Hey-lo Everyone!

Hi, I'm known as NumberSixteen. Some of you may have read my recently finished story known as I Swear It to You, and I highly suggest you read that story before beginning this one. This is a little story I would like to call Propositions. It is the Sequal of I Swear It to You. So you may not catch on to everything. :DDD I hope for this story will just as great a success as the last. Thanks!

~NumberSixteen

"Hey dad, can I borrow the car tonight?"

Hikaru sat in his chair in the living room of his home. His feet were propped up, and he contently read the daily paper. His eyes breached the top to stare at the girl standing by the front door. She had at least to be seventeen with ginger hair and chocolatly brown eyes with golden flecks in them. She had on a short orange dress with small heels. Her hair was drawn up in a bun with her bangs hanging in her eyes. She smiled at him pleadingly. "Well, depends on where you're going." He said to her.

"I'm going to the dance at school, but the guy I'm going with doesn't have a car yet. So..." She trailed off, embarassed.

Hikaru grinned, "Yeah sure, sweetheart. But be careful."

She smiled devilishly, "Whatever you say." She reached for the keys and opened the front door. "Bye Daddy."

Hikaru went back to his paper as she went out the front door. "Bye Har." He said, calling her his special nickname.

He smiled to himself and found himself rewinding time to when he gave her her first driving lesson. Or the time she got a cell phone for her fourteenth birthday. Or when she was ten and she won her first singing competition. Or when she was only seven, and he taught her how to ride a bike by herself. But what he thought of more and more each day was the first day he held her, and called her by her name. Harmony Hitachiin. He smiled to himself again.

"Hey dad, why does Harmony get to go out tonight and I can't?" A boy about the age of fourteen came into the room.

"Well, why don't you ask your mother. I wasn't the one to say no." Hikaru didn't bother to look up from the newspaper to the boy who is his exact replica.

"But dad!" The boy whined.

"Maybe it's because your grounded, Hunter." Haruhi's voice entered the room as she came through the door from the kitchen. She had on an apron and was drying her hands on the dish towel. Her short hair was clipped out of her eyes. After twenty years, she still kept it as short as a boy's.

This caused Hikaru to look up. "He's grounded?"

Haruhi nodded. "Yeah. He flunked his Geometry test and didn't tell us."

Hikaru lifted an eyebrow. "Really?" He said, putting down his newspaper.

Hunter looked down at the carpet and dug his toes into it.

Haruhi gave her son a hard stare. "Go to your room and study for the retake on Wednesday."

Hunter nodded and left to go upstairs.

Haruhi sighed and took of her apron. She tossed in on the coffee table in front of Hikaru and rubbed her head.

Hikaru sat up as she made her way towards him and sat down on his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. She put her legs up on the arm of the chair.

"I never thought that raising a family would be this difficult." She mumbled.

Hikaru chuckled, "Well, to watch them grow up makes all the blood, sweat, and tears almost worth it."

Haruhi smiled. She trained her tired eyes on his. "Remember when you proposed to me? We were still so young and full of life. Now, we're old, achey, and always seem to be exhausted. What ever happened to the young kids we used to be?"

Hikaru smirked, "Oh, they're still here. Every now and then they come out to play. But that's just about how much is left in us."

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "We are technically still categorized as 'young' though. I mean, I'm only thirty-seven and you just turned thirty-eight. We should still be active and enjoying life. Instead, we watch our seventeen year old daughter go out partying three times a week and grounding out fourteen year old son every few weeks."

Hikaru laughed. "Yeah, I remember it all alright. Remember our first kiss?"

Haruhi smiled. "Yes. I remember it. In my kitchen at my old apartment, covered in flour. You know, right before I was kidnapped?"

Hikaru grinned devilishly, "Oh yes, I remember. I remember finding you, too."

Haruhi reached up to her neck, "I remember this too." She revealed the silver chain with the antique key on it. The greek words glimmered in the dim lights. It was dark out and the moon shone through the blinds.

Hikaru reached up and wrapped his hand around her hand that still clutched the key, "I remember your face when I proposed. You were so shocked you couldn't even move." He said devilishly.

Haruhi blushed. "Yeah... You were so scared I would say no."

Hikaru grinned. He did remember every second of it. And he'd never forget it. His mind trailed back to the day he asked Kaoru if he should propose...

Hikaru was sitting on the plush floors of the Hitachiin mansion with his brother. He watched Kaoru as he was drawing in his sketchbook next to him. He watched his left-handed brother glide of the page. He could almost see the golden band on his brother's left ring finger. He was engaged to Natalie. He'd proposed to her a month ago on the beach of Okinawa. They were getting married in three months from now.

"Kaoru." Hikaru said quietly.

"Hmm?" Kaoru didn't look up from the drawing.

"I want to propose to Haruhi." He finally said.

Hikaru had been thinking about proposing to Haruhi for a while now. They were both still fresh out of high school. They were eighteen and going to move in together when the college semester started. Him and Kaoru would take on the family business while Hikaru studied marine biology on the side. Haruhi was going to take a crack at law school and take marine biology with Hikaru as well. He and Haruhi wanted to take a course together and chose marine life. Both were intrigued by it and thought it would be a good opportunity to spend more time with eachother. Still, he was terrified of proposing.

Kaoru looked up at his brother curiously for a moment to see if he was just joking. But Hikaru had a serious look on his face. Kaoru leaned back and put his pencil down. "Well, I think it's a fantastic idea."

Hikaru's serious look faded and a nervous one took it's place. "Well, what if she says no."

Kaoru registered this and bit his lip when he saw Hikaru's genuinely serious look on his face. But he couldn't stop himself from laughing. "No? Give me one reason she wouldn't say yes!" Kaoru felt tears coming to his eyes from laughing so hard.

Hikaru's nervous look was replaced with one of anguish and embarassment. "Maybe she just doesn't want to get married."

Kaoru finally started to calm down. Once he'd composed himself, he took Hikaru's hand, "She'll say yes, Hikaru. I promise she will."

Hikaru gave his brother a nervous smile. "Thanks Kaoru."

Kaoru took up his pencil and paper again, "Hey, that's what brothers are for."

Hikaru started to plan out the proposal right away.

Okay-dokey!

That went well! Actually, it went better than I thought it would!

Well, this entire story is going to be a huge flashback I guess. Well, most of it is. XD

welllp. I guess the next chapter will take a while. I don't have a whole lot of time to write. so sorry!

I just have a lot going on right now, so I probably won't be writing too often! DD:

Peace!

~NumberSixteen