're supposed to be at Mika-senpai's place at noon, right?" she asked as we headed down the hall to our respective rooms, then added with a giggle, "Or should I say 'Mom's place'?"

"Don't start, please," I grunted, though I couldn't stop the awkward smile from appearing on my face. "This is already going to take some getting used to."

"I'm sorry, Daddy," she giggled again.

"Anyway, yes; we're supposed to be there at noon for the 'surprise party' that Kappei blabbed about," I told her. "We should head out around eleven, eleven-fifteen at the latest; I don't want to be late."

"Understood, sir!" she chirped with a salute. "Recruit Okazaki Ushio will be ready by ten-fifty, sir!"

"Carry on, then," I chuckled as I left her by her door to continue to my room. My smile faded as I reentered my room, though, as my prior financial concerns made themselves known again. "Dammit, I can't go over to Kappei's in a funk like this…"

"…by the time you and Mika-senpai married, I'd be moved out…"

My chest tightened at the memory of her words; I'd never really be ready for her to move out, would I? After all, I hadn't even spun…her…

As I finished getting ready for the day, I smiled softly as an idea came to mind.

"Ready to go?" I asked as we swapped out our shoes in preparation for our departure.

"Yup!" she chirped, hopping on one foot as she struggled with a shoe.

I checked my back pocket for my wallet on my way out the door. As I worked on locking my nemesis I asked, "Before we head over to the Hiiragis', I'd like to take care of something."

"Okay," I heard her reply from behind me. Once I'd finished locking the stupid door I turned to face her. "So, where did you want to go-OHMYGOOOOSH!" she squealed as I slid my hands under her armpits and lifted her up, giving her the 'twirl' that we'd both wanted for years.

"Upsy-daisy!" I cackled, thoroughly enjoying my daughter's enjoyment as I carefully spun in place; she wasn't a five-year-old anymore, and even though she wasn't particularly heavy I still had to account for her weight. "How's that, sweetie?"

"Ohmygosh!" she squealed again. "This is wonderful! Thank you, Daddy!"

As she threw her arms up as high as she could without slipping out of my grip I looked up into her ecstatic expression and my heart felt heavy; because of my shoulder injury we'd missed out on so many possibilities that most dads probably took for granted. I wasn't trying to blame my dad again; it was more like…I was grieving the lost opportunities.

Eventually, though, I had to put her down and I did so carefully, slowing my spin until she could get her feet back under her. "That was awesome, Daddy!" she exclaimed. Then, she suddenly covered her face with her hands.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" I asked, my paternal instincts having been triggered. "Did you get something in your eye? Move your hands and I can…"

What caused my sentence to trail off was the sight of tears in my daughter's eyes when she removed her hands to look up at me. "I'm sorry, Daddy; I don't know why, but I feel so sad…"

"It's okay…" I murmured as I quickly pulled her into an embrace. "I don't know if it'll help, but I feel sad, too."

"It's like I feel like I've lost something," she whimpered into my shirt. "Like I missed out on something."

"I think I understand," I said sympathetically as I stroked her hair. I then told her about my thoughts regarding missed opportunities. "I'm really sorry that I wasn't the dad you needed. That you didn't have the childhood you should've had."

"I-It's not your fault, Daddy," she sniffled, and I had to fight a pressure starting to build behind my eyes. "I'm kinda confused; I'm happy that you could twirl me now, but I wish you could have done it when I was little."

Oh, crap; I was starting to lose it. "It's…okay to feel sad, Ushio; it's something that you wanted and meant something to you." I swallowed a goodly-sized lump before continuing. "It's okay to grieve a loss. For what it's worth; I wish I could've twirled you, too."

She looked up at me, and a blink of her large, beautiful eyes sent tears down my face at almost the same time as hers. "Oh, Daddy; I'm so sorry!" she wailed as she grabbed tightly onto the front of my shirt and started to cry uncontrollably.

I hugged her tightly as we stood in front of our home and mourned her lost childhood, and in the back of my mind the thought occurred to me that my little broken doll had been restored, even if just a little.

We left the apartment again, with me in a fresh shirt and both of us with slightly reddened eyes. "That felt good," Ushio said with a sigh as I locked the front door yet again. "I feel like I needed that."

"Same here," I agreed with a heavy sigh as the lock finally clicked. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Thank you."

We were quiet most of the way to the train station, as well as the trip over, and the walk to the Hiiragis' home.

As we approached, I raised my hand in greeting at the sight of the family patriarch standing just outside the gate to their property; for some reason, he was wearing a white headband and had his arms crossed. "Morning, Kappei," I greeted as we got closer.

"SO, YOU'VE COME," he announced, and for some reason he had an unusually gravelly voice. "STOP- RIGHT THERE," he ordered, holding up a hand.

Ushio and I did as told, glancing over at each other as we came to a stop. Was he ill or something?

"SO! YOU THINK- THAT YOU CAN- COME IN- AND SIMPLY- TAKE- MY DAUGHTER FROM ME?!" he bellowed in a halting manner, crossing his arms again.

I briefly stammered, unsure of what to say until I realized; he had moved his mouth more than was necessary for what he had said. So I tried a test: "She…and I are married now, right?"

My suspicions were confirmed when he threw his head back and laughed in an obviously forced manner. "HA-HA-HA HAAAA! YOU- MUST BE- MISTAKEN- TO THINK- THAT I WOULD- GIVE HER- TO THE- LIKES OF YOU!" he replied in the same stilted manner as before. So that was it; he was imitating the bad dubbing of old martial arts movies from Hong Kong.

I tried to suppress a grin as I crossed my arms as well. "SHE- CHOSE ME- OLD MAN! HA-HA-HA-HAAAAA!" I replied, imitating Kappei's excessive mouth movements and mannerisms.

"FOOL!" he bellowed. "YOU- ARE A- FOOL!"

"Daddy," Ushio whispered from beside me. "What are you doing?"

I said nothing, but gave her a wink along with a slight shake of my head before returning my attention to my 'nemesis'. "SO- OLD MAN- YOU- WOULD STAND- IN- THE WAY- OF YOUR- DAUGHTER'S- HAPPINESS?" I challenged, raising one hand into a fist.

He flinched, and I became genuinely concerned that I might have hit a nerve. He recovered quickly enough, however. "YOU- WOULD DARE- CHALLENGE- MY- HONOR?" He reached up and tugged on the ends of his headband. "PREPARE- TO- DEFEND YOURSELF!" With that, he executed a series of very complex and ridiculous-looking moves, ending with a 'stance' that had him standing on one foot with his other leg bent, the foot resting just above the knee, similar to a Crane stance, but somehow with more silliness. His hands had ended up at what seemed like random positions, and I couldn't see any way that he could hit anything with his arms all wrapped around each other the way they were.

I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep up with Kappei's speech pattern, so I switched to an old anime from long ago. "So…" I intoned in as deep a voice as I could muster while desperately trying to ignore Ushio's muffled giggling, "…you would challenge the master of Mudo Mudo…"

"SNRK!" My opponent ducked his head with a snort but managed to regain his composure. "I would do anything to protect my daughter's happiness…" he replied smoothly, easily switching to my 'style' of speaking as he adjusted his stance to something more conventional and less painful to look at.

"Oh…?" I intoned, raising my eyebrows as I lowered into a stance similar to the late Bruce Lee's. "Your form looks impressive; let's see how impressive it really is."

"HO-AH! HO-AH! HO-AAAAAH!" Kappei cried as he threw several kicks that, even to the untrained eye, looked to be useless for actual combat.

"A-TAAAH!" I yelled, trying my hardest to maintain a falsetto tone as I rapidly punched the air several times. "AAAA-TATATATATATAAAAAHH!"

"What in the world is going on out here?" a female voice exclaimed, and Kappei and I both blinked out of our characters to see Ryou approaching us from the front door of the house. "Kappei, what are you doing with my scarf?"

"Eh-heh; sorry," Kappei chuckled awkwardly as he removed his 'headband' and handed it to his wife. "Just having some fun with Okazaki here."

"Ah! Welcome, Tomoya-san, Shio-chan," Ryou greeted with a bow. "I came out because it's past noon and I was concerned because you hadn't arrived yet."

"Sorry," I chuckled while rubbing the back of my neck as Ushio and I approached the couple. "Kappei and I got caught up in 'Fist of the Collapsing Star'."

My 'nemesis' burst out laughing, and reached out to clap me on the shoulder. "Come on in, buddy. Both of you." He gave my daughter a wink. "I hope we didn't scare you or anything, Ushio-san."

"I'm fine," she giggled as we headed through the gate. "You and Daddy were so funny."

"Is he here ye-Tomoya!" I'd barely registered the partial question before receiving an armful of Mika. "I just noticed the time and was starting to worry!"

"We're here, we're here," I chuckled, trying to keep the blush from my face at the sight of her excited eyes. "I was just proving myself to your dad just now."

"Huh?"

"YOU- ARE- HUNDREDS- OF YEARS- TOO- LATE!" Kappei suddenly bellowed, though he ended with a laugh followed by a slight cough. "Man, that's hard on the vocal cords."

"Those high-pitched 'a-tahs' did a number on mine," I agreed while self-consciously massaging my throat.

"Well, we have cold lemonade out back for our brave warriors," Ryou giggled as she led us through the house and back out to their backyard, where many familiar faces waited, chatting away.

"There they are!" I heard Pastor Jeff exclaim, and I quickly found him heading our way; beyond him I could see Kyou, Ryou, and Tadashi sitting at one of the many tables. "I was starting to wonder about you two."

"I've been hearing that lately," I replied awkwardly. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it," he said warmly as he patted me on the side of the arm not being held by Mik-…by my bride. "I'm just glad that you're here."

"Me, too," Mika sighed, happily snuggling into me.

Of course I was happy to see her as well, but… "Mika, I'm glad to hear that, but…" I said in a tone low enough that hopefully only she would hear me, "…but we're still kinda out in a public place, so could you…?" I wasn't exactly embarrassed by her attention, but I was concerned that what would normally be considered private affection would quickly become public.

"Okay," she murmured back as she relaxed her grip on my arm, if only a little.

"Is that everyone?" Kappei asked, turning to his wife.

Ryou took a moment to look around. "I believe so."

I followed her gaze to the tables that had been set up in their backyard; other than Ushio and me and the Hiiragis, Mom and Dad Fujibayashi were there, talking with Mom and Pops Furukawa. "Grandpa!" Ushio squealed as she hurried over to a table where my dad sat talking with… I blinked in surprise at the sight of Kotomi chatting with him.

As Ushio gushed over her granddad I continued looking around and found the Yoshinos plus Fuuko chatting with Ambassador Sakagami, causing another blink of surprise. "Hey, Kappei…" I called as Mika and I made our way over to the grill, where he and Jeff and Dad Fujibayashi were sorting out what appeared to be thin steaks in preparation for cooking. "Did you intentionally invite everyone from my, uh, counseling session to this thing?"

"Yup!" he chirped, dropping a steak on the grill before giving me his full attention. "I hope it's okay, but I figured that you'd like everyone to…I dunno, be happy along with you after all the stuff that you had to deal with at your session."

How thoughtful. "Well, thanks for thinking of me," I replied humbly; then a thought occurred to me. "But what about Mika? Isn't this supposed to be a wedding party for both of us?"

"What do you mean?" Mika asked, drawing my attention to her puzzled expression. "My friends are here, if that's what you're worried about."

"Huh?" I looked around again and quickly found Sachi with the Yoshinos and Tomoyo, and the blonde-haired girl – 'Alice', if I remembered correctly – and a couple of the others were with the Fujibayashis and the Furukawas. "That's weird; why didn't I see them before?"

"Maybe you saw the faces you expected to see, so the others didn't register," Jeff offered, turning over a steak before glancing over at me. "Not an unusual occurrence, in my experience."

"That could be…" I mused as I started noticing Ushio's friends as well, most of them with her and my dad; had my tunnel vision been that bad? "Are all your friends here, Mika?"

"Most of them," she replied as she gave my arm a squeeze. "Yuki couldn't make it 'cause she's sick again, and Sakagami's family had plans already."

I felt a flash of nostalgic dread at the description of Yuki's situation but filed it away for later. "I see; well, that's too bad." Then a thought occurred to me. "Wait, you said 'Sakagami', right?"

"I did, yes. Why?"

I gestured to our silver-haired acquaintance, who was making her way over to Mom and Dad Fujibayashi. "Do you think she's related to the ambassador?"

"I don't know," she replied with a shake of her head. "I never really thought about it. Do you want me to ask her?"

"Nah, it's fine," I replied. "It's more of a curiosity than anything. I might ask her about it before she leaves."

"Okay."

I suddenly realized that we hadn't mingled with our 'guests' much since I had arrived. "Hey, why don't you go talk with your friends and the others for a bit while I see about helping with meal prep?"

"I don't think they'll let you," she replied with an impish grin. "We're the guests of honor, after all."

"That's true, but as a man I like to be useful," I countered with a grin of my own. "Besides, I don't feel right just taking without giving something back."

"Okay," she replied with a fond smile before her face took on a playful expression as she fluttered her eyelashes at me. "After all, we'll have plenty of time later to snuggle."

"Y-Yeah…" I replied awkwardly; I wasn't expecting her to flirt with me with her parents around, but she was still Mika, after all. And my wife.

My wife.

"I'll be over there," she said, releasing my arm to gesture over to the table where Kyou sat talking with a mix of Mika's and Ushio's friends. "See you later, handsome."

"Y-Yeah, see you," I replied as she started toward the table, and I allowed myself to admire my bride's swaying hips and the slight jiggle of her full bottom. "We're married now, so it's fine," I reminded myself as I felt a familiar panic start to rise. "Knowing her, she probably wants you to look."

As though to confirm, she sent me a sly grin and a wink over her shoulder as she joined the group at her aunt's table, quickly immersing herself in their conversation.

I snorted with a shake of my head as I turned to wander back to the grill. "Could you use an extra hand?" I offered the trio of men.

"Nah, we're good, but thanks for asking," Kappei replied, and I could still hear a little hoarseness in his voice. He then sighed, placing his tongs on the table next to the grill. "Hey Dad, Jeff? Do you mind if I step out for a bit? I'd like to talk with son-in-law here for a bit."

I would have retorted, but something about the way he stated my position told me that he was trying to communicate something serious to the other men without coming out and saying it.

"We'll be fine," Dad Fujibayashi replied as he took up the tongs. "Take your time."

I noticed that Jeff briefly patted my friend on the shoulder before returning to his own grilling duties.

Kappei rubbed his hands together as he approached me, then wrapped an arm around my shoulders and started to lead me away from the party, toward a corner of the back yard. "Can we talk for a bit, man?"

"S-Sure," I said, puzzled by his demeanor; he seemed unusually serious compared to what I was used to. "Is everything okay?"

"Sort of," he replied, and I noticed that his voice was tight. "I'll tell you about when we get there."

I wasn't sure where 'there' was but compassion demanded my patience. "Sure, Kappei."

He released me when we arrived at a quiet corner of the backyard. "Man, I don't know how to say this…" he began as I turned to face him.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, hoping to help him. "Listen, if this is about what I said about Mika's happiness out front, I'm really sor-"

"No no, it's not that," he replied with a chuckle that sounded heavy. "It's just that…you stole my daughter's heart, man, and you'll be taking the rest of her with you today."

So that was it; he was a father grieving the loss of his precious daughter. "I'm sorry, Kappei; is there something I can do to help you out? Or make it easier?"

He shook his head then scoffed as he looked down, bringing the back of his hand to his face. "Damn, I didn't know it'd be this hard."

"I can imagine," I replied honestly; I'd thought many times about Ushio leaving the home to start a family with a very lucky young man.

"Yeah, I guess you could," he chuckled, looking to me again. "I know you'll take good care of her, and it's not like you're moving far away or anything, it's just…"

I had a flash of intuition, and stepped back to bow low to my best friend. "Thank you for raising such a lovely young woman; I am honored to be her husband and will do everything within my power to take care of her."

I suddenly found myself forced upright and wrapped in a hug. "I know you will, man," he said in a shuddering voice, the effects of which I could feel through his grip. "I know you will."

I blinked stupidly, surprised at the unexpected contact, before carefully wrapping my arms around my dear friend…and new father-in-law.

"I'd like to propose a toast," Pastor Jeff announced, and the rest of us looked from our meals to find his standing with his drink cup raised to where Mika and I sat. "To Tomoya-san and Mika-san; I know I've said this before, but may your lives together be richly blessed."

"Hear hear," Kappei whooped, rising to his feet to raise his cup in our direction as well; apparently he'd recovered nicely. "You better do right by my little girl, Okazaki!"

"I will," I promised with an understanding smile.

He nodded once before downing the contents of his cup and plopping into his seat again.

"To the bravest man I've ever known," Sakagami declared before downing her drink; since we weren't drinking alcohol the gesture was more symbolic, but I appreciated it nonetheless. Apparently Mika agreed, because I heard a hiccup from her and found her with tears in her eyes.

"To the bestest friend and the sweetest niece an idiot like me could ever have," Kyou added before tipping her cup as well.

"To the coolest cat this soul's ever known," Yuusuke said as he Kouko stood to raise their cups toward us. "Good for you, man. Both of you."

"To-" Kotomi started as she stood up, but froze at the sight of everyone's gaze directed toward her. However, she took a deep breath and continued. "To my oldest and dearest friend; I wish you all the happiness."

"Thanks, Kotomi-chan," I said, my heart warmed by her words.

"And to his lovely w-wife; may you find all the joy and happiness in your new life, and may your future children…" she paused to take another breath. "…m-may your future children together bring you joy."

Mika and I gaped at each other in disbelief; even though she hadn't known my childhood friend anywhere near as long as I had, she knew her well enough. "Th-Thank you, Ichinose-sensei," she managed through a shuddering voice as she quickly stood to bow.

"P-Please; call me 'Kotomi-chan'," she said, fixing her gaze on my wife as she reclaimed her seat. "You are close to Tomoya-kun, so I consider you a friend as well."

I watched with an amused grin as my wife's mouth opened and closed several times. "That…might take a while, s-sensei," she finally replied with a giggle. "Will you be patient with me?"

"Of course," Kotomi replied simply. "I will look forward to it."

Just then, there was the sound of a car horn. "Huh; that sounds like it's from out front," Kappei said as he got to his feet again and headed toward the gate at the side of the house. "Be right back." We ate and made small talk until he came back a couple of minutes later with a familiar face. "Hey, Ryou; you missed one."

"You're late!" Kyou scolded the newcomer with an amused expression. "Just like in school, huh?"

"Sorry, sorry," Sunohara replied with his hands raised in surrender. "The traffic was packed on the way here; I should've left earlier."

I reflexively glanced over at my bride; not unexpectedly she had a worried expression and had started scooting her chair closer to mine. "It's okay," I said quietly. "I don't think he's going to try anything funny this time."

She looked up into my face and seemed to calm considerably. "Okay, Tomoya."

Surprisingly, Sunohara didn't beeline it over to the food; instead, he headed toward the two of us. "Hey…" he greeted awkwardly once he reached our table.

"Sunohara," I greeted, giving him an easy if somewhat guarded smile. "Good to see you again."

"Yeah…thanks." Even though he was talking to me, his eyes were on my bride. "Listen…Mika-san, right?"

"Yes, sir; that's my name," she confirmed.

He rubbed his hands on his pant legs before speaking again. "Look, I'm really sorry for the way I treated you at the church; I was…out-of-line."

She glanced over at me with wide eyes, then looked back to him. "I…I forgive you, sir. You…You must have had your reasons for doing what you did. It seemed like you were hurting."

"You could say that…" he chuckled awkwardly.

Mika turned her gaze to me. "Tomoya, do you mind if he sits with us for while?"

The compassion in her eyes answered any questions I might have had. "I'll get a chair."

"Don't bother," Kyou said, abruptly appearing with chair in hand. "I'm sure you have a lot to talk about."

"Th-Thanks," Sunohara stuttered, apparently surprised by the gesture.

Kyou simply gave him a lopsided grin and a gentle bop on the shoulder before heading back to rejoin her man.

Sunohara watched her briefly before settling into his chair, across the table from Mika and I. "I'm happy for her; she had a shit life with that asshole. She deserves some happiness."

"She's been overdue," I agreed, surprised by the one-eighty as I remembered his 'fertilizing an egg' remark. "I don't think she could've found anyone more perfect than Jeff."

"I'm with you there," he said, surprising me again. "He's a really neat guy."

"Do you know him, sir?" Mika asked.

He briefly grimaced at her. "First, please don't call me 'sir'; my dad's still around. Call me 'Sunohara' or 'Youhei'; I don't take honorifics. " His expression softened. "Anyway yeah; we've talked a few times since Okazaki's whatchamacallit."

"It was a counseling session," I reminded him.

"Right, that," he said, gesturing at me. "Anyway, he called me a few days after your session to see if I was doing okay."

"He has your number?" I asked, puzzled.

He gave me an incredulous look. "Well, yeah; that's how he was able to get hold of me to ask me to come to your thing."

"Oh…right." I felt a little stupid. "Sorry about that. So, you were saying…?"

I caught a flicker of a grin before he continued. "Anyway, he really surprised me; I thought he was going to tell me off, especially considering what I'd said to his fiancée." He groaned as he lightly smacked his hand against his forehead, then quickly regained his composure. "But he was really cool about it; he understood that I was…well, feeling lonely, and seeing you getting together with Ryou's kid here…" He trailed off, apparently unsure of how to finish his thought.

"I'm so sorry, Sunohara-san," Mika lamented. "If I'm not rude for asking: Have you been in any intimate relationships since high school?"

"Ouch!" he flinched, grabbing his chest as though in pain. "You know how to hit where it hurts!"

"I'm so sorry!" Mika exclaimed, causing me to send a glare toward my old buddy.

"I'm fine," he said, his demeanor abruptly shifting to something more laid-back. "I've made a lot of stupid decisions in my life, but talking with Jeff has really helped me out."

"Wait…" I interrupted with a raised hand. "You've been talking with Jeff?"

"Yup!" he declared with a proud grin. "After he called me that one time, he told me I could call him any time and he'd help me sort out whatever problems I was having."

"That couldn't have been easy for you," I noted carefully.

"It wasn't." He sighed. "But when I looked at what I'd been doing with my life, I figured 'what the hell'." He quickly glanced over at my wife. "Sorry about the language."

"Don't worry about it," she said comfortingly; I admired how quickly she had recovered. "I'm just glad that Uncle Jeff could help you. I'm sure he's glad as well."

"Are you really eighteen?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. "You seem so much older than that."

"She is," I confirmed. "She'll be turning nineteen on the…" I trailed off as I realized that I hadn't learned her birth date.

"My birthday is September 10th, just like my mom's and Aunt Kyou's," Mika announced proudly. "In fact, she said I was the best gift she received that year."

His forehead wrinkled, and I had a feeling that I knew what he was going to ask. "But if you're almost nineteen and we're all around thirty-six…" He glanced at me, so I gave him a slight nod. "Wow, Ryou really beat her sister, didn't she?"

"That's one way of looking at it," I replied as diplomatically as I could. "I know the story, but it's not mine to tell." I put my arm around my wife. "Right now, I'm thinking about the story that we're about to start writing."

"T-Tomoya…" she murmured as she cast her gaze downward.

"September 10th, huh?" I mused while rubbing my chin with my free hand. "Maybe I should put on my old school uniform and come to the school on your birthday."

"That would be awesome! I'll make an extra lunch, and…. Wait, I'll be making lunches for you by then, won't I?" It was easy to see the excitement building up in my bride. "Oh my gosh, I can't wait!"

We heard a chuckle from the other side of the table, where Sunohara was getting to his feet. "Sounds like you have some planning to do, so I'm gonna go get some grub." He gave us a thumbs-up as he headed toward the table where Jeff and Kyou were eating.

We watched him leave, then I turned to my wife. "I'm sorry, Mika; for some reason, I never thought to ask about your birthday."

"It's okay," she replied, snuggling up against my arm. "You've had a lot going on."

"We'll make sure that your birthday this year…is…" I trailed off as I thought of the finances again.

"Uncle Jeff gave you that brochure about stock trading, right?" she asked. Had she read my mind? "Maybe we could look into that."

"Yeah," I replied, my mood sobering. "I should-er, we should look into it." I remembered my last dream, the one with the three babies. "Yeah, we should definitely look into it."

"I could do it from home while you work," she suggested. "And when things go well, we'll start living off of that."

"'When', huh?" I grunted, my mood lifting again at her confidence. "You seem pretty sure of this. Have you looked into it already?"

"A little bit," she admitted. "Some of the concepts are beyond me, though. I think you could do this easily."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I replied, her words warming my heart. Then I shook my head to try to clear it. "Sorry about that; let's get back to partying."

"A great idea!" Kappei boomed, causing up to nearly leap from our seats with as close as he was. He gave us a wink before gesturing to Jeff, who followed him into the house along with Dad Fujibayashi, Pops, Yuusuke, and my dad. I smiled to myself as I saw Tadashi bringing up the rear.

"Do you know what that was about?" I asked my bride after the last man had entered the house.

"No," she murmured thoughtfully. "But knowing him, it's going to be something really neat."

I couldn't argue with her statement – not that I wanted to – so I simply grunted my agreement and focused on the last few bites of my lunch. "Very good steak."

She giggled as she returned to her lunch as well.

A few minutes later the door opened again, and Tadashi held it as the older men carefully carried out a tall, white box on a board of some kind and brought it to our table. It wasn't particularly wide, so we didn't have to move our plates to make room for it. "What is this?" Mika and I asked, almost at the same time.

Kappei nodded at us with a smile while panting lightly, likely due to being short-of-breath from carrying the box so carefully. "Go ahead; it's just a cover. But be careful."

Mika and I looked at each other before rising from our seats to take in the newest addition to our table. "How about I lift the top while you keep the bottom stable? I suggested since I was taller than her.

"Sounds like a plan," she grinned before taking hold of the bottom of the cover.

I gingerly took hold of the top and started to lift; based on the shape of the cover as well as the care the men had showed while carrying it, I figured it was a wedding cake. Since I wasn't sure, though, I kept my lips zipped.

As we lifted the cover, though, I heard Mika gasp. "Oh wow, Tomoya! It's beautiful!"

I had to resist the urge to look, and we quickly removed the box-like cover to find a tall wedding-style cake. "That's really impressive," I said as I took in the…well, impressive sight. It was four-tiered, with the typical white icing. Flowers of many different colors ringed each of the layers, and a figure representing a bride and groom stood atop the topmost layer.

"Glad you like it!" Kappei boomed. "Ryou and I spent about, what, an hour figuring out how to decorate it?" he looked over at his wife, who nodded. "Yeah, about an hour."

"Thank you, Dad," Mika shuddered as she gave him a hug, who easily returned it.

"Are you ready to cut it?" Ryou asked as she held out a cake cutter. "We'll understand if you want to wait a bit."

"We should get our picture taken with it," I suggested, and I twitched at the realization than Nagisa and I hadn't even had a wedding cake; neither my dad nor her parents could afford one, and Nagisa and I certainly couldn't. Sure, Mom and Pops ran a bakery, but they had specialized in bread; they didn't really get into cakes and the like until after I had left Ushio with them.

"Are you okay, Tomoya?" Mika asked as she laid a hand on my arm.

"Just…surprised by a memory," I admitted; she gave me an understanding smile, and I had a feeling she'd be asking me about said memory later.

"Well, it just so happens that I have my camera right here!" Kappei declared before heading back to his table, presumably to collect it.

"So do I," Sakagami said as she pulled out her cell phone, and nearly everyone else followed suit.

"This might take a while," I muttered to Mika, who giggled.

We actually had an enjoyable time having our photo taken, though I felt a little drained afterward.

"I think we're ready now," Mika said as she picked the cake cutter up off our table; then, she looked over at me. "Unless there's something else?"

I shifted my gaze to the giant confection and felt the sense of loss yet again. But I decided to enjoy the occasion rather than let the past put a damper on it. "No, I think we're good to go."

I could feel everyone's eyes on me as Mika smiled and put the cutter down to embrace me. "We'll talk later, okay?" she whispered, and I could only grunt awkwardly in the affirmative as I wrapped my arms around her. One eternal moment later we released each other, and she took up the cutter again. "I've never done this before," she giggled as she moved toward the giant cake.

"I would hope so," I replied dryly, though I made sure to accompany my comment with a smile to hopefully let her know that I was teasing; her blushing giggle told me that I'd succeeded.

We stood behind the cake, with me behind her, and more photos were taken as we cut the cake together, my hand over hers as the cutter sank into the spongy confection. As everyone congratulated us, I noticed Ryou repeatedly blotting her eyes with a tissue. Kyou, too.

Kappei, too; no surprise there, when I thought about it.

Mika and I didn't talk much as we ate our cake; maybe we were both tired. Or maybe, like me, she was a little overwhelmed by the experience. In any case, I enjoyed the relative quiet as I looked around at our guests happily chatting with each other as they ate.

"Congrats, buddy," Sunohara said, sticking out his hand as he approached our table again.

I was surprised at the non-Japanese gesture but had interacted with Jeff enough times to know to reach out and shake hands with him. "Thanks."

He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Listen: I gotta jet so I can get back home before it gets too busy out there, but I'm really glad I came. Congratulations. Could I get your number before I go?"

Something akin to reflex had me exchanging a glance with my bride. "I…suppose…" I replied. "My phone's in the…oh, wait; here it is." I pulled my phone out of my jacket pocket and handed it to Mika. "Could you take care of this for your technophobic husband?"

"Sure," she giggled as she took it from me.

"You don't know how to use your phone, Okazaki?" Sunohara teased as he handed over his phone as well.

"I know how to use them just fine," Mika replied with a twinkle in her eye.

Sunohara looked confused until… "I meant him!" he exclaimed, pointing at me, though he had a smile himself.

She simply giggled as she worked on the phones. "Here you go!" she chirped as she handed his phone back. "Just remember: he's off-limits for the first week, maybe two; we are still newlyweds, after all."

"Oookay, I feel like I'm starting to get too much info here," Sunohara said awkwardly before heading toward the side gate, waving as he left. "Catch you two later!"

"Take it easy," I replied, waving in return.

"Sunohara-san!" Jeff called, and I saw him jogging to catch up with my old tardy buddy. "Let me walk you to your car."

Sunohara's smile was unlike any I'd ever seen on his face. "Sure, man; we can shoot the breeze for a bit."

I must've had an interesting expression on my face because I snapped out of my train of thought at Mika's giggle. "You look surprised, Tomoya."

"Yeah, I am…a little," I admitted. "I can't remember him looking so…I dunno, happy before." I waved an arm at his retreating form. "I know he never looked like that back in high school. Jeff must have really worked his magic on the guy."

"It's not magic, but I think I understand."

We finished up our meals, and everyone helped with cleanup. "We'll head over with the truck after you two leave," Kappei told me as we worked on folding up a table.

"Truck?" I wondered aloud; just how much was she bringing over?

"Relax, man!" he laughed. "It's just so we can take over the rest of her stuff all at once; we don't want to be carrying a bunch of boxes over on the train."

"Ah, got it." We finished folding up the table and carried it into the house, leaning it up against the others against a wall in the dining area. "Is that everything?"

"I think so," he said, sounding more subdued; I figured I knew the reason. "Hey, uh… When you're ready to go, why don't you and Mika head on over first and the rest of us'll follow in the truck."

"Sounds like a plan," I agreed, and it took me a moment to realize that I'd unconsciously lowered my tone to match his. "Did you want us to take off at any particular time?"

"Nah, just whenever the two of you are ready," he replied, and it was hard to miss the tension in his voice. "Just…let us know when you leave."

"I'll try not to make you wait too long," I chuckled. "Let me go find her, and we'll go from there."

"Sure thing."

My heart felt heavy for my new father-in-law as I left the room to find Mika. Fortunately, it didn't take too long to find her; she was in her room, sitting on her bed and chatting with her brother. "Mika? When did you want to leave?" I asked, suddenly feeling awkward for some reason. "Kap-er, your dad wants to know so he knows when to leave with the truck."

She took a deep breath, and I could tell that she was trying to contain some very deep emotions. "Um, I'm basically ready; my stuff was loaded onto the truck this morning, so we can leave whenever."

I gave her a sympathetic smile before directing my attention to the young man seated on the floor. "Tadashi-san, good to see you again."

"Good to see you as well, Okazaki-sama," he greeted with a tone thicker than his usual.

I opened my mouth with the intent of giving some generic words of comfort, then kicked myself for being so shallow. "You're going to miss your sister, aren't you?" I grunted as I lowered myself to the floor to sit with him.

"Is it that obvious?"

"I can tell," I replied, opting for a more diplomatic answer. "I promise that I'll take good care of her, and you can visit any time you want."

"Except for the first two weeks," Mika added, her giggle mixed with hiccups. She then slid off the bed and held her hand down to me. "I think I'm as ready to go as I'm going to be."

I regarded her for a moment before taking her hand, though I got up to my feet under my own power. "Okay. Let's go let your dad know."

She was understandably quiet as we made our way down the hallway from her room to the staircase that descended to the main floor; she had lived all of her life in this house, with parents who really loved and supported her as well as a brother who seemed to think the world of her, and she was giving that up to live with me and my daughter. Had she considered this possibility when she confessed to me at the Founder's Festival? Probably not. I know I hadn't.

I still wasn't sure how to comfort her by the time we found her dad. "We're, uh…gonna be taking off," I told him, allowing a little of my sympathetic pain to show; it would have been too difficult to do otherwise. "The four-" I winced at the slip of the tongue. "The three of you are more than welcome to have dinner with us; I get that today's been rough on you."

"The week, to be honest," Kappei chuckled, though it sounded a little hollow. "Nah, we'll have dinner at a restaurant nearby; Kyou and Jeff are planning to come with us – assuming that's okay – and then I'd treat you and…shit…" He bit his lip as he quickly looked to the side; that he cursed told me that the situation was hitting him harder than he'd expected. "We'll treat you and your family to dinner," he finished when he could look me in the eye again.

"Are you sure, Daddy?" Mika asked with worry in her teary eyes. "I'd love to make dinner for all of us, and…"

I stepped in where Mika had left off. "Kappei, why don't all of you stay for dinner? We can make something nice, and it'd be more personal than just going out somewhere."

"You're right," he sniffled. "Let's do that." He reached out to embrace his daughter. "We'll catch up with you later, princess."

"Okay."

It was with anxious hearts that we left a few minutes later.

I must have been really caught up in my thoughts as we headed away from the Hiiragi residence, because I jerked in surprise at Ushio's seemingly abrupt question: "Mika-senpai? Are you okay?"

"I'm…kind of a mess right now," Mika admitted in a thin voice as she walked with her arms around my middle. "I'm…having some mixed emotions; sad because I'm leaving Mom and Dad and Tadashi, but excited because I'll be starting a new life with you."

"I'm so sorry, senpai," Ushio replied as she exchanged a sympathetic glance with me.

"I know I'll be okay eventually; it'll just be hard for a while." Mika fell silent after that, and Ushio and I took that as our cue to be quiet supports to our new family member as we continued on our way home.

We arrived at the apartment building, and Mika and Ushio giggled while I wrestled with the lock. We were otherwise quiet as we entered the apartment and swapped out our shoes…only Mika wasn't with us. "Mika?" I looked over my shoulder to find her standing outside the front door. "Give me a minute and I'll be out of the way. Sorry about that."

"It's not that," she replied, her purple curtain of hair waving with the shake of her head. "It's just …"

It took me a moment to realize what she was likely talking about, and I smiled softly as I gave up the fight with my left shoe and lowered my foot to the floor so I could give her my undivided attention. "Welcome home, Mika."

"Y-Yeah!" Ushio chirped, having caught on. "W-Welcome home, Mika-senpai!"

I watched as my bride took in a shuddering breath, and I could almost hear the tears behind it as she stepped over the threshold. "I'm…I'm home."