Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat! Manga or any of its characters, plots and etc...

Hi, guys... I guess this is it, huh? The final moment of truth! Well, I hope you'll enjoy this as I had in writing it! Enjoy! ^_^ oh, please excuse my poor grammar, limited vocab and typos...

Recap:

Lory studied him for a few minutes and he sighed too and stood up to pour two glasses of scotch on the rocks. He took the two glasses with him as he walked to Kuon and gave him one. He took a big sip and said, "I'll make the arrangements. Although it might take some time."

Kuon nodded and downed his glass of scotch in one gulp. He put the glass on the table and stood up. "Thanks for the drink, boss... and for taking care of everything. I really appreciate it." He said sincerely and slightly bowed to the president.

He walked out of the president's bedroom suite and went back to the loves of his life and catch some sleep in what time he had left before he had to prepare for work again.

Chapter 53

The next few days, Kyoko could hardly concentrate on work. She was worried sick of losing baby Ren. All she could think about was baby Ren. The only thing that forced her to get through work was the professionalism that Ren taught her. Kuon and Lory still haven't informed anyone about their little plan. Kuon did not want to give everyone false hope if he failed. While they waited to hear from the Takaharas, they prepared and planned for the things they would need for it to go in their favor.

In the mean time, Kuon did his very best to comfort the distraught Kyoko. He knew that ever since Kyoko found out baby Ren was her brother, she had considered him the one and only family she had left and she would give up everything she had even her life and happiness just to be with him and shower him with love her mother had depraved the two of them of.

Fortunately, they heard from the other family after five days. They scheduled a meeting in Kyoto for a bit of a neutral ground for the two parties. It was Kyoto because the sister of Saena's husband could not travel far. It was scheduled for a Saturday afternoon at a private room in an expensive restaurant.

Kuon asked Kyoko if he could borrow baby Ren for a day on Saturday for a boy's day out with Lory, Kuu Sebastian, and Yashiro. And Julie piped in that they would have a girl's day too. To go to the spa, shopping, to have their hair and nails done. It was to distract Kyoko from the biggest problem they had ever faced since they got baby Ren. She needed pampering and relaxing or else her work would suffer and her health. She reluctantly agreed. It was not like she was the only one allowed to spend endless time with the baby.

It was all in place and the day finally came for the biggest battle Kuon had ever faced, to fight for his son and soon to be wife. They took Lory's chopper down to Kyoto. There, they separated into two groups. Kuon, baby Ren and Sebastian took a black town car to the restaurant while the technician-disguised Lory drove a white service van with Yashiro and Kuu.

They had ear pieces as their means of communication. So they would know when to take baby Ren to meet his aunt without having to phone him because Kuon was going to go in first and talk with Takahara Maeko. Kuon, dressed as Ren with a pair of sunglasses as a little bit of a cover to hide his identity, went in and gave the reservation name he was under of to the man at the reception. He escorted him to the private room and familiarized him with how the service works there. Kuon only needed to press a button to order and press the button again if he was ready to be served. They would have complete privacy.

Five minutes later Maeko arrived dressed in an expensive-looking formal suit. She sat on the opposite side of Kuon on the cushion provided for them. Kuon greeted her with a slight bow of his head and Maeko did the same.

"I didn't know you were the one who found my brother's son, Tsuruga-san. As I recall you saying on your press conference, he was adopted by another couple already." Maeko said. "Where is he, by the way?"

Kuon smiled at her. "Before we go straight into business, Takahara-san, and before I answer your questions, I would like you to take a look at this very simple but airtight document that would protect us both as we conduct this meeting." Kuon handed her one sheet of paper with one of his own in front of him on the table too.

Maeko looked surprise and wary at first and when she finished reading the document, she looked at him. It was both simple and straightforward to the point that you could not find any loopholes in it. Kuon handed her a pen.

"If you agree, we will both sign each paper at the same time and hand each other the signed copies and signed again to make it official and both of us have copies." Kuon instructed. She nodded and went to sign the paper as Kuon signed the one in front of him.

They finished the signing and put both their copies in their respective case and purse. Then, Kuon took over of the conversation.

"Baby Ren is outside with my driver. You will meet surely him soon after our discussion." Kuon informed the older woman. "And I was telling the truth when he was adopted by another couple, my parents, who lived overseas. But my dad is still a Japanese citizen so they were able to have custody of him when his identity was still unknown to us. But at that time, I was not informed that he was the one who adopted him." Kuon explained. The older woman nodded when she processed all that he had said to her.

"Takahara-san, I am here to ask you what is your real reason of wanting to have custody of your nephew." Kuon asked her with a very serious look in his eyes. He meant business this time like it was a matter of life and death. And in a way, it was...for all their sakes, especially for Kyoko.

Maeko looked at him with thinned lips and chin lifted up in quite like defiance. "He is my nephew as you have said, Tsuruga-san." Maeko replied. "And I was the one who convinced Saena to not have an abortion and he is by blood a Takahara."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Takahara-san, but as you said the only reason you want him is because you feel obligated that he is your blood kin?" Kuon asked in clarification.

"Yes, he is important to us because he is a Takahara, a part of our family and the son of my brother."

"The brother who left his wife because she got pregnant and had his child." Kuon said dryly.

"He may not want his child but nonetheless the baby is part of the Takahara family. He has our blood and we can't ignore that." Maeko replied vehemently.

"So, it is obligation and wanting to do the right thing for your conscience to be clear." Kuon concluded in irritation because their obligation was tearing each fiber of his and his entire family's hearts.

"As you said it is the right thing to do just as it was right to prevent an innocent baby being killed." Maeko defended.

"And I am forever grateful for what you have done, Takahara-san." Kuon said to her sincerely. "But what you are doing right now is not the right thing to do. We...Kyoko and I, endured it and did the right thing, Takahara-san, even though it was painful. Your nephew was adopted by a very caring couple who doted on him and cared for him properly but for almost three weeks, all the baby did was cry for Kyoko and I as the parents he had come to recognise. The only way they could calm him down was when they played the videos we took at home with him. He would stop crying if he hears our voice."

"I love your nephew, Takahara-san. Kyoko loves him even more. She had been taking care of him more than me since I found the baby. She is a very sweet and kind woman. She is nothing like her mother and not like the villain roles she plays. She grew up in a Ryokan here in Kyoto, so she is very polite. She did everything in her capacity to make her mother be proud of her before the woman abandoned her but apparently her best was not enough for that awful woman. Both Kyoko and the baby had been through a lot and now that they had found each other, she really treasures him the most. She experienced firsthand how cruel her mother is and she, as well as I and everyone who has come to love the baby, don't want to let the baby experience it don't want him to be abandoned or feel rejected again especially when he is old enough to understand it. If you separate them from each other now, it would tear their hearts to pieces."

"I am asking politely and sincerely for your understanding, Takahara-san." Kuon pleaded as if he never pleaded in his entire life. "We would not stop you or any of your family from visiting the baby. You can tell him he is a Takahara when he is old enough to understand all the complicated things. We can even take him to visit you and your family in Osaka and stay over the weekend when our schedule is free. We don't want to completely take him out of your lives. We just want to be with him, to shower him with our love and make him happy. He needs all the people who care and value him to be around him."

"I beg you to understand and reconsider your filing for the custody of baby Ren." Kuon bowed his head, his nose and forehead almost touching the low table in between him and the aunt of the baby he considered his son.

Kuon did not raise his head while he waited for Maeko to process everything he had said. The older woman stared at the man who was the revered number one actor of Japan in front of her with his head bowed low as he begged her for him to keep a baby who was not by any way related to him by blood. It was a sight one could only see once in a lifetime and everyone in Japan would pay a lot to get a glimpsed of. It was a lot flattering. But it also made her realized he was very serious in his love for the baby.

"You can raise your head now, Tsuruga-san." Maeko told him. But she was still not fully convince to drop the request for custody of the baby. She too also knew how important a life of one tiny human being was. It was not a simple thing and would not be taken lightly on whims of a famous actor or actress. "I would like to meet my nephew now, please.'

Kuon raised his head and signaled to Sebastian to take the baby in. He knew he had persuaded her a little bit but he also knew it was not enough. He still had some things up his sleeve in order to convince her completely. The door opened after several minutes and Sebastian came in with baby Ren in his arms. When the baby saw Kuon his face lit up in a bright smile.

"Da!" He called to Kuon and held up his arms for Kuon to take him.

Kuon got up and took him in his arms and kissed his forehead. "Hey there little buddy! It's good to see you too." Kuon turned to Sebastian. "Was he fussy while he was stuck in the car?"

The edge of Sebastian's lips rose a few centimeters in a small smile. "No, I took him out of his car seat when you came in here. He took real interest of the steering wheel. I believe he will be a great driver someday."

"I hope so. Just not racing cars, I hope." Kuon commented worriedly on the last statement.

Sebastian smiled that small smile of his, bowed and went out of the room. Kuon sat down with baby Ren standing on his lap and faced his baby's aunt again with baby Ren facing her too in front of him.

"Now, meet your Takahara-oba-san, baby Ren." Kuon spoke loudly enough to get Maeko's full attention because she seemed to be in a daze looking at them, especially on the baby. "Give her your best smile now, cuddle bear." He said to him as he gave him playful and sound kisses on his cheek.

Baby Ren took hold of his hair and giggled at the sound of kisses on his cheek. He clutched his hair and pulled as he giggled. Kuon looked at the woman who was a bit stiff and rigid up until now. She had a gentle smile on as she looked at baby Ren.

"You want to hold him?" Kuon asked with a smile.

"Please." She choked out as he looked at the baby with shining eyes. Kuon stood up and went around the table to hand the baby over to the baby's aunt. She took him gently in her arms as if he was fragile. Kuon went back to sit on his seat.

Baby Ren followed him with his eyes and then looked back at his aunt. He didn't recognised the woman. His face began to contort in fear and he looked at Kuon again.

"Awww... Little guy, it's okay. That is oba-san, like Kanae oba-san... Sshhh..." Kuon began talking to him in soothing words as he went to dig his toy from the diaper bag Sebastian left by his cushion seat. He took out a small toy with a cord. He gave the toy to him and put the removable tie on the other end of the cord on his wrist.

Kuon looked at Maeko and explained, "He likes dropping things. We bought him that toy so we won't have to break our backs in bending down all the time to pick up the the toy he likes to drop."

Maeko nodded and smiled at the baby. Baby Ren smiled when he watched the toy left his hand and it dropped down.

"Son, are you done yet? I'm hungry..." Kuon suddenly heard Kuu whine in the ear piece he had which made him flinch. He ignored his father but he made Kuon remember something.

"Would you like to order some food, Takahara-san?" Kuon asked and he immediately heard a groan from Kuu.

Maeko nodded and told him what she wanted without looking at the menu. She ordered a piece of cake and tea as a snack since she already ate. Kuon ordered small carrots for baby Ren to chew on and he ordered Nigiri and sake for himself. Baby Ren already had his milk on the chopper from Tokyo to Kyoto, so he didn't need to eat.

Kuon ordered on the intercom and asked them to served it as soon as their orders were ready. Maeko played with baby Ren by picking up the toy he drops and put it back in his hand. He was slowly won over and was smiling at his aunt in no time. When their food arrived, Kuon handed him a piece of baby carrot and put it in his chubby hands. He recognized it and and liked it because it was a bit cold. He put it in his mouth and began chewing and sucking on it because his gums are beginning to harden again for another tooth and it bothered him. So chewing on the chilled carrot was soothing.

Kuon offered to take the baby so Maeko could eat but she shook her head. She let baby Ren sit on her lap as he quietly try to chew on the vegetable while he took a fork and slowly ate her cake. Kuon began eating his food too and he heard Lory asking Sebastian to go drive to a fast food restaurant and order a mountain of food for the drooling Kuu.

Kuon could not help but smile at their antics. He felt really happy and blessed to have his entire family. A father who has a blackhole for a stomach. A fashion designer for a mother. A very eccentric cosplayer for a Godfather together with his granddaughter who was obsessed with curses and his ninja-like butler. An alien-like, fan girl of a manager. An Ice queen tsundere as his girlfriend's best friend. And an adorable girlfriend who was very much in love with anything about fairytales. The last but not the least addition to that... was his girlfriend's half-brother for a son.

What more could he ask for?

His family was like a circus and every single moment with them were so much fun. He wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. And it wouldn't be complete without every single one of them, especially baby Ren.

He finished his food and looked up at Maeko and the baby. "Takahara-san..." He began. "I promise you that Kyoko and I will take very good care of him. We already think of him as our son before we knew he is Kyoko's half-brother. We will give our best in raising him."

"Just tell me one thing, Tsuruga-san..." Maeko replied after a few minutes in considering his words of promises. "To settle the doubts of a traditional woman who was raised in a normal home and complete family... Are you two going to get married anytime soon?"

Kuon's face blossomed into a heavenly smile that surprised Maeko. "I would have proposed to her a week ago if we had not received your distressing news. And I know she would have said yes." Kuon replied. "I would happily invite you to our wedding, Takahara-san... That is if it means we get to keep custody of the baby." His eyes looked down. "She wouldn't be in any condition to make a serious decision if all we could think about was our baby."

He heard squealing from his ear piece when he confessed he would have proposed to Kyoko a week ago. It took him great pains to hide it from all of them except for Taisho and Okami because he had to ask them for Kyoko's hand in marriage first. The Okami was delighted while the Taisho served him shots after shots of sake. It was a miracle he could still stand properly and drive home without getting into an accident. The Okami scolded Taisho to stop going overboard but Kuon wanted to prove the man wrong, he took out all his pride and acting talents and stood up without swaying. He paid his bill and walked gracefully out of the restaurant after thanking the couple with a slight bow of his head.

Maeko looked down at the baby once more and smiled his gentle smile. "I will look forward to the invitation in the mail." She finally answered him and Kuon's eyes widened.

"As a mother myself, I understand how painful it is if someone takes your baby away from you. I just wanted to give him a chance at living his life in a good home and in his rightful place in our family so no one would take advantage of him." She looked up at Kuon. "But I see he already is in a loving home where I think he rightfully belongs." She beamed at him. "Fate truly works in mysterious ways."

"You know what they say about 'one man's trash is another man's treasure,' Takahara-san." Kuon said. "And I'm very lucky I found two of them... Treasures no one can put a price on and no one can ever replace..."

Maeko stood up with baby Ren. She hugged him one last time and kissed his forehead before handing him over to Kuon. "I will draw up the papers of my agreement of allowing you and Kyoko-san to have custody of the baby with my attorney and send them over to you, Tsuruga-san." She picked up her purse. "I wish you the best of luck in your proposal. It was very nice to meet you, Tsuruga-san. I'll see you again soon..." She paused as she looked at the baby. "Baby Ren."

Kuon almost jumped and shouted in joy and happiness after Maeko left the room. He raised baby Ren up over his head in his excitement a few times. The baby giggled and laughed too as if he understood what just happened. Kuon left notes five times the amount of what their food had cost. He was so happy, he didn't care. They hurriedly went home to Tokyo with a bounce in everyone's footsteps and felt as if they had wings with the way their shoulders felt so light without the heavy burden they have been carrying. It was close to sunset when they got home. The girls were already at the president's mansion too. They didn't linger outside long because all of them were worried in how the guy's day went and Kyoko couldn't wait to see the baby again.

A maid informed Kyoko they had arrived and she sprinted to the front door. But all she found were Kuu and Yashiro. After they hugged and greeted her, they told her Kuon took the sleeping baby Ren to their room to lay him on the bed to sleep properly. She ran to their bedroom and burst through the door. He was surprise to see their room full of flowers. And not just any flowers. They were a bunch or roses. Reds, whites, pinks, yellows. The ceiling of their room was field with twinkling lights like millions of stars in the sky. She stepped inside in wonder. She noticed something on the floor and when she looked down, she saw petals scattered all over.

When she finally looked at their bed, in the middle of it was baby Ren. He was sleeping peacefully and beside him was a single stem of Queen Rosa. A gentle smile broke from her face as she made her way to the adorable cutie of a baby. She took the Queen Rosa from the bed and smelled it. She tipped it down to see if there were any princess Rosa gem inside it too. But nothing came out to her great disappointment. She put it to the back of her mind and turned her attention back to her baby Ren. She climbed on the bed and laid next to him and kissed his forehead. She brushed the back of a single finger on his cheeks lightly. She looked down his length and stopped midway.

Baby Ren's hand was laying on his chest. But that was not the most surprising about. His hand was clutching a sparkly bracelet. She slowly took it from his chubby fingers. It was a charm bracelet. The first one she saw was a charm of a small fairy. After that was a small teardrop bluish violet stone that she was sure was from her corn stone. Next to it was a charm of connected letters of LME. Then, a bright pink small overalls charm, a half-moon symbolizing dark moon, a letter R in a box for Box "R", a teardrop princess Rosa stone, a tiny milk bottle, a red heart, a little rectangular charm with a plus sign showing in the middle which looked like it was a positive result of a pregnancy test screen for Maddie's love-child, a charm of two hollow hearts joining into one and the last one was a charm that says #1MOM.

Kyoko choke out a laugh as tears ran down her cheeks. She was so touched and happy for the wonderful gift. She looked down at her precious baby. Then she noticed the letters on his shirt. It was partially covered by his hand on his chest and before, the charm bracelet covered all of it. She moved his hand out gently as she curiously read the saying on his shirt. The font was designed to look like a little kid wrote it. But without having difficulty she read it.

"Will you be my mommy...forever?" She read out loud. Kyoko cried even more. But now her tears were sad and not happy tears anymore. She was sad because she cannot fully promise him that. Because someone was trying to take him away from her.

Kyoko was startled when someone touched her arm and kissed her cheek suddenly from behind. She turned and saw Kuon with an assuring smile. Kuon pressed his lips on hers for a chaste kiss.

"We're home, sweetheart." He greeted and sat her up on the bed. "I have a present for you."

He put earphones on each of her ears and then pressed play on the mp3 player he had on his hand. It played one sentence only. ONE sentence that made Kyoko's heart soar up in the sky in freedom from the burden that heavily weighed down on her for the past week. Her eyes widened and she jumped to hug Kuon in pure joy and happiness.

"I love you! I don't know how you did it but I love so, so, so much!" She showered his face with kisses. Baby Ren stirred because of the movements they were making on the bed.

They broke up and looked at him but he continued to sleep on. Kyoko smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek. "My answer is yes. We will be together forever!" She kissed him again.

As she was showering the baby with her sweet kisses, Kuon took that time to go down on one knee in front of the bed facing her and took out a rose designed ring box and held it up to her. When she finally finished showering her attention to the baby, she looked back to where Kuon had been sitting before and found air. He cleared his throat and she looked down at him.

Kyoko frowned when she saw Kuon kneeling on the floor. "What are you doing, Kuon? There's a lot of room here to sit on, you don't have to kneel."

Kuon just smiled at her and then, swallowed some of his saliva nervously. "I... I have another present for you."

He raised the Rose shaped ring box and opened it up to her. She looked down at the box as he slowly lifted the lid open and she gasped when she saw what's inside. Sitting on red velvety cushions was a ring. It was beautiful and breath-taking. It wasn't overtly large and glamorous. It was simple. It had three stones all brilliant cut. The center stone which was the biggest was a pink diamond which looked like princess Rosa and two smaller brilliant cuts of the corn stone on each side of it. It was important to both of them especially Kyoko who had held onto it for more than ten years and it was that made them recognize each other as the childhood friend from that clearing a long time ago. Then, there were two tiny white diamonds embedded on each side on of the three stones in a platinum setting.

"Mogami Kyoko, my love. Will you marry me?" He looked at her with all the love shining in his eyes.

Kyoko looked at him in pure shock and then she blurted out, "Are you asking me because of baby Ren?"

"What on earth made you think that?" Kuon asked in total bewilderment.

"Well, I was just asking..." She said sulkily as she lowered her gaze.

Kuon took hold of her hand which made her look at him again. "I love you, Kyoko. I want to marry you and be with you forever." He told her seriously. "Please, Kyoko. You said yes to our baby Ren, can't the other Ren get a yes too? Put me out of my misery, sweetheart." He pleaded earnestly as he showered her hand with kisses. Then, he looked up at him and put on his puppy begging face.

Kyoko quickly leaned towards him, took his head in both her hands and kissed that look off his face. She won't be able to think straight with that look on his face. She let out a half-groan, half-moan sound and pulled away from him.

"Yes! okay?" She couldn't help but let out a laugh and then she tried to look sternly at him which she failed miserably. "But you have to promise not to use that look again."

"What look?" Kuon asked innocently but the look didn't stick and his expression turned into a grin. "As long as it's a yes, love, I'm the happiest man alive."

Kuon put on the ring on her fingers with slightly shaking fingers. He, then, took her in his arms and kissed her properly to seal the deal. Their kiss quickly turned deep and intense. Kuon gently guided Kyoko back to lay on the bed without breaking their kiss. His hands where exploring her length as he knelt on the bed on top of her. Kyoko wrapped her arms around his neck and weaved her fingers into his hair.

Kuon moaned at the wonderful feeling her fingers were doing to his hair and head. His hand went under her shirt and was on its way to explore her incredibly soft skin underneath when suddenly Kuon felt something wet on his cheek. He suddenly stopped short, too, which caused a whimper of protest from Kyoko.

"Mmmmama!" Came a cute little voice from beside them on the bed. Saliva drenched hand touched Kuon's cheek again and their heads snapped to look at the wide awake baby Ren smiling his toothy grin at them.

They stared shock at him for a few seconds and then blushed red in embarrassment at being caught making out. Then they burst out laughing when they realized their little innocent baby broke them up from their passionate kiss. Kuon shifted away from Kyoko and went to lay down on the other side of the baby. He bent down and kissed him, too.

"Hmmm... You want to kiss mommy, too? Is that why you interrupted me earlier?"

Kuon blew raspberries on his stomach and bouts of the most adorable laughter echoed in their room. And they knew there home will always echo bouts of laughters, sweet giggles and sound kisses from that day forward...

And for ever after...

The end... ?

Nah... I did tell you about an epilogue because I know this isn't enough for you guys... And for me... Hehe Well, I hope you enjoyed that. When I played the scene in my mind before I wrote it, Kuon was a bit aggressive and practically threatened Maeko but when I started writing the scene later, this was the result. I'm glad it changed though because aggressiveness and threats wouldn't have won Maeko's heart and approval. Now, It's finally come to an end... Finally! And at first I only thought this story will only be 3-6 chapters tops. This was just to take my mind off Reincarnation at first. I didn't know it would go up to 53 chapters and the epilogue will be 54 in total. Wow...

I am really grateful, thankful and appreciative of all you guys who stuck with me all the way through this... For liking my story enough to put up with my irregular and frustratingly slow updates. For all your wonderful reviews, follows/alerts and favs of this story. I didn't think I would receive up to 1500 reviews and more. Thank you, thank you and thank you... ^_^

I will really miss writing about baby Ren... My little, itty, bitty, tiny, poopy smell, chubby cheeks, toothy grin, adorable giggles baby Ren! Huhu T^T

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone! May God bless you always... Read yah again next year! ^_^