"Wait, wait, how did-" Hiroki began as his mother, Tomoko, began to blubber on his doorstep.

"You are in a lot of trouble, son," Hiroki's father, Masanori, said lowly. Hiroki pinched his lips together under his father's hard russet gaze, and he awkwardly bounced Fuyumi. Masanori spoke up once more, putting a comforting hand on Tomoko. "Want to let us in and explain to us where the hell you've been and why you haven't even thought of calling us?"

Hiroki sputtered, shakily stepping aside to gesture his parents inside with his free hand.

"Yeah… c-come in... I'll make you some tea," Hiroki said, gulping. His father escorted his mother inside, and Hiroki shut the door behind them and led them into the kitchen, where he sat them down on the barstools. Hiroki grabbed Tomoko a paper towel, with which she dabbed her eyes. Masanori, meanwhile, watched Hiroki with unblinking eyes, his chestnut mustache turning downwards into a disappointed frown.

"Hiroki, you really put us through a lot of trauma these past few months. Did you even think once of giving us a call, or at least sending us a letter? Did you think you could just fall off the face of the earth without us panicking and hunting all over the place for you?" Masanori asked, his tone dark. Hiroki turned away with the tea kettle in his hand, his fingers shaking slightly. Fuyumi seemed to notice her papa's distress, and she fisted the folds of his shirt in her hand, whimpering.

"No, sir," Hiroki mumbled.

"Then why didn't you contact us at all?"

Hiroki cringed at the raise of volume in his father's voice. Fuyumi's face contorted and she began to squeak-whine, arching her body in discomfort as Hiroki tightened his hold on her.

"Hiroki, don't you think it'll be easier to make tea without the baby?" Masanori sneered condescendingly. "Which brings up an entirely new topic of conversation. I'm sure you'd love to enlighten us as to what the fuck is going on here."

"Yes… yes, of course," Hiroki whispered. He hurriedly slunk out of the kitchen and went to his bedroom. He laid Fuyumi down as she cried. Stroking her hair, he worked to pacify her, but to no avail.

"Hiroki?" Masanori called, his voice warning. Hiroki squeezed his eyes shut briefly, desperately trying to reign in his temper.

He hadn't had to deal with his father for a long time. He had forgotten what it was like to be the intimidated and not the intimidator.

Hiroki quickly gave Fuyumi her stuffed cat toy, which she pushed away, shaking her head and crying. With a strange, torn croaking noise coming out of his throat, Hiroki reluctantly left the room to go back to the kitchen, where he quickly picked up the tea kettle once more. He was silent, flitting about the kitchen in an attempt to make tea as fast as possible.

"So we contacted your… 'roommate', Hiroki. It kind of sounded like he was a little more than that. Care to explain?"

Hiroki clenched his jaw, going to the stove to turn on one of the burners.

"I don't know-"

"Stop lying to us, damn it!" Masanori barked, slamming his fist down on the counter. Hiroki jumped, some of the water from the tea kettle sloshing out of the spout. Trembling, he set it on the stove.

"He's my lover," Hiroki uttered. He heard Masanori sigh angrily through his nose.

"And the ring on your ring finger? Please tell me that's not an engagement ring," Masanori said in a deadly quiet voice. Hiroki's knees wobbled as he snatched his hand out of view and pressed it over his chest.

"It is," he whispered. Tomoko sobbed, and Hiroki frowned in guilt.

"H-Hiro-chan, you were going to get married w-without telling us? Wh-Why?" Tomoko wept. Hiroki heard her blow her nose.

"It was… there was a l-lot going on… a situation back at my old apa-"

There was a slam, and suddenly Masanori was there, turning Hiroki around sharply by the arm. Hiroki cringed and leaned away as far as possible.

"You bet your ass there was a situation! Do you have any idea how worried we were?" Masanori roared. "Do you know what it's like as a parent to not get any replies to letters or emails from your son, then go to his apartment to find that it's been fucking destroyed? We thought you died! We had no idea where the hell you were!"

"I'm s-sorry," Hiroki whispered, his knees buckling slightly under the fiery stare of his father.

"Is it going to take a trip to Sweden to find out where you are every time, Hiroki? Is it too much to ask of you to just call us every few weeks or something?" Masanori asked. His and Hiroki's eyes met, soft russet versus hard russet. Masanori's eyes creased slightly as he released Hiroki's arm and reached up to cup his face almost desperately, as if checking if he was really there.

"I'm sorry, Dad," Hiroki whispered, his chin trembling. His father yanked him into his arms and held him tightly, and Hiroki reached up to fist his shirt in his hands, burying his face in his shoulder.

"Don't ever scare us like that again," Masanori said gruffly. "You put your mother and I through hell and back. Next time, I'll kick your ass, you hear me?"

Hiroki's eyes opened slightly as he heard his father grunt slightly and shudder. Hiroki patted his back.

"Dad…" he murmured. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again. It was just… the circumstances really left Nowaki and I in a very compromising situation. There wasn't much time to think about anything else."

Hiroki continued to stroke his father's back, allowing him to hold his son as tightly as possible. Despite having the personality of a bull -much like himself, really- Masanori really did care deeply for Hiroki. He was anything but abusive. Maybe abrasive and over-reactive, but never abusive. Of course Hiroki loved him.

Just not the part of him that scared the shit out of him.

"Hiro-chan," Tomoko said, once she had finally calmed down. Hiroki and Masanori resurfaced from each other, holding each other by the elbows. "…I don't understand… how long have you been gay? I always thought that you liked girls."

Hiroki sighed, his eyebrows knitting slightly in guilt.

"Sorry, Mom. I've been like this since day one."

"And you waited until you were thirty to tell us?" Masanori asked. Hiroki blushed.

"It's not an easy topic to discuss," he said. Masanori sighed exasperatedly.

"Wouldn't it have been easier just to tell us when you sent back the matchmaking offers? We thought you had a girlfriend when you told me that you had someone you treasured."

"I didn't know what your reaction would be," Hiroki said shyly, grinning sheepishly.

"Oh, Hiro-chan! How could you think that of us?" Tomoko exclaimed. Hiroki turned to her, his eyebrows raised. "Did you think we would stop loving you just because of your sexual preference? Never!"

Hiroki blinked, taken aback. He nearly fell over when his father nodded vehemently in agreement.

"Of course we're just a tad disappointed, though. Oh, but not disappoint in you, of course! We're disappointed because we won't have blood grandchildren," Masanori added. "The baby is adopted, correct?"

Hiroki blinked. Then, he pulled away from his father and scratched the back of his head.

"Uh… actually, no."

Tomoko's eyes widened.

"Don't tell me you impregnated a friend to have the baby for you!" she cried. Masanori turned a livid eye towards Hiroki.

"No!" Hiroki barked. Then, he sighed exasperatedly. He was surprised his parents had actually made it to Sweden- knowing them, they would've tried to take a Viking ship. His parents were the most technological idiots around- they barely knew how televisions worked, and simply resorted to getting their information from friends. Hiroki rolled his eyes. "I'm guess you guys haven't heard of Append-X?"

Masanori and Tomoko gazed at him in bewilderment.

"Append-huh?" Masanori asked.

"Append-X. It's a…" Hiroki trailed off, suddenly losing confidence. Now that he thought about it, the whole concept of the pill was… well, unbelievable. He had only one choice.

"It's a what, Hiro-chan?" Tomoko asked. Hiroki sighed and grabbed the hem of his shirt.

"Um… this might surprise you a little," he said. He lifted his shirt and showed his parents the various stretch marks that streaked across his stomach. His father just sort of stared blankly at him for a few moments, but his mother yelped in surprise.

"Hiro-chan, what is-" she began loudly.

"The Append-X pill realigns the organs within the body and alters the appendix so men can… give birth," Hiroki said slowly. "The baby you saw… her name is Fuyumi. She is me and Nowaki's biological daughter."

His parents gaped at him like he was some sort of wild animal.

"Wait… so she's our blood granddaughter?" Tomoko asked. Masanori continued to stare at him, and Hiroki uncomfortably lowered his shirt and ran a hand through his hair.

"Yes, Mom. Fuyumi is your granddaughter," Hiroki said quietly. Tomoko stared at him for a few seconds before bursting into fresh tears.

"Hiro-chan!" she cried, blubbering into her hands. "I'm too young to be a grandma!"

Hiroki chuckled slightly, going to his mother and reaching across the island counter to take her hand in his.

"Mom… I'm not ten years old anymore. I'm thirty."

"I have a little grandbaby! We have a grandbaby, Masa-darling!" Tomoko squealed, clapping her hands together in excitement as she squeezed her eyes shut to rid of the tears. Hiroki laughed and rolled his eyes. Oh, his mother and her random mood swings. Hiroki turned his grin to Masanori, who was still gaping at him.

"Um… yeah, haha. Surprise!" Hiroki mock cheered. He and Tomoko smiled affectionately at each other, but both of them nearly jumped out of their skin when Masanori finally spoke up in a shout.

"It comes out of your ass?!"