Chapter Fourteen

Two Years Later

"You need to breathe." Tamaki chastised, clapping a hand down upon Hikaru's back. The normally irate and stoic boy now held a bouncing two year old on his hip, nervously glancing around the room. Tamaki's son was small, but he sure wasn't light.

"Take your kid." Hikaru huffed, passing the dark haired and violet eyed boy to his father. "He's heavy."

"Uncle Hika doesn't mean that." Tamaki soothed, placing the small baby down in the pack and play that sat in the middle of the room. "You're more than your normal irritable today."

"Shut up, will ya?" Hikaru breathed, tossing himself onto the couch and breathing out a sigh. "You don't get to tease me. Not today."

Tamaki shrugged his shoulders with a knowing smirk. "Just try to relax, will you?"

"Are you really telling Hikaru to relax?"

Both boys turned to where Haruhi was standing in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest and her knowing smirk matching that of her husbands.

"I tried to tell him he had a death wish today." Hikaru snorted a laugh. "He compromised by giving me the brat."

Haruhi feigned insult. "Don't you call Kaoru a brat." Gently she reached into the pack and play, taking the small baby into her arms. "Everything is ready. So get your butt moving."

Breathing a heavy sigh, Hikaru forced himself to his feet, nervously nibbling away at his bottom lip as he followed Haruhi and her small family out of the room they had been waiting in. People gathered from every aspect of his life. Work, Ouran, his family. Everyone knew how significant this day was, everyone knew it was Hikaru's last goodbye to the life he had once imagined living with his brother. If he was being brutally honest, he had never really considered ever having independence. He always imagined that he and Kaoru would live their own little lives together forever. Haruhi was the closest thing they had ever let into their lives.

But now she had her own family and her own son named after his long lost brother.

Hikaru was finally finding peace.

"How are you holding up?" Tamaki asked, smiling comfortingly at his friend as they waited for the event to begin.

"Nervous." Hikaru admitted honestly.

"Don't be. You're making the right decision and after all of this fanfare, when everything is said and done, you're going to be happier for it." Tamaki reassured him.

"Happiness is the end goal."

"You deserve this." Tamaki reassured again. "You deserve to be happy and you deserve to move on. I'm not saying forget him. Honestly I don't think any of us could if we wanted to." This was evident from their child's name and from the pictures of Kaoru that littered every house of every member of the Host Club. He was a part of them, gone or not.

"I just feel like he should be here. I feel like something is missing." Hikaru admitted.

"He's here, Hikaru."

Hikaru took a deep breath as he turned from Tamaki to face his mother. She looked like she had been crying, but he couldn't tell for sure. She was always so poised and perfected. His little sister balanced carefully on her hip. "Hi Mama. Hello Sumi." He reached in, nuzzling his nose against his baby sisters. She giggled in glee and tugged on a lock of his orange hair.

"We are so proud of you, baby." His mother smiled, leaning in and placing a kiss upon his cheek. "You're doing so well. I know this is hard and I know you wish Kaoru was here… but he is. He's always with you." She paused, staring into his eyes for what seemed like an eternity, before finally seeming to catch herself. "Alright! That's enough sappiness for one day. We'll just go find our seats." Again she leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"Hika!" Sumi called, smiling brightly as she tapped her brothers face.

He was a lucky man. Even in the darkest of times he had the strongest support system a man could ask for. His friends were always there for him when he needed them. His family had made do with their losses and had become stronger for it. Haruhi and Tamaki's son was like a little brother to him, and he cared for him deeply. He was gifted with a beautiful baby sister to raise to be a little hellion like he and his brother had been. And he had Renge. She was beautiful and loving and kind and everything he never knew he needed in life. She kept him strong and kept him moving forward when he felt he couldn't go on.

"It's just about time. Are you sure you're ready for this?" Tamaki smirked.

"As ready as I'll ever be… Have you seen Renge yet?" Hikaru asked.

Tamaki's smirk eased into a smile. "I bumped into her on my way in to see you earlier. She told me to pass on a message."

"Oh?" Hikaru smiled, already sure his girlfriend had come up with something witty and wonderful to get him through his nerves.

"She said… You better start drooling when you see her…"

The music started playing, distracting both boys from their private conversation. Tamaki leaned closer, adjusting the lapels of Hikaru's tuxedo and whispering to his friend. "She also said she'll be the one in white."

Hikaru laughed as the doors at the end of the temple opened… and in stepped his bride.


Author's Note: There's only one more chapter to this story! It's all going by so quickly! I hope you all continue to enjoy as we reach the end.