I am so so so sorry that it took me this long to update! I've been crazy busy with school (mainly all the papers I had to write for my writing class). I actually finished this chapter in the spare time I had left from taking one of my finals yesterday. Then there was the writer's block. Gotta love that, right? Anyway, this chapter is all leading up to the ninth chapter, which I have a good chunk of already written. I'm eager to see what you all think by the end of this chapter.

Review Responses:

Patricia Walker (Guest): It's killing me that I'm not writing scenes with Tora and Kei interacting but I don't think that Tora would just jump straight into fatherhood. Something needs to give him a push before he starts thinking of himself as a parent. I'll take that scene suggestion into consideration. ;)

Padfoot Starfyre: While you're correct about Suzume possibly needing more training in etiquette, you have to remember that she also comes from a wealthy family (clearly not as wealthy as the Igarashis). As for Kei, he'll be learning as he grows because he's not even six months old yet and he should be exposed to it plenty as he gets older since Tora and Suzume are engaged.

As the night wore on, it became evident that it was way past Kei's bedtime. He kept taking his fists and rubbing his eyes multiple times. The past few minutes, he's been fussing. Suzume hoped that he would end up falling asleep in her arms while she patted his back but she finally gave up on that dream. She blamed his stubbornness on his father.

"Excuse me for a moment. I need to put him to bed," she interjected during a conversation she and Tora were having with the CEO of Noguchi Enterprises and his wife, both looking to be in their early sixties.

"It was wonderful to meet you, Miss Asai," the elder woman expressed with a smile on her face.

Smiling back, she looked at the woman and her husband. "You as well."

After she walked away, Mr. Noguchi voiced his thoughts to Tora. "She's certainly a proud mother and a delight to be around. You're lucky to have such a good woman on your hands. Hold onto her."

Her heels clicked along the polished marble floors until she gradually slowed down and stopped. Looking out of her peripheral vision, she held Kei just a tad closer to her. When she craned her head around to the left and then the right, her decision was made. Turning her body, she faced the way she came from and saw that the hall was empty. Furrowing her brows, she resumed the walk to her bedroom after a couple seconds of standing there to be sure.

It must've been her imagination playing tricks on her. Suzume could've sworn that she felt another presence and heard light extra footsteps. Not only that, when she turned around she thought she saw something move: a shadow or fabric, something.

Inside her room, she shut the door behind her and locked it as a precaution. She was thinking twice about leaving her son in her room unsupervised. Although, she couldn't very well stay in her room while her engagement party continued downstairs. As a result, she placed Kei in his crib and refused to leave until one of the maids knocked on the door. The maid agreed to stay with him at Suzume's request.

Once she exited the room, she maintained a heightened awareness of her surroundings. No red flags popped up during her journey back to the party. Maybe she was just being paranoid? Yeah, that had to be it.

Not too long after putting Kei to bed, the party came to an end. Most of the people were out the door within fifteen to twenty minutes. The last to leave were Usui, Misaki, Hatomi, and Michio. After they were gone, Suzume let out a tired sigh. She and Tora began going upstairs to their rooms. That was until he stopped walking and grabbed her wrist, spinning her around to face him.

"How do you know Usui Takumi and Ayuzawa Misaki?" Her surprised look faded into one of confusion and shock at his question.

"You mean that you didn't know I ended up at Seika after being kicked out of Miyabigaoka?"

He never did get around to asking Maki about her education… "Why Seika?"

"Because I couldn't afford to go anywhere else, Tora. I was forced to move out and live on my own while anticipating Kei's arrival. My mother and Michio lent me a hand by supporting me but they couldn't give me too much money without my father becoming suspicious. I had to be smart about how I spent it."

There was silence between the two of them for a few seconds before she started speaking again. "When I got to Seika, Misaki welcomed me with open arms and we became friends. In the beginning, she had her suspicions about my pregnancy since I came from Miyabigaoka. Although her suspicions were correct, I didn't tell her that."

He inwardly cringed after finding out that Misaki suspected him and even voiced her thoughts to Suzume.

"And for the record, I know what happened between the two of you. She and Usui told me all about it. Another thing you should probably know is that they're Kei's godparents," she informed him. Tora froze, stunned into silence as he watched her back while she resumed walking to her bedroom.

There were two reasons he stood like a statue. One, she knew about everything he'd done involving the couple, and two, he now knew that the couple would be watching him much closer to protect their friend and godchild.

Slightly glancing back, Suzume saw that her fiancé was still in his spot. To conceal her snickers – or at least make them a little quieter – she kept her mouth firmly shut. It wasn't often that something could get to Tora like this. Although she did know the information she just gave him was important and a bombshell at the same time, it didn't mean his reaction was any less amusing.

Days later, she's having tea with her future mother-in-law again. They were talking about anything that came to mind. These afternoons were relaxing for Suzume and she enjoyed being around Hanako. If only she could see her own mother more. For sure, she'd really like to have her input on the current conversation.

"You could always go out of the country," Hanako giddily supplied, ready to start making plans.

"Maybe," Suzume hummed, mulling the thought over in her head.

They were throwing around wedding ideas, not necessarily setting anything in stone just yet. Even if Tora didn't want to get married, she still wanted him to have a chance to get a say in the plans. He can't argue with the final decisions if she asks for his input.

Suzume placed her cup back onto its saucer and spoke with a soft smile. "I know I'd like to have an outdoor wedding, preferably in the fall so it's not as hot." If she has to go through with the wedding, she might as well make the best of it, right?

"Good idea. It's beautiful during the fall."

A few more ideas were voiced, then Suzume decided she would return to their conversation after checking up on Kei. She had put him down for a nap a couple hours ago. When she opened the door to her bedroom, she took one glance at his crib and took off back down the stairs.

Hanako walked inside to use the restroom when she came across Suzume in the hallway. The young woman told her what was going on and she rushed with her to her husband's office. One sweep around the room was all it took before Suzume was back out of the door and headed to Tora's office.