For a change
Sep. 20th, 2011 02:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
angelshillTITLE: Prerequisite to Wed
CHARACTERS: Ikuta Toma, Inoue Mao, Mukai Osamu, Kitagawa Keiko, Matsumoto Jun, Kuroki Meisa, Ueto Aya, Ashida Mana and Kimura Takuya
PAIRING: Toma/Mao
RATINGS: PG
Genre: AU
DISCLAIMER: The only thing i own in this story is the plot...
SUMMARY: She witnessed it with her brother and his girlfriend, and then with one of her best friends and her guy. People around her were getting married just because a baby was made.
So when Inoue Mao finds herself pregnant with her boyfriend's baby, Ikuta Toma would have to go through hell and back just to make her say "Yes!"
“So why exactly are you still not getting married?” Ueto Aya asked as she leaned over the counter, watching her close friend, Inoue Mao, crouch behind the counter to pick out two of the saucers of cakes on display.
The two of them were in Sweet Serenity, the sweets and coffee shop Mao co-owns with her brother, the one she usually manages, it having grown from just a small café close to Meiji University into an in demand sweets and coffee shop in Tokyo and all over Japan. At the moment, she had relinquished some of her responsibilities for it to her older brother, Mukai.
It wasn’t because she’s tired of it though. Far from that. She loves it far more than anything she’d tried her hand into in the past. But no matter her love for it, some things need to take precedence. Her pregnancy for example.
Yes! Inoue Mao is pregnant and well into her third month, although she’s not showing that much yet other than the small baby bump she has.
Mao snorted as she led the way towards one of the vacant tables by the glass wall, one of her waiters having taken their chosen dishes there ahead of them, milk for her and coffee for Aya.
“Just because I’m pregnant, it doesn’t mean that I have go get married!” she continued.
“Why not?” Aya exclaimed as they sat down. “It’s the most logical thing to do next!”
“Pffft!” Mao dismissed, taking a small bit of the cake into her mouth and savoring it for a bit before adding “I’ve seen so many people around me do that logical thing. Mukai-kun and Keiko-chan did it when Keiko-chan got pregnant. And then Jun-kun and Meisa-chan when she did. I’m not going down that route!” she declared.
“And why is that, pray tell?” Aya said after taking a sip off her coffee and regarding her friend carefully for a bit.
“Just because!” Mao exclaimed. “I don’t want to do things just because people are doing it!”
Aya chuckled, shaking her head lightly.
“Need I remind you that while your brother’s wife’s pregnancy was unexpected, every one, including you, were delighted of the news and even more so with Mana-chan’s arrival. And that Jun-kun and Meisa-chan planned that pregnancy so that Uncle Taichi would finally let Jun-kun take away from him his precious princess,” Aya said, referring to Mukai and Keiko’s beautiful and charming daughter, Mana, and Uncle Taichi, Meisa’s funny, lovable, but overprotective father.
“The relationships you’ve mentioned are going along perfectly! Besides, you and Toma-kun have been together for like, forever! We all thought it was just a matter of time before you two settled down!” she continued.
“What can I say?” Mao simply shrugged. “I like defying expectations.”
“You’ve got that right!” a male voice suddenly exclaimed, making Mao and Aya turn around quickly to find two people they have just mentioned in their conversation, Matsumoto Jun and the former Kuroki Meisa, now Matsumoto Meisa. In Jun’s arms is their little bundle of joy, the year and a half old Tsukasa.
After the preliminary greetings and brief explanation to their sudden appearance, the couple explaining that they decided to drop by after Tsukasa’s regular check-up and before they head onto his Grandpa Taichi so that he gets to see his godmother, Mao. It was just an added bonus that Aya, Jun’s cousin, is also there.
“As I was saying,” Jun started, his arms now free of Tsukasa as Aya had taken the child from him the moment he sat down next to the woman. “You do have the knack of defying everyone’s expectations, Toma-kun’s especially. He sure as hell wasn’t expecting you to say no when he first proposed.”
“Not even during all his succeeding proposals,” Meisa added, having seated next to Mao and opposite her husband and is now looking at the girl questioningly. “From what I’ve heard, the poor guy has proposed to you three or four times already since you got pregnant.”
“Five,” Mao corrected. “But that’s beside the point. I’ve already decided that I’m not getting married, not yet anyway.”
“What are you waiting for?” Meisa asked. “You two love each other and everyone around you two would be extremely happy if you two do decide to tie the knot.”
“Yeah!” Aya agreed immediately just as Mao opened her mouth. “Not to mention that you already are pregnant with his first child, right Tsukasa-kun?” she asked the baby in her arms. Tsukasa, who was busy playing with his Aunt Aya’s necklace, simply cooed, making the adults there, except Mao, chuckle.
Mao ended up simply gaping at her friends though as whatever response she had in mind was thrown out the window. But when all three pairs of eyes eyed her expectantly, she could only exclaim “Because! I’ve made my decision and I’m going to stand by that! Will you guys just get off my case?”
This indignant reply of hers was simply met by laughter as Tsukasa started making gagging sounds.
The first words spoken after that batch of laughter wasn’t anything Mao expected though as Jun suddenly said “Yeah, I really think we should be getting of Mao-chan’s case now.”
“Thank you!” Mao had just exclaimed when Jun added with a grin “Because the one who really should be first on that case had just arrived.”
Turning around quickly, Mao, and everyone else understood what Jun meant.
Mao’s longtime boyfriend, Ikuta Toma had just arrived.
“When, I came by to pick up Mao for her father’s birthday, I wasn’t expecting to see this many of you!” the guy exclaimed.
-----
“So, how’s convincing my dear little sister going?” Mukai asked Toma just as he turned around and handed the guy a glass of something to drink.
The two men, and their respective loved ones, were in Mukai and Mao’s father’s, Takuya, house, in celebration for the patriarch’s 50th birthday and while the women are somewhere around the house or in the garden, the two men had decided to stop by Takuya’s mini bar for a drink, though neither men would really be drinking that much since they’re both driving.
“You know your sister,” Toma sighed, watching the ice and liquid in his glass move around as he swirled it. “Her answer is still that it was a decision she made.”
He knew of course what the guy was asking. He hadn’t asked Mao outright during that brief period they were alone after he picked her up at the café but before they reached the house but he made mention of his proposal, or her lack of reception to it, thereof.
“I don’t already know what I’m going to have to do to convince her, you know,” he added with a sigh before taking a sip of the alcohol.
Mukai smiled a little apologetically. Somehow, he felt that Mao’s decision of not saying ‘Yes!’ might have had something to do with his own proposal in the past. If truth be told, he was rather apprehensive of asking Keiko to marry even after they found out of her pregnancy. It wasn’t because he didn’t love his wife enough, he was just unsure of what the future has to offer for them. And while he did decide, out of his own free will, that he’s going to rise up to the occasion and marry his woman, his little sister, Mao knew all about his inner struggles prior to that.
Still, as Mao’s older brother, he didn’t tell Toma that. And it isn’t because he doesn’t like the guy, he does, both as a person and as Mao’s chosen guy. The reason he’s not telling is because he thought it might be something that would be a lot more helpful to the two in the future if Toma figures out himself, and partly because he’s not that sure of it really had anything to do with it.
“Hang in there buddy,” he told the guy instead. “You’ll figure it out. You love each other so capitalize on that.”
Toma smiled.
Before the guy could say anything though, they both heard a child’s voice calling “Papa!”
-----
Mao couldn’t help but smile as her eyes took in the sight a few meters away from where she was seated by her favorite place in her father’s household, the swing in the garden. Before her are Toma, Mukai, Keiko and Mana, Mana having just jumped to Toma’s lap after giving her father a big hug.
She watched as Toma and Mana laughed while Keiko whispered something to Mukai, making the latter smile too before turning to his daughter. She noticed how Mukai had given Keiko a small kiss on the cheeks and how Keiko beamed for that, but after her eyes wondered off to the other two people in that group of four, she didn’t notice anything else.
There’s just something endearing with the sight of Mana in Toma’s lap as the two played and laughed. She knew that the guy would become a great father. She knew it from how he reacts to Mana and from his own reaction to when she told him she’s pregnant.
But there really was never a question of Toma’s ability of becoming dad. It wasn’t the reason why she didn’t say yes.
Thinking about her reason, she could only sigh.
“Don’t sigh too much,” she heard a female voice say, startling her a bit. Her eyes had been glued too much on Toma and Mana that she didn’t notice Keiko leaving that little group.
“Keiko-chan!” she exclaimed, seeing her sister-in-law now seated next to her.
“So, how’s the expectant mother?” Keiko smiled.
“Good. I’m good,” Mao replied, her eyes unconsciously being drawn towards the father of her child again.
Next to her, Keiko, who’s been watching her closely since earlier and saw where her eyes are heading to, gave a small chuckle.
“It’s quite a sight, isn’t it?” she said. “It reminds me of the image I had once before I married your brother.”
“What?” Mao asked in confusion, turning around to look at the woman now looking at the two men and her child from far away.
“I didn’t really want to get married, you know,” Keiko simply said. “I thought your brother and I were still too young, there’s so much that can still happen. Even when I got pregnant with Mana, I wasn’t really that ready to say ‘I do!’ yet.”
“So what convinced you?” Mao asked, slightly in awe. It was the first time she heard about that.
“It was still your brother,” Keiko chuckled. “He told me to give him a chance to prove that waking up to him every morning for the rest of our lives is worth it.”
Mao couldn’t help but chuckle as even Keiko tried hard not to grin. She really could trust her brother to come up with something like that line.
“Besides,” Keiko added. “I had this image of him being a really great father. That image was gone on to prove itself. I imagine, that’s what you see when you look at Toma-kun?”
Mao paused for a bit, turning around to look at Toma and Mana again as he helped the child to her feet.
“Yeah,” she could only say.
Keiko didn’t add to anything to it too as Mana was next to them seconds later saying “Mama! Papa said we should start eating any moment now!”
And then she turned to her and gave her a huge kiss and a big “Aunt Mao!” before stepping back twice to wave at her baby bump with a “Hello, baby!”
-----
“Did you know that your mother and I got married because your brother arrived?” Takuya said out of a sudden, startling Mao.
The two of them were still in the garden, seated at the now empty table from which they just had his birthday dinner, while Toma had walked with Mukai and Keiko inside, mainly because Mana had fallen asleep on his shoulders while they were enjoying a nice talk after dinner.
She had just given her dad a questioning look when the guy continued without even seeing her give him that since his own eyes were on the people on the living room, “It wasn’t part of our plans. We haven’t even talked of getting married before Mukai happened.”
Mao’s eyes grew large at the indication of what her father was saying.
“So, you two were forced to marry?” she asked, wondering somewhere at the back of her mind if it was something that ran in the family, the pregnancy before marriage thing.
“No,” Takuya chuckled as he pushed himself to a stand before helping her to her feet, the two of them heading inside too. “We decided to get married. And it’s probably one of the best decisions we’ve ever made.”
The two of them could already hear the soft conversation from the three adults already inside when Mao told him “I don’t really get what you’re telling me, dad.”
Takuya stopped for a bit, prompting Mao to stop too as she turned around to look at her father. There was something endearing in her father’s eyes as he regarded her for a bit before he said “All I’m saying is that while something like this needed to happen, it doesn’t stop a couple from being happy with each other and having a family grow.”
Mao didn’t say anything, she couldn’t. It wasn’t the first time her father had talked to her like that nor would it likely be the last, but there’s just something different about it this time. Maybe it had something to do with the timing, or the fact that practically everyone she encountered for the day tried to talk her into accepting Toma’s proposal. It was just different.
She still hadn’t said anything when Takuya steered her into the living room where Toma, Keiko, and Mukai, with Mana already in his arms with Toma reaching out immediately to take Mao’s hands.
“So, what are you planning, dad?” Mukai asked the moment the two of them stepped in.
“You know the plan,” Takuya simply said. “You know the drill. I’m heading out.”
“At this time of the night?” Mao asked, taking a quick look at the clock that read a few minutes after 8.
“Of course,” Takuya simply smiled. “You want to come?”
No one bothered asking where the patriarch was going, or why. They all knew. After all, it’s practically Takuya’s tradition every year on his birthday ever since his wife died to visit her at the cemetery half an hour away from his house.
From what they’ve been told, it was because it was around that hour, on Takuya’s birthday itself, that he met Mukai and Mao’s mother. He and his friends had decided to go around clubbing for his birthday and in one of those clubs, his eyes were caught with the entrancing image of a woman entering the club with some of her girl friends. She was unlike the girls she entered with, who looked really used to being in such a place. If anything, it was her uncertainty and apprehension as she looked around that captured Takuya’s attention even more.
“Well, Mana’s already asleep so I think we’re passing this time,” Mukai said. “We’ll go visit tomorrow though.”
“Yeah dad,” Keiko agreed.
Takuya nodded before turning to Mao and Toma, Toma now standing next to her and said “You two are coming, aren’t you?”
-----
“It’s great, don’t you think so?” Toma said as he leaned over the hood of the car from where he and Mao waited for Takuya, as he hugged Mao from behind to keep her warm. They had just left Mao’s father by his wife’s grave to give him some moments alone.
“What is?” Mao asked, leaning her head back on Toma’s shoulder as she closed her eyes a bit.
“That your father still does this despite his age,” Toma replied as he entwined their fingers. “I know your dad’s still strong and all but it’s just, amazing!”
“Yeah,” Mao agreed. “They were both lucky to have had each other for forever.”
“I wonder if I get to have that kind of luck too,” Toma said, prompting Mao to look up to see his face.
“Because you know,” he added, looking down to meet her gaze. “You still haven’t said yes.”
“Toma…” Mao started in a tone that was both tired and weary. Other than her talks with her friends and family, she and Toma had talked about it too that she felt like she’s talked about it a million times.
Before she could say anything more than though, Toma shrugged and said “Hey, I’m not being impatient or anything. I’m just wondering when you’re going to finally agree to marry me.”
Mao sighed, shaking her head a bit as she turned her face away from the guy.
“I told you, not because I’m pregnant does it mean we need to get married,” she told him.
For some reason, she’d always found it to be a bit of a downer when the two of them starts talking about that specific topic, no matter how happy and content she is before that, which she was before Toma started the talk.
She was expecting Toma to just sigh and talk about something else. It’s what usually happened in the past anyway, he usually does that when he senses that she’s getting annoyed. In the past instances, she’d already be really annoyed by now when that topic is being opened but for reason, this time, she’s just almost there. Maybe it had something to do with all the talks on the topic she’d had with the closest people in her life.
But Toma didn’t drop the issue.
“Who said anything about need?” he said as he nuzzled the side of her neck. He didn’t sound annoyed, or anything like that. “I’m not asking you to marry me because we need to. It’s because we want to.”
Mao was stunned for a while. It was the first time the two of them had gone through this route for the topic.
“What did you just say?” she could only say.
She felt him shake his head lightly. “I said, I didn’t ask you to marry me because we need to,” he said before stopping for a bit. Moving her so that she ended up fully facing him, he added “Wait, did you think I proposed because you were pregnant?!”
“I didn’t have to!” Mao exclaimed indignantly. “You did propose when we found out I was pregnant! I didn’t have to ‘think’ it!”
For some reason, she found herself blushing after she said that, even more so when she noticed how Toma was trying hard not to grin. She also noticed that the guy seemed to be a lot more confident now that he was minutes earlier. The next thing she knew, he had taken her hands into his and looked into her eyes.
“Tell me honestly,” he said. “Did you think that I just proposed because you were pregnant and I was just taking responsibility?”
Mao found herself unable to look him in the eyes.
“What was I supposed to think?” she asked indignantly, her eyes glued to their entwined hands. “You asked me to marry you after we found out I was having the baby!”
Toma ended up chuckling after that, causing Mao to pout more and look away. But Toma reached out and pinched her chin to make her face him before long.
“I want to marry you,” he told her. “Not because your pregnant, not because it’s the responsible thing to do, and most especially not because I needed to. I want to marry you because I love you, because I want to spend my own forever with you.”
By the time Toma mentioned the words “I love you”, Mao had already found herself in tears and by the time he finished his statement, tears were already flowing. And if anyone sees them and asks her why her eyes are welling up, she’d say that she’s pregnant and that pregnant women simply tend to be emotional. But the truth is that she just found herself completely touched and overwhelmed with Toma’s words.
“Hey,” Toma said softly, reaching out to wipe away the first batch of tears falling to her cheeks. “Don’t cry.”
“You’re annoying!” she told him when in truth all she wanted is to kiss the guy right there and then. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“I thought you knew!” Toma reasoned. “I’ve been planning of proposing to you even before we found out about the baby. I just couldn’t find the right timing to say it. Why else do you think did I have the ring ready?”
Mao couldn’t help but gasp. She never really thought of that before. Toma did already have the ring with him when he proposed the very night they found out about the pregnancy. It is a beautiful one too, a simple gold band with a small ruby stone on the center. He said then that he chose that stone because he first met Mao one day in July, ruby being that month’s stone.
It was rather sweet of him, now that she’s remembering the first day she saw the ring, but she didn’t quite think so back then. Back then, she was just supper annoyed at him for proposing for the reason (that she assumed then but Toma is negating now) that he got her pregnant.
Seeing the look in her eyes, the one that plainly says ‘I didn’t realize that!’, Toma chuckled, reaching out to his pocket and pulling out a small velvet box, the very same box Mao had seen, and rejected, for quite a few times already.
“I’ve been carrying it with me for about a month or so even before we found out about the baby,” he informed her as Mao looked up and met his eyes in amazement. “And I know that you’ve said no for a number of times already but I’m hoping this time, you’d say yes. Not because you’re pregnant, not because it’s the right thing to do but because we want to.”
And before she knew it, Toma was pushing himself off the hood of the car and is now in his full height with the box already opened, showing Mao the ring.
“I love you. Will you marry me?”
It wasn’t the first time she heard those last four words from the guy but it was the first time that really made her heart swell. Maybe because everything was clearer this time because the word that left Mao’s lips wasn’t the word she had uttered before.
“Yes!” she exclaimed, her eyes starting to well up again when she saw how Toma’s eyes sparkled just because of those three letters. And when Toma placed the ring on her finger, she couldn’t help but let the tears fall. The next thing she knew, she was in his arms, crying into his chest as he whispered the words “Thank you! I love you!” in her ear.
-----
“Looks like our daughter has finally said yes,” Takuya murmured talking to the gravestone without taking his eyes away from the scene that had unfolded a few meters away from him.
If truth be told, he had finished his prayers and ‘talk’ with his wife minutes ago, but when he saw that his daughter and her boyfriend seemed to be having quite a serious conversation, he decided not to interfere, especially since it looked like the two really needed to have that talk. It might exactly be what Mao needed for Toma to finally convince her to marry.
Like any other father, he’s really not that eager to have his only daughter be married off. But he knows Toma and he knows that the guy does love his daughter, and that he would be taking care of her, even way after he’s gone off to join his wife. That knowledge could only make him smile.
He gave the two a few more minutes to themselves before he pushed himself to his feet, taking a small bow in front of his wife’s gravestone, before heading to the couple’s direction.
It was Toma who first sensed his presence as he looked up from the embrace and gave off a very huge smile.
“Uncle, she finally said yes!” he said as Mao extracted herself from the embrace and turned around to face him. He saw that his daughter’s eyes were puffy red but there was also a happy smile on her lips.
Takuya grinned. “That would be Dad now, wouldn’t it?” he simply told Toma before he beckoned the two of them over for a hug.
“Congratulations!” he could only say. “You’re mom would be very proud.”
-----THE END-----
this story was requested by a friend elsewhere for her birthday and was posted a few months ago...
just thought i'd give it a chance and i managed to come up with this...
thouhgt it'd be nice to post it here too... :)
CHARACTERS: Ikuta Toma, Inoue Mao, Mukai Osamu, Kitagawa Keiko, Matsumoto Jun, Kuroki Meisa, Ueto Aya, Ashida Mana and Kimura Takuya
PAIRING: Toma/Mao
RATINGS: PG
Genre: AU
DISCLAIMER: The only thing i own in this story is the plot...
SUMMARY: She witnessed it with her brother and his girlfriend, and then with one of her best friends and her guy. People around her were getting married just because a baby was made.
So when Inoue Mao finds herself pregnant with her boyfriend's baby, Ikuta Toma would have to go through hell and back just to make her say "Yes!"
“So why exactly are you still not getting married?” Ueto Aya asked as she leaned over the counter, watching her close friend, Inoue Mao, crouch behind the counter to pick out two of the saucers of cakes on display.
The two of them were in Sweet Serenity, the sweets and coffee shop Mao co-owns with her brother, the one she usually manages, it having grown from just a small café close to Meiji University into an in demand sweets and coffee shop in Tokyo and all over Japan. At the moment, she had relinquished some of her responsibilities for it to her older brother, Mukai.
It wasn’t because she’s tired of it though. Far from that. She loves it far more than anything she’d tried her hand into in the past. But no matter her love for it, some things need to take precedence. Her pregnancy for example.
Yes! Inoue Mao is pregnant and well into her third month, although she’s not showing that much yet other than the small baby bump she has.
Mao snorted as she led the way towards one of the vacant tables by the glass wall, one of her waiters having taken their chosen dishes there ahead of them, milk for her and coffee for Aya.
“Just because I’m pregnant, it doesn’t mean that I have go get married!” she continued.
“Why not?” Aya exclaimed as they sat down. “It’s the most logical thing to do next!”
“Pffft!” Mao dismissed, taking a small bit of the cake into her mouth and savoring it for a bit before adding “I’ve seen so many people around me do that logical thing. Mukai-kun and Keiko-chan did it when Keiko-chan got pregnant. And then Jun-kun and Meisa-chan when she did. I’m not going down that route!” she declared.
“And why is that, pray tell?” Aya said after taking a sip off her coffee and regarding her friend carefully for a bit.
“Just because!” Mao exclaimed. “I don’t want to do things just because people are doing it!”
Aya chuckled, shaking her head lightly.
“Need I remind you that while your brother’s wife’s pregnancy was unexpected, every one, including you, were delighted of the news and even more so with Mana-chan’s arrival. And that Jun-kun and Meisa-chan planned that pregnancy so that Uncle Taichi would finally let Jun-kun take away from him his precious princess,” Aya said, referring to Mukai and Keiko’s beautiful and charming daughter, Mana, and Uncle Taichi, Meisa’s funny, lovable, but overprotective father.
“The relationships you’ve mentioned are going along perfectly! Besides, you and Toma-kun have been together for like, forever! We all thought it was just a matter of time before you two settled down!” she continued.
“What can I say?” Mao simply shrugged. “I like defying expectations.”
“You’ve got that right!” a male voice suddenly exclaimed, making Mao and Aya turn around quickly to find two people they have just mentioned in their conversation, Matsumoto Jun and the former Kuroki Meisa, now Matsumoto Meisa. In Jun’s arms is their little bundle of joy, the year and a half old Tsukasa.
After the preliminary greetings and brief explanation to their sudden appearance, the couple explaining that they decided to drop by after Tsukasa’s regular check-up and before they head onto his Grandpa Taichi so that he gets to see his godmother, Mao. It was just an added bonus that Aya, Jun’s cousin, is also there.
“As I was saying,” Jun started, his arms now free of Tsukasa as Aya had taken the child from him the moment he sat down next to the woman. “You do have the knack of defying everyone’s expectations, Toma-kun’s especially. He sure as hell wasn’t expecting you to say no when he first proposed.”
“Not even during all his succeeding proposals,” Meisa added, having seated next to Mao and opposite her husband and is now looking at the girl questioningly. “From what I’ve heard, the poor guy has proposed to you three or four times already since you got pregnant.”
“Five,” Mao corrected. “But that’s beside the point. I’ve already decided that I’m not getting married, not yet anyway.”
“What are you waiting for?” Meisa asked. “You two love each other and everyone around you two would be extremely happy if you two do decide to tie the knot.”
“Yeah!” Aya agreed immediately just as Mao opened her mouth. “Not to mention that you already are pregnant with his first child, right Tsukasa-kun?” she asked the baby in her arms. Tsukasa, who was busy playing with his Aunt Aya’s necklace, simply cooed, making the adults there, except Mao, chuckle.
Mao ended up simply gaping at her friends though as whatever response she had in mind was thrown out the window. But when all three pairs of eyes eyed her expectantly, she could only exclaim “Because! I’ve made my decision and I’m going to stand by that! Will you guys just get off my case?”
This indignant reply of hers was simply met by laughter as Tsukasa started making gagging sounds.
The first words spoken after that batch of laughter wasn’t anything Mao expected though as Jun suddenly said “Yeah, I really think we should be getting of Mao-chan’s case now.”
“Thank you!” Mao had just exclaimed when Jun added with a grin “Because the one who really should be first on that case had just arrived.”
Turning around quickly, Mao, and everyone else understood what Jun meant.
Mao’s longtime boyfriend, Ikuta Toma had just arrived.
“When, I came by to pick up Mao for her father’s birthday, I wasn’t expecting to see this many of you!” the guy exclaimed.
-----
“So, how’s convincing my dear little sister going?” Mukai asked Toma just as he turned around and handed the guy a glass of something to drink.
The two men, and their respective loved ones, were in Mukai and Mao’s father’s, Takuya, house, in celebration for the patriarch’s 50th birthday and while the women are somewhere around the house or in the garden, the two men had decided to stop by Takuya’s mini bar for a drink, though neither men would really be drinking that much since they’re both driving.
“You know your sister,” Toma sighed, watching the ice and liquid in his glass move around as he swirled it. “Her answer is still that it was a decision she made.”
He knew of course what the guy was asking. He hadn’t asked Mao outright during that brief period they were alone after he picked her up at the café but before they reached the house but he made mention of his proposal, or her lack of reception to it, thereof.
“I don’t already know what I’m going to have to do to convince her, you know,” he added with a sigh before taking a sip of the alcohol.
Mukai smiled a little apologetically. Somehow, he felt that Mao’s decision of not saying ‘Yes!’ might have had something to do with his own proposal in the past. If truth be told, he was rather apprehensive of asking Keiko to marry even after they found out of her pregnancy. It wasn’t because he didn’t love his wife enough, he was just unsure of what the future has to offer for them. And while he did decide, out of his own free will, that he’s going to rise up to the occasion and marry his woman, his little sister, Mao knew all about his inner struggles prior to that.
Still, as Mao’s older brother, he didn’t tell Toma that. And it isn’t because he doesn’t like the guy, he does, both as a person and as Mao’s chosen guy. The reason he’s not telling is because he thought it might be something that would be a lot more helpful to the two in the future if Toma figures out himself, and partly because he’s not that sure of it really had anything to do with it.
“Hang in there buddy,” he told the guy instead. “You’ll figure it out. You love each other so capitalize on that.”
Toma smiled.
Before the guy could say anything though, they both heard a child’s voice calling “Papa!”
-----
Mao couldn’t help but smile as her eyes took in the sight a few meters away from where she was seated by her favorite place in her father’s household, the swing in the garden. Before her are Toma, Mukai, Keiko and Mana, Mana having just jumped to Toma’s lap after giving her father a big hug.
She watched as Toma and Mana laughed while Keiko whispered something to Mukai, making the latter smile too before turning to his daughter. She noticed how Mukai had given Keiko a small kiss on the cheeks and how Keiko beamed for that, but after her eyes wondered off to the other two people in that group of four, she didn’t notice anything else.
There’s just something endearing with the sight of Mana in Toma’s lap as the two played and laughed. She knew that the guy would become a great father. She knew it from how he reacts to Mana and from his own reaction to when she told him she’s pregnant.
But there really was never a question of Toma’s ability of becoming dad. It wasn’t the reason why she didn’t say yes.
Thinking about her reason, she could only sigh.
“Don’t sigh too much,” she heard a female voice say, startling her a bit. Her eyes had been glued too much on Toma and Mana that she didn’t notice Keiko leaving that little group.
“Keiko-chan!” she exclaimed, seeing her sister-in-law now seated next to her.
“So, how’s the expectant mother?” Keiko smiled.
“Good. I’m good,” Mao replied, her eyes unconsciously being drawn towards the father of her child again.
Next to her, Keiko, who’s been watching her closely since earlier and saw where her eyes are heading to, gave a small chuckle.
“It’s quite a sight, isn’t it?” she said. “It reminds me of the image I had once before I married your brother.”
“What?” Mao asked in confusion, turning around to look at the woman now looking at the two men and her child from far away.
“I didn’t really want to get married, you know,” Keiko simply said. “I thought your brother and I were still too young, there’s so much that can still happen. Even when I got pregnant with Mana, I wasn’t really that ready to say ‘I do!’ yet.”
“So what convinced you?” Mao asked, slightly in awe. It was the first time she heard about that.
“It was still your brother,” Keiko chuckled. “He told me to give him a chance to prove that waking up to him every morning for the rest of our lives is worth it.”
Mao couldn’t help but chuckle as even Keiko tried hard not to grin. She really could trust her brother to come up with something like that line.
“Besides,” Keiko added. “I had this image of him being a really great father. That image was gone on to prove itself. I imagine, that’s what you see when you look at Toma-kun?”
Mao paused for a bit, turning around to look at Toma and Mana again as he helped the child to her feet.
“Yeah,” she could only say.
Keiko didn’t add to anything to it too as Mana was next to them seconds later saying “Mama! Papa said we should start eating any moment now!”
And then she turned to her and gave her a huge kiss and a big “Aunt Mao!” before stepping back twice to wave at her baby bump with a “Hello, baby!”
-----
“Did you know that your mother and I got married because your brother arrived?” Takuya said out of a sudden, startling Mao.
The two of them were still in the garden, seated at the now empty table from which they just had his birthday dinner, while Toma had walked with Mukai and Keiko inside, mainly because Mana had fallen asleep on his shoulders while they were enjoying a nice talk after dinner.
She had just given her dad a questioning look when the guy continued without even seeing her give him that since his own eyes were on the people on the living room, “It wasn’t part of our plans. We haven’t even talked of getting married before Mukai happened.”
Mao’s eyes grew large at the indication of what her father was saying.
“So, you two were forced to marry?” she asked, wondering somewhere at the back of her mind if it was something that ran in the family, the pregnancy before marriage thing.
“No,” Takuya chuckled as he pushed himself to a stand before helping her to her feet, the two of them heading inside too. “We decided to get married. And it’s probably one of the best decisions we’ve ever made.”
The two of them could already hear the soft conversation from the three adults already inside when Mao told him “I don’t really get what you’re telling me, dad.”
Takuya stopped for a bit, prompting Mao to stop too as she turned around to look at her father. There was something endearing in her father’s eyes as he regarded her for a bit before he said “All I’m saying is that while something like this needed to happen, it doesn’t stop a couple from being happy with each other and having a family grow.”
Mao didn’t say anything, she couldn’t. It wasn’t the first time her father had talked to her like that nor would it likely be the last, but there’s just something different about it this time. Maybe it had something to do with the timing, or the fact that practically everyone she encountered for the day tried to talk her into accepting Toma’s proposal. It was just different.
She still hadn’t said anything when Takuya steered her into the living room where Toma, Keiko, and Mukai, with Mana already in his arms with Toma reaching out immediately to take Mao’s hands.
“So, what are you planning, dad?” Mukai asked the moment the two of them stepped in.
“You know the plan,” Takuya simply said. “You know the drill. I’m heading out.”
“At this time of the night?” Mao asked, taking a quick look at the clock that read a few minutes after 8.
“Of course,” Takuya simply smiled. “You want to come?”
No one bothered asking where the patriarch was going, or why. They all knew. After all, it’s practically Takuya’s tradition every year on his birthday ever since his wife died to visit her at the cemetery half an hour away from his house.
From what they’ve been told, it was because it was around that hour, on Takuya’s birthday itself, that he met Mukai and Mao’s mother. He and his friends had decided to go around clubbing for his birthday and in one of those clubs, his eyes were caught with the entrancing image of a woman entering the club with some of her girl friends. She was unlike the girls she entered with, who looked really used to being in such a place. If anything, it was her uncertainty and apprehension as she looked around that captured Takuya’s attention even more.
“Well, Mana’s already asleep so I think we’re passing this time,” Mukai said. “We’ll go visit tomorrow though.”
“Yeah dad,” Keiko agreed.
Takuya nodded before turning to Mao and Toma, Toma now standing next to her and said “You two are coming, aren’t you?”
-----
“It’s great, don’t you think so?” Toma said as he leaned over the hood of the car from where he and Mao waited for Takuya, as he hugged Mao from behind to keep her warm. They had just left Mao’s father by his wife’s grave to give him some moments alone.
“What is?” Mao asked, leaning her head back on Toma’s shoulder as she closed her eyes a bit.
“That your father still does this despite his age,” Toma replied as he entwined their fingers. “I know your dad’s still strong and all but it’s just, amazing!”
“Yeah,” Mao agreed. “They were both lucky to have had each other for forever.”
“I wonder if I get to have that kind of luck too,” Toma said, prompting Mao to look up to see his face.
“Because you know,” he added, looking down to meet her gaze. “You still haven’t said yes.”
“Toma…” Mao started in a tone that was both tired and weary. Other than her talks with her friends and family, she and Toma had talked about it too that she felt like she’s talked about it a million times.
Before she could say anything more than though, Toma shrugged and said “Hey, I’m not being impatient or anything. I’m just wondering when you’re going to finally agree to marry me.”
Mao sighed, shaking her head a bit as she turned her face away from the guy.
“I told you, not because I’m pregnant does it mean we need to get married,” she told him.
For some reason, she’d always found it to be a bit of a downer when the two of them starts talking about that specific topic, no matter how happy and content she is before that, which she was before Toma started the talk.
She was expecting Toma to just sigh and talk about something else. It’s what usually happened in the past anyway, he usually does that when he senses that she’s getting annoyed. In the past instances, she’d already be really annoyed by now when that topic is being opened but for reason, this time, she’s just almost there. Maybe it had something to do with all the talks on the topic she’d had with the closest people in her life.
But Toma didn’t drop the issue.
“Who said anything about need?” he said as he nuzzled the side of her neck. He didn’t sound annoyed, or anything like that. “I’m not asking you to marry me because we need to. It’s because we want to.”
Mao was stunned for a while. It was the first time the two of them had gone through this route for the topic.
“What did you just say?” she could only say.
She felt him shake his head lightly. “I said, I didn’t ask you to marry me because we need to,” he said before stopping for a bit. Moving her so that she ended up fully facing him, he added “Wait, did you think I proposed because you were pregnant?!”
“I didn’t have to!” Mao exclaimed indignantly. “You did propose when we found out I was pregnant! I didn’t have to ‘think’ it!”
For some reason, she found herself blushing after she said that, even more so when she noticed how Toma was trying hard not to grin. She also noticed that the guy seemed to be a lot more confident now that he was minutes earlier. The next thing she knew, he had taken her hands into his and looked into her eyes.
“Tell me honestly,” he said. “Did you think that I just proposed because you were pregnant and I was just taking responsibility?”
Mao found herself unable to look him in the eyes.
“What was I supposed to think?” she asked indignantly, her eyes glued to their entwined hands. “You asked me to marry you after we found out I was having the baby!”
Toma ended up chuckling after that, causing Mao to pout more and look away. But Toma reached out and pinched her chin to make her face him before long.
“I want to marry you,” he told her. “Not because your pregnant, not because it’s the responsible thing to do, and most especially not because I needed to. I want to marry you because I love you, because I want to spend my own forever with you.”
By the time Toma mentioned the words “I love you”, Mao had already found herself in tears and by the time he finished his statement, tears were already flowing. And if anyone sees them and asks her why her eyes are welling up, she’d say that she’s pregnant and that pregnant women simply tend to be emotional. But the truth is that she just found herself completely touched and overwhelmed with Toma’s words.
“Hey,” Toma said softly, reaching out to wipe away the first batch of tears falling to her cheeks. “Don’t cry.”
“You’re annoying!” she told him when in truth all she wanted is to kiss the guy right there and then. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“I thought you knew!” Toma reasoned. “I’ve been planning of proposing to you even before we found out about the baby. I just couldn’t find the right timing to say it. Why else do you think did I have the ring ready?”
Mao couldn’t help but gasp. She never really thought of that before. Toma did already have the ring with him when he proposed the very night they found out about the pregnancy. It is a beautiful one too, a simple gold band with a small ruby stone on the center. He said then that he chose that stone because he first met Mao one day in July, ruby being that month’s stone.
It was rather sweet of him, now that she’s remembering the first day she saw the ring, but she didn’t quite think so back then. Back then, she was just supper annoyed at him for proposing for the reason (that she assumed then but Toma is negating now) that he got her pregnant.
Seeing the look in her eyes, the one that plainly says ‘I didn’t realize that!’, Toma chuckled, reaching out to his pocket and pulling out a small velvet box, the very same box Mao had seen, and rejected, for quite a few times already.
“I’ve been carrying it with me for about a month or so even before we found out about the baby,” he informed her as Mao looked up and met his eyes in amazement. “And I know that you’ve said no for a number of times already but I’m hoping this time, you’d say yes. Not because you’re pregnant, not because it’s the right thing to do but because we want to.”
And before she knew it, Toma was pushing himself off the hood of the car and is now in his full height with the box already opened, showing Mao the ring.
“I love you. Will you marry me?”
It wasn’t the first time she heard those last four words from the guy but it was the first time that really made her heart swell. Maybe because everything was clearer this time because the word that left Mao’s lips wasn’t the word she had uttered before.
“Yes!” she exclaimed, her eyes starting to well up again when she saw how Toma’s eyes sparkled just because of those three letters. And when Toma placed the ring on her finger, she couldn’t help but let the tears fall. The next thing she knew, she was in his arms, crying into his chest as he whispered the words “Thank you! I love you!” in her ear.
-----
“Looks like our daughter has finally said yes,” Takuya murmured talking to the gravestone without taking his eyes away from the scene that had unfolded a few meters away from him.
If truth be told, he had finished his prayers and ‘talk’ with his wife minutes ago, but when he saw that his daughter and her boyfriend seemed to be having quite a serious conversation, he decided not to interfere, especially since it looked like the two really needed to have that talk. It might exactly be what Mao needed for Toma to finally convince her to marry.
Like any other father, he’s really not that eager to have his only daughter be married off. But he knows Toma and he knows that the guy does love his daughter, and that he would be taking care of her, even way after he’s gone off to join his wife. That knowledge could only make him smile.
He gave the two a few more minutes to themselves before he pushed himself to his feet, taking a small bow in front of his wife’s gravestone, before heading to the couple’s direction.
It was Toma who first sensed his presence as he looked up from the embrace and gave off a very huge smile.
“Uncle, she finally said yes!” he said as Mao extracted herself from the embrace and turned around to face him. He saw that his daughter’s eyes were puffy red but there was also a happy smile on her lips.
Takuya grinned. “That would be Dad now, wouldn’t it?” he simply told Toma before he beckoned the two of them over for a hug.
“Congratulations!” he could only say. “You’re mom would be very proud.”
-----THE END-----
this story was requested by a friend elsewhere for her birthday and was posted a few months ago...
just thought i'd give it a chance and i managed to come up with this...
thouhgt it'd be nice to post it here too... :)
