5 years ago, I published the first chapter of "Sweet as Candy". Here's a birthday special to you, my dear readers. It's extra long.

I don't own anything.

Sweet as Candy: Sprinkles are Edible Confetti

Favorite Person

Swinging their locked hands together, Umi and Ruri walked down the road on a moderate speed. The morning sun gently shined on their creamy skin as the birds chirped melodies that accompanied their walk to school. Perhaps due to the good looking visual features the Usui siblings inherited from their parents, the scene of them walking to school appeared as if they were filming a movie.

"Brother, look! It's a cat!" Pointing at the lazy creature enjoying the morning sunlight, Ruri exclaimed with excitement.

"It's a very cute cat." Agreeing with his little sister, Umi nodded and replied.

"I like cats. They make me feel better." Ruri said.

"Why?" Confused by his sister's words, Umi asked.

"Compared to them, I am obviously more productive." Staring at her brother with her light colored eyes, Ruri replied.

"Whatever makes you happy." Umi chuckled.

Taking a turn out of the usual alley, the Usui siblings finally arrived to Ruri's nursery and Umi's battlefield.

"Morning!" The usual cheerful greeting that translates to claws on a chalkboard alerted Umi. From a distance, a petite shadow waved at the Usui siblings, the owner of the petite shadow is no one other than Hyoudo Takeru.

"Takeru!" Replying to the morning greeting, Ruri displayed her sweetest and brightest smile. Giggling, Ruri then shouted. "Morning!"

"Morning." Umi greeted with a tone cold enough to freeze a polar bear.

"Morning, Usui-nii san." Like a true gentlemen, Takeru greeted. Turning around to Ruri, Takeru continued. "What did you have for breakfast?"

"Egg Toast!" Ruri replied. After finishing her sentence, she released the hand she held her brother with. "How about you?"

"Egg and baugette!" Takeru replied instantly.

"Hahahahahahahaahahahahahahaha" The two children began laughing. As always, only children will understand children humor.

"Ruri!" Grabbing onto Ruri's hand again, Umi held his sister's hands tight. Umi then bent down, to be at the same eye-level as Ruri. "Who is your favorite person?"

"Brother!" Cheerfully, Ruri grinned and reply.

"Good! Good!" Nodding slowly, Umi's emerald eyes shifted to Takeru to observe his reactions.

"..." Without saying anything, Takeru stood still. The young boy didn't display a pleasant facial expression.

"Then, I'll go to school." Standing up, Umi finally released Ruri's hand. "I'll come pick you up after school."

"Understood." Ruri did a cute salute. "Safe trip to school!"

"Bye~" While waving at his sister, Umi slowly drifted away and soon resumed back to his journey to school.

Ruri stood at the entrance of the nursery, she continued to wave her hands until her brother disappeared from her sight. A tint of loneliness leaked through Ruri's light colored eyes.

"Ruri!" To cheer Ruri up, Takeru loudly screamed Ruri's name.

"..." Raising her head, Ruri looked at Takeru. The moment their eyes met, Ruri smiled as the loneliness within her eyes gradually faded. "Takeru!"

"Let's go into the classroom together." Gesturing his hand out, Takeru offered his hand to Ruri.

"Sure!" Ruri responded by placing her hands above Takeru's.

The two little midgets stumbled into the nursery. However, in the end, Ruri and Takeru belonged to different classes. Hence, the two little tiny humans lingered in front of Ruri's classroom. Engaging in a short game of rock paper siccors, the two children entertained themselves until the bell rang.

"Oh no, the bell rang." Looking into her classroom, Ruri stared at her own table as if she was looking at her own solitude jail.

With a swift movement, Takeru pulled Ruri close to him. Leaning into Ruri's ears, Takeru whispered, "I want to become your favorite person."

Finishing his sentence, Takeru released Ruri from his grasp, then walked into his classroom.

Ba-dump!

A teeny tiny heart just skipped a beat.

Surprise! Surprise!

Within Ruri's nursery, there's an annual event in which parents are invited to observe their children's situation in class. In other words, this annual event can be interpreted as a chance for the toddlers at the nursery to demonstrate their talents or for parents to take a day off from their work. Under no surprise, both Takumi and Misaki took a day off from work to participate in this annual event for their little gem.

On the surface, Takumi joined the event to fully support his daughter, but deep inside his bones, Takumi wanted to witness the legendary Hyoudo Takeru; AKA Ruri's husband. Ever since the day Umi warned Takumi about Hyoudo Takeru, Takumi set his eyes on the annual event. He wouldn't let this chance slip, the chance for him to threaten Takeru with his aura, like what all normal adults would do.

"..." Staring at her husband, Misaki couldn't search for a word to describe how she feels. "Are you wearing your best suit?"

"Yes, what's the problem?" Adjusting his tie, Takumi replied.

"Nothing." Misaki shrugged. She looked away from her husband and widened her eyes, she looked slightly terrified. "He has no chill."

"Shall we head off?" Putting on his most serious expression, Takumi asked his wife.

"S-Sure." Nodding with disbelief, Misaki was prepared for a day that she knew would end badly.

Walking into the nursery, the Usui couple caught the attention of all of the other parents. To start off, both Misaki and Takumi looked extraordinary; a beautiful woman and a handsome man always draws attention. However, the radiating aura of elites generated the most attention. If the Usui couple weren't standing near a sandbox, people would definitely believe that they are on their way to make influential decisions.

"I think we went overboard." Looking at the navy blue dress that fitted perfectly to her curves, Misaki commented. "Maybe we overdressed."

"Honey," Takumi grabbed Misaki by the waist and pulled her close to him. "It's the other who have underdressed."

"You. Are. Definitely. Overdressed." Tilting her head and giving her husband a smirky smile, Misaki responded. Following Misaki's sentence was a soft giggle. Despite her husband attracting unnecessary attention, Misaki found Takumi's action to be quite cute and likable.

Once again, if the Usui couple weren't standing next to a sandbox, then people would have assumed that they are filming the next romantic movie.

"Dear, parents!" The principal of the nursery finally appeared. "Thank you for your patience. After 10 minutes you may all enter your child's classrooms. Please let me briefly go through today's event agenda. From 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, the children will demonstrate what they have learnt within their classrooms. Following the showcase, from 11:10 AM to 12:00 AM there will be several activities in the courtyard. Drinks and snacks will be available. Once the event is over, you are free to pick your children home..."

"Is Ruri in the same class as... him?" Completely ignoring that the principal said, Takumi leaned towards Misaki and asked.

"Takeru-kun?" Misaki softly asked.

"Shhh... That's a forbidden name." Takumi slowly nodded and said.

"..." Exhaling a small portion of air in a frustrating manner, Misaki answered. "No."

"Understood." Resuming into his normal posture, Takumi then continued to listen to the principal's long speech.

Not long after the principal finished her speech, all the parents were guided to their children's classrooms. For the showcase, each class prepares a different activity. Some teachers decided to display some arts and craft the students have made and some teachers prepared a small drama skit to entertain the parents. In the case of Ruri's class, the teacher decided to let the children explain their favorite piece of work to their parents.

Under the guidance of the staff of the nursery, the Usui couple and other parents soon arrived at Ruri's class. Once the parents entered the classroom, the excitement of the students could be felt through the particles in the air. Several children turned around and waved at their parents After all, children tend to feel the need to impress their parents. Especially, in a situation where they are given the opportunity to cast a good impression on their peers' parents.

Once the parents were settled in their seats, the homeroom teacher of Ruri's class began the activity with a short introduction. As the teacher proceeded to explain the agenda of the activity, she noticed all the students and most of the parents weren't looking at her, they were all looking at the Usui couple. The only 2 pair of eyes that were located on the teacher were Takumi and Misaki. Internally frustrated, the teacher's voice increased in volume as her introduction proceeded in the attempt of catching the attention of her target audiences.

"Shall the event begin?" With her soft and generous sounding words, a thread of frustration and a thread of anger was woven within.

"Y-Y-Yes" The sudden announcement pulled many parents and students back into reality.

"Any volunteers to be the first one?" The teacher smiled with a bright smile of victory.

"Me! Me!" The Queen Bee of the class raised her hands with overflowing confidence. When all the other children saw the Queen Bee raise her hands, the other tiny hands began to slowly disappear. (Please refer to "Chapter: Icing Sugar" to know about Queen Bee)

"Errr... ok!" Realizing she has no one to choose but Queen Bee, the teacher smiled awkwardly as she stood to the side to provide the front of the class to Queen Bee.

Walking to the front of the class with confident steps and swinging her long hair in the air conditioner breeze, Queen Bee displayed

"Good morning students and parents, today I will present a picture I drew." Pointing at a picture filled with different colors and organic shapes, that resemble nothing of the world. From the eyes of innocent beings such as children, the picture may have been as beautiful as a 200 million dollar art piece. However, from the slight change in facial expression of the children says otherwise.

"..." Staring at the painting, Takumi didn't make any verbal comments.

"Don't make any commentary thoughts" Turning slightly towards her husband's side, Misaki signaled with her auburn eyes.

"..." Keeping his poker face on, Takumi just continued to listen to Queen Bee's explanation.

"Because I really like hamsters, so I drew dogs." As usual, only children will understand children logic.

"...?" Blinking once, then blinking twice, Misaki experienced her first mental shock after having children. She thought she was accustomed to children logic. Repeat, she THOUGHT.

"Thank you for listening to my presentation." Smiling brightly the Queen Bee then continued. "Please don't give my classmates pressure if their projects aren't as good as mine."

"...Should we let Ruri transfer?" Just by simply widening his eyes, Takumi communicated with Misaki through eye contact.

"Smile and clap. Smile and clap." Looking back at Takumi, Misaki replied with a little nod and smile.

Following the presentation of the Queen Bee, several children continued to volunteer. Some children presented their favorite sculpture, artwork, and poem. Despite all these works challenged the visual judgement of the parents and disrupts the logic train of adults, overall the parents enjoyed watching their children's works.

"Why isn't Ruri volunteering?" Leaning into his wife's ears, Takumi asked.

"I think she's waiting to be the middle one." Misaki whispered back.

Just as what Misaki said, Ruri began raising her hands after half of the class presented their work. The third time Ruri raised her hands, the teacher finally called on Ruri. Lowering her tiny head as she walked towards the front of the class, Ruri's timid personality could be spotted from her body language. As she stood up straight with proper posture, Ruri took a slightly deeper breath before she finally raised her face to look at her crowd of audience.

"I..." The amount of eyes staring at her caused Ruri to feel slightly uncomfortable. As a reflex, Ruri's eyes searched for her parent's existence.

"You can do it!" Misaki silently mouthed the words to her daughter.

"Don't be afraid!" Takumi mouthed those words to Ruri.

"..." Ruri nodded her tiny head. "Good morning, I am Usui Ruri. Today I will present a poem about cats, and I hope everyone will like it."

White cat, spotted cat, and striped cat

Everyone loves pretty cats

Though I do like black cats

Some people would only refer to it as 'that'

Refusing to call it by it's name

But rather give it all the blame

When bad luck strikes

Or someone lost their bike

The black cat is responsible for all

But it only wanted to walk down the hall

Always the odd one of the crowd

The black cat was everything but proud
It's fur is black like the night

So dark that it shines bright

Embrace the differences between cats

They all know how to take down rats

"Thank you." Finishing her poem, Ruri took a little bow.

All the students and parents clapped. Especially when a little girl in nursery school constructed such beautiful combination of words about cats. Clearly, Ruri was on a different level as the other children in the nursery thanks to the Usui household genetics. Even though everyone was impressed by Ruri's poem, the Queen Bee was unimpressed by the attention Ruri received. Ever since Ruri entered the nursery, the attention of all the boys and girls of the nursery all shifted from the Queen Bee to Ruri. Hence, since the first day of school, the Queen Bee was against anything Ruri did or said.

Displaying her dissatisfaction, the Queen Bee crossed her arms and commented loud and clear. "I don't like your poem."

The whole class froze.

"Ok." Ruri replied.

"You're not going to ask me why?" Making her even more angry, the Queen Bee asked.

"Do you want me to ask why?" Tilting her head and frowning, Ruri never understood why this popular girl is always against her.

"I like hamsters and you wrote about cats." The Queen Bee replied.

"I like oranges and you like strawberries." Ruri the continued. "Does that mean I have to like strawberries too?"

"Yes." Arrogantly the Queen Bee replied.

"Then why don't you change so that you like oranges?" Ruri asked back.

"..." The Queen Bee didn't know what to reply.

"We don't have to force the things we like on other people. You like what you like and I like what I like!" With a bright smile, Ruri extended her arms wide. "Same same but different!"

"...Are you sure this is not Umi?" Leaning towards his wife, Takumi asked. "Maybe she spends too much time with Umi."

"After all you do contribute half of their genetics construction." Leaning towards her husband, Misaki replied.

"Hahahahaha... Very good... Thank you Ruri!" Rapidly the teacher entered this slightly passive aggressive fight between Ruri and Queen Bee. "Any volunteer for the next one?"

Despite the little argument that happened, the classroom event ended peacefully. According to the schedule of the event, the parents and children will enjoy snacks and drinks prepared by the nursery. Thus, the event gave the parents an opportunity to socialize with each other. In addition, the Usui couple was the most popular couple that the other parents approached for socialization. However, socializing with the other parents was not on Takumi's list to do.

"Takeru!" Entering the little indoor gym of the nursery, Ruri spotted her best friend within a split second.

"Ruri?!" Hearing the call of his friend, Takeru looked towards the entrance.

"What are you-" Before Ruri could run towards Takeru, Takumi picked the little being up.

"Who is Takeru?" Smiling towards his daughter, Takumi asked.

"My friend!" Ruri replied with a bright smile.

"Do you have other friends?" Continuing his questions, Takumi asked.

"The cat in the alley next to home!" Smiling even brighter, Ruri replied.

"...!" Covering half of her face, Misaki tried not to let her laugh escape her mouth.

"Good day, Mr. and Mrs. Usui." The little gentlemen, Takeru, suddenly appeared in front of Misaki and Takumi. "I am Hyoudo Takeru, Ruri's friend."

"Hello, I am Ruri's mother. Nice to meet you, Takeru-kun." Bending down at the same level as Takeru, Misaki gestured out a hand for a little handshake. "Thank you for always taking care of Ruri."

"Hello, Mrs. Usui." Shaking Misaki's hands, Takeru continued. "It's my pleasure to have such a nice girl as Ruri to be my friend."

"Hi." Remaining in his standing poster with Ruri in his arms, Takumi looked down to find a little man standing right below him. "I'm Ruri's father."

"Hello, Mr. Usui!" If Takeru said he didn't feel the intimidating aura from Takumi, it would be a lie. "Hi, Ruri!"

"Papa, put me down. I want to play with Takeru." Frowning at her father, Ruri said. "Please?"

"..." Sighing, Takumi finally put Ruri down. He can never reject Ruri's request when she puts on her pleading facial expression.

"Takeru!" Smiling Ruri greeted.

"Ruri!" Takeru greeted back.

"What are you eating?" Looking at the cookie in Takeru's hands, Ruri asked.

"Oh! This-" Before Takeru could inform Ruri about the food in his hands, a loud call disrupted him.

"TAKERU!" From a distance, the voice of a man alarmed the little boy.

"Dad? Mom?" Turning around, Takeru saw two people approaching him.

"Don't just run away like that, we'll get worried." A man stopped right in front of Takeru. He had a dark blue eyes with short black hair, and a wonderful fashion sense.

"If you get lost I'll just have another son." A woman with short brown hair said with a nonchalant tone, and she appears to be Takeru's mother.

"Ah!" Pointing at the man, Misaki exclaimed. "Hyoudo Aoi!"

"How did you..." The man looked up at Misaki, then had his eyes wide open. "Ah! The lavender wedding couple!"

"Oh la la." Takumi said.

"What a small world." Takeru's mother commented.

"Wow. Who knew, we would meet again at this place." Chuckling, Misaki felt the wonders of the invisible force of the universe.

"I'm shocked too." Nodding and smiling, Hyoudo Aoi continued. "By the way, this is my wife Honoka."

"Nice to meet you, I am Takeru's mother." Politely, Honoka greeted.

"I'm Usui Misaki, Ruri's mother and your husbands client. He designed my husband and I's wedding attire." Misaki introduced herself.

"I'm Usui Takumi. Ruri's father." Takumi greeted back.

"Ohhh, so you two are Ruri's parents. Please take good care of Takeru." Honoka then bent down and greeted Ruri. "Hello, Ruri. I am Takeru's mother."

"Nice to meet you, I am Usui Ruri." Shyly, Ruri greeted with a small bow.

"Ruri, come closer to me." Honoka gestured to Ruri. "Did you know Takeru really fancies you?"

"Fancy?" When Ruri hears the word 'fancy' she can only think of cats wearing large ribbons.

"Please take good care of Takeru." Smiling at the rumored Ruri, Honoka understood why her son was captured by this little girl since the first they he saw her.

"Wow, who knew." Looking at Takumi, Misaki commented. "Does this make you feel a tiny bit better?"

"This does not excuse anything or anyone." With his sharp eyes, Takumi glaced at Takeru.

Staring at her husband with disbelief, then shifting her sight on the chaotic scene in front of her, Misaki released a deep sigh. Resuming back to the day she first encountered Takumi, the Misaki in the past probably never imagined a life with parenting chaos and fatherly jealousy. However, Misaki did have one thing she wanted to say to Takeru. Looking at the little boy, Misaki thought to herself, "Hang on, Takeru".

Confetti Cake

The sound of birds chirping entered the ears of a gorgeous man. Out of his habit, he turned around and searched for the sunshine of his life.

"Hm?" Feeling the empty spot on his left hand, Takumi slowly opened his eyes. His left hands were still searching for Misaki's warmth. "Misaki?"

Slowly opening his eyes, Takumi rubbed the sandman's spell away from his eyes. He looked towards his left, the place where Misaki usually appears in the morning. Then he looked on his right, the digital alarm clock displayed 7:49 AM.

Standing up, Takumi stretched his stiff body as he got off the large bed. The fact that Misaki didn't wake up beside him urged Takumi to search for his lovely wife. "She's probably in Ruri or Umi's room."

Approaching the door, Takumi heard a tiny bumping sound coming from the other side of his door. Squinting his eyes, Takumi felt his fatherly instincts alarming. Without any hesitation, Takumi swung the door wide open.

"Oh no..." With her soft voice, Ruri exclaimed.

Appearing in front of Takumi was a scene of scattered little pieces of papers on the floor, his wife standing awkwardly at the side, his son holding an ukulele, and his daughter sitting on the floor.

"Errr..." Not knowing what to do, Umi strummed the first chord on the string instrument. "Happy~"

"Birthday to you~" Misaki joined Umi in singing.

"Happy Birthday to you~" Ruri sang as she stood up from her sitting position.

"Happy Birthday dear father/ papa/ Takumi" The three members of the Usui household sang together. "Happy birthday to you!"

From the floor, Ruri grabbed a handful of color tiny papers, that were supposed to be confetti, and threw it in the air. Misaki and Umi also bent down and joint Ruri in trying to fix their failed birthday surprise. Seconds before Takumi opened the door, Ruri had a light trip and spilt all the confetti on the floor. Indeed, this day was April 27, Takumi's birthday.

"Hahahahahahahahahahaahahahhaha" Unable to hold in his laughter, Takumi bursted into laughter. Though Takumi did not have the intention to laugh at his wife and children, but he found their effort on trying to save the situation more than just funny.

"What's so funny, papa?" Ruri asked with a slight frown.

"I've never felt such level of shame." Umi murmured to himself.

"S-Surprise!" Misaki excitedly said as she tried to hide her embarrassment.

"Thank you." Smiling at his family, Takumi opened his hands and captured the three most important people in his life in a hug. "Thank you for starting my day with such a warm surprise."

Thus, Usui Takumi's full day birthday celebration began.

The best way to start a festive day is with an awesome breakfast, and that's exactly what Takumi received as his first present. When Takumi arrived to the dining room, he saw a delicate plate of eggs benedict sitting on the table. The bright yellow hollandaise sauce that dripped down the sides of the perfectly poached eggs was as beautiful as the morning sun. On a side note, the person who poached the eggs and made the hollandaise sauce was Umi, since Misaki is known for her incapabilities in the kitchen. Luckily, Umi inherited his father's cooking skills. To give Misaki credit, she toasted the English muffin.

"Sir, please have a seat." Pulling a chair out, Umi gestured.

"Would you like juice or tea?" As if she was a waitress, Ruri asked.

"Thank you, I would like some tea." Takumi answered his daughter.

"Mama! Papa wants tea." Running towards the kitchen, Ruri disappeared from Takumi's sight.

"Who would have expected, I would look forward to birthday celebrations." Smiling like an idiot, Takumi mumbled to himself. Even after years of marriage, Takumi still questions if he truly deserves Misaki and everything Misaki gave him.

"Papa!" Walking slowly with a serving tray in her hands, Ruri stared at the cup of lukewarm tea in front of her. "H-Here is y-yo-your t-t-t-tea."

"Let me hold it for you." Takumi was about to stand up from his seat, when a voice stopped him.

"No! You have to sit down!" Raising her voice, Ruri stopped her walking motion and stared at her father with her large round eyes. "It's your special day!"

"Understood." Nodding and smiling, Takumi carefully watched his daughter walking towards the dining table as if she was walking on wire.

"Please enjoy." Pushing the tray in front of her father, Ruri's eyes glowed with accomplishment.

"Thank you." Receiving the tea from his daughter, Takumi felt relieved that nothing terrible happened.

Not long after tea was served to Takumi, the rest of the Usui household also joined Takumi with their own breakfast. Though everyone had eggs benedict, Takumi's plate of eggs benedict was extra special since Umi decorated the his father's breakfast with vegetable and fruit carvings.

"So what's on my birthday agenda, Ms. Secretary?" Raising one of his eyebrows, Takumi turned to Misaki and asked. Finishing his question, Takumi then placed the last bite eggs benedict in his mouth.

"Ahem!" Rolling along with Takumi, Misaki sat up in straight posture and adjusted her speech orientation. "Well, according to this tiny little schedule book, first we shall make a small trip to a national park to spend some quality family time viewing spring flowers, then a lunch in one of the most well-reviewed cafe in the city will take place at 11:30. Following the lunch, we shall accompany our mighty Usui Takumi to a coffee and tea fair."

"Splendid schedule!" Slowly clapping his hands, Takumi replied.

"Then, shall we proceed to our schedule?" Smiling, Misaki asked.

Without any delay, the whole Usui family went through their morning routine and dressed in the attire that flattered their appearance the most. Hopping into the car Misaki drove, the Usui household was ready to have a blast on Takumi's birthday, which they did. Misaki spent the last few weeks planning for Takumi's birthday celebration. She designed everything according to Takumi's likings and tried to keep things low key and humble since she knew Takumi can be uncomfortable with excessive attention at the schedule wasn't filled anything extraordinary, Takumi enjoyed every event on the agenda; including Ruri's spontaneous musical creations during traffic jams.

"Thank you for planning all this for me." On the car ride back home, Takumi said to Misaki. "I never knew a birthday celebration can bring me such happiness."

"You sure you really don't mind dinner at home?" While keeping her eyes on the road, Misaki asked. "Sorry, all of your favorite restaurants were booked full."

"It's a weekend, everyone wants to eat out, so don't apologize. As long as I get to spend this special day with my favorite people on this planet, plain rice can taste like truffles." Resting his head on his wife's shoulders, Takumi said.

"Dad, that's really dangerous." Umi whom was in the second roll of the car warned his father.

"Yep, sorry. Bad example." Sitting back up straight, then Takumi whispered to Misaki. "I should keep all this lovey dovey stuff in our bedroom."

"Stop it! I need to focus!" Gripping onto the steering wheel, Misaki warned the alien from planet pheromone next to her.

After parking the car in the garage, all the members of the Usui household hopped off the car and was ready to discuss what they could make for dinner with the limited groceries in their fridge.

"Do you think we have enough vegetables to make some stir fry?" Misaki asked as she passed the house key to Takumi.

"The last person who checked the fridge wasn't me." Receiving the key from Misaki, Takumi proceeded to unlock his home door.

Unlocking the door and swinging the usual large wooden door open, the scene that was about to be revealed in front of Takumi's emerald eyes is nothing close to ordinary.

"Surprise!" A loud call alerted Takumi the moment he turned on the lights. From a distance the sound of a balloon popping could be heard.

"Wow." Shocked, Takumi looked at all the people whom somehow intruded his house. All of his family and close friends were standing in his living room.

"Happy birthday to you!" All of the guest within the house exclaimed. Among the faces in the crowd, familiar faces such as Hinata, Suzuna, Mr. and Mrs. Ayuzawa, Hirose Yuu, and Patricia Walker.

"T-T-Thank you..." Combing his fingers through his blonde streaks, Takumi felt overwhelmed by the festive atmosphere. From his lonely memories of birthdays in his childhood, Takumi has trouble comprehending the emotions going through his mind. After meeting Misaki, he began to celebrate his birthday, however, this was the first time with so many family and friends involved.

"Just for your information, we are not illegal intruders." With a serious tone, Hinata explained. "Misaki gave us a spare key to the house so we can prepare this dinner party. Don't sue us, please."

"No worries, my wife is an awesome lawyer. Right, Haru-chan?" Suoh Tamaki turned around and looked at his poker faced wife. "Papa is so proud of you."

"Ok." Suoh Tamaki's wife, Fujioka Haruhi didn't make any comment. She just silently wondered when her husband will drop the father and daughter thing that has been going on since high school.

"Stop showing off your wife, my wife is better." Glaring at Suoh Tamaki, Takashima Kei added. "Hikari is the best."

"I thought this was a birthday party, not a stupid husband gathering." Kurosaki snorted, then murmured to himself. "No one can beat Teru."

"Thank you." A simple phrase, yet radianted with sincerity. Takumi's simple words quieted down the noisy crowd. His generous smile warmed up the slightly chilly spring night.

"Why are we not letting the actual owners of the house enter?" The deep and familiar voice of Hirose Yuu entered the ears of Takumi. Naturally, the crowd made a pathway for Hirose Yuu to walk towards his own son. "We've got champagne, so why not let the party begin?"

Despite the objective of the party was to celebrate Takumi's birthday, the home party eventually became a lively family and friends gathering. Surprisingly, the living room of the Usui household had just enough room to fit all of the guests. Under the teamwork of Mr. Ayuzawa and Hirose Yuu, the food and beverages of the home party was extraordinary. Though the decorations raised a few questions, since Suzuna and Hinata were the ones incharge. Ignoring the details, the party was a success.

Halfway through the party, Takumi sat in the corner of the living room and watched all his family and friends interacting with each other. Before Takumi witnessed this scene, he wouldn't believe that he had so many people that would spare their time and celebrate his birthday for him.

"Happy Birthday." The gentle voice of Patricia Walker pulled Takumi out of his deep thoughts.

"Hi, thank you for coming." Smiling at his biological mother, Takumi said. "Thank you for giving birth to me."

"We worked hard." While taking a seat on the left of Takumi, Hirose Yuu added.

"That was a little unnecessary." Sitting down on the right of Takumi, Patricia glared at Hirose Yuu.

"By the way, this is a gift from Gerald." From his pocket, Hirose Yuu took out a delicate box.

"Who would have thought, I would receive a birthday gift from Gerald Walker." Takumi chuckled as he received the box from his father.

"We didn't really know what to get you." Rubbing her fingers together, Patricia couldn't hide her anxiety. Despite the improvement in the relationship between her and Takumi, the guilt from the past still haunts her. "I hope you don't mind that I came to your birthday celebration."

"Without you, this celebration wouldn't be complete." Looking into Patricia's eyes, Takumi then held the pair of wrinkled hands that fidgeted. In replacement of words, Takumi hugged Patricia tightly.

Watching his scene, Hirose Yuu smiled from the bottom of his heart. "Misaki is perhaps the best daughter-in-law."

"That reminds me, where is my wife?" Resuming back to his original position, Takumi asked.

"I think she went to refill the crackers, in the kitchen, I guess." Patricia answered.

"I have some question to do." Standing up, Takumi placed his glass of whiskey on the table, then turned to his biological parents. "Enjoy the party."

In the kitchen, Misaki opened a new pack of salted crackers. She snuck a few pieces into her mouth as she refilled the crackers on the empty plate in her hands. Walking into the kitchen, leaned against the frame of the kitchen door and smiled. A smile so sweet, the air tasted like cotton candy.

Feeling a stare, Misaki turned her face towards the entrance of the kitchen and found her husband. The moment Misaki noticed Takumi, her auburn eyes lit up with excitement. Quickly swallowing the cracker in her mouth, Misaki then asked. "May I help you?"

"I have some questioning to do." Approaching Misaki step by step, Takumi alerted.

"I'm so scared. Hahahahaha." Sarcastically, Misaki replied.

"How dare you lie to me, Misa-chan." Embracing Misaki from the back, Takumi snuggled his face at the nape of Misaki's neck.

"Hahahaha... oh well." Chuckling, Misaki placed the crackers on the plate into a presentable manner. Washing the seasoning of the crackers of her hands, Misaki then turned around and faced her husband. "I just thought that, we never had a large and festive celebration for you."

"..." Putting his chin above Misaki's head, Takumi didn't say anything.

"Look at me." Moving her head away, Misaki placed both of her hands on Takumi's face. "I know you still feel insecure towards many things and you question whether or not you deserve the things you have."

"..." Takumi remained silent as he felt the warmth transmitted from Misaki's hands.

"I want to let you know, you are a wonderful person. You deserve everything you have, so please don't sabotage yourself because of your past." Having insecurities is something inevitable, and Misaki understands that. However, she wanted to use Takumi's birthday as an opportunity to relieve some of the insecurities within him.

"What did I do to deserve you?" Kissing Misaki on the lips, Takumi asked. Though Takumi never hides anything from Misaki, he felt that his insecurities may be a burden. Misaki is a observant person, and Takumi is fully aware of it; but he never expected that Misaki would prepare so many things just to relieve some of the insecurities.

"Allow me to ask the same rhetorical question too." Wrapping her arms tightly around Takumi's waist, Misaki enjoyed the little moment they shared.

Sweet as Candy, Longlasting like Honey

After all the family and friends left the Usui household, Takumi felt slightly dizzy from all the drinking he's done in the night. Though he wasn't drunk he was close to tipsy, which magnified his desire to sleep evenmore. .

"You should go sleep first, I'll tuck Ruri and Umi to sleep." Carrying the half asleep Ruri whom was resting on the sofa, Misaki said.

"Sorry, I should be the one to help." Unable to fight the chemicals, Takumi knew if he carried Ruri, it would be extremely dangerous.

"Don't worry, you're the birthday boy today." Smiling, Misaki said to Takumi.

"Thank you." Kissing his wife on the cheeks, Takumi said. "But leave the dishes for me to wash tomorrow, ok?"

"Don't worry, go take your rest." Returning the kiss, Misaki replied.

"Mama... can I not shower today..." Rubbing her head against Misaki's neck, Ruri asked. "I'm so ti..red..."

"You still have to, don't worry I will help you." Carrying her daughter upstairs, Misaki called out to her son. "Umi is it ok if you shower after Ruri?"

"No problem!" Umi cheerfully replied.

"Also, thank you for putting all the dirty utensils and dishes into the kitchen sink." Stopping halfway of her journey upstairs, Misaki didn't forget to appreciate the help of her son.

Half asleep Ruri literally slept in the bathtub as Misaki helped her shower. In a sense, for Ruri to be able to remain asleep while taking a shower, it should be considered as a talent. After the shower, Misaki tucked Ruri to sleep, or just simply placing Ruri in the bed since she consciousness flew to la la land long ago. Returning back to the living room, Misaki quickly hurried Umi to go take a shower and sleep. Once Umi disappeared from the living room, Misaki began her cleaning session. Looking at the mess caused by the birthday gathering, chuckled as she recalls all the hilarious moments tonight. Tieing her silky black into a ponytail, Misaki rolled up her sleeves and went to work right away. Without failing her efficient reputation, Misaki completed the clean up on the living room within 40 minutes, then she proceeded to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

"That's a lot of dishes." Looking at the pile in the sink, Misaki commented. "Let's do this!"

While washing the dishes, Misaki tried to minimize the amount of noise she was making. After all the rest of her family was sound asleep. In addition, it would be a hassle if Takumi wakes up and finds her washing the dishes; since he reminded her to leave the dishes to him.

"I'll just leave this one dish, so he can't scold me for stealing his job." Misaki said to herself as she placed one tiny dirty dish in the sink.

By the time Misaki was done with the clean up, it was already 30 minutes past midnight. Soundlessly, Misaki returned back to the master bedroom and took an extremely silent bath. Coming out of the shower with her half damp hair, Misaki decided not to use the hair dryer. While Misaki did her nightly skin care routine, she looked at her engagement ring that sat in the box on her makeup counter. Due to the fear of breaking the glass ring, Misaki only wears her wedding ring on important occasions.

"So many memories" Taking the ring out of the box, Misaki thought to herself.

Various flashbacks entered her mind. In the past, she used to view the bizarre things that happened between her and Takumi as the unnecessary events that disrupted her peaceful life. However, after years of marriage, those memories evolved into lovely pieces of candy that fills up her jar named life.

Sitting on the bed, Misaki observed Takumi's sleeping face. Despite the years they spent together, she hasn't grown tired of watching his sleeping face. Looking at her husband's sleeping face, Misaki can't understand how aging didn't take away a single bit of Takumi's handsomeness. In fact, every wrinkle he has only enhances the appeal of a mature man.

"Alien from planet pheromone..." Lightly, Misaki pinched Takumi's nose as a small little revenge for having such attractive features.

Misaki always believed that time is a parallel factor, a factor that cannot be interfered by any force. People can try to extend their contract with time through swallowing the colorful medical pills, but in the end time will still lead send you on the final journey. Time is the true eternity. While hopeless romantics would like to believe that love will last forever, Misaki interpreted those emotions as a mixture of responsibility and habit. However, as she spent more time with Takumi, Misaki began to believe, Takumi is her eternity.

"Thank you." Whispering gentle words into Takumi's ears, Misaki then placed a soft kiss on the Takumi's lips. "My eternity."

"Did you know honey is the only food that last for eternity?" Opening one of his closed eyes, Takumi asked.

"You're not asleep?!" Flinching backwards, Misaki's face turned from her healthy cream color into neon red. From her sitting position on the bed, Misaki slipped down to the floor.

"I'm asleep again, so continue what you were doing." Closing both of his eyes again, Takumi teased.

"Ahhhhhh..." Covering her face as she shrinks herself on the floor, Misaki didn't know how to cope with the embarrassment. Instead of facing Takumi, Misaki slowly rolled under the bed.

"Hahahahaha" Switching to his side, Takumi watched as his wife attempted to hide herself under the bed. With one hand reaching to the bottom of the bed, Takumi gently pulled Misaki's out of the bed. "Some things never change."

"...I don't know why I'm so embarrassed. We've been married for so long..." With both of her hands covering her face, Misaki's words weren't the clearerst. However, the mumbles were clear enough for Takumi to understand.

"Misaki, show me your face." With a gentle tone, Takumi pleaded.

"No." Misaki replied, once again she tried to roll back down under the bed.

"Misa-chan." Suddenly, Takumi lowered his voice, created a killer frequency that made Misaki blush even redder.

"Urrghh..." Misaki couldn't fight against Takumi, she slowly unraveled her face from her palms.

"Good girl." With one hand on the floor to support his weight, Takumi leaned down from the bed to the floor and gave Misaki a deep kiss on the lips.

"..." After Takumi pulled away from the kiss, Misaki could only smile with embarrassment. "After all these years, you are still a sadist."

"Thank you, my eternity." Chuckling, Takumi replied. With a soft move, Takumi pulled Misaki up on the bed.

"..." Sitting on the bed, face to face to Takumi, Misaki smiled and leaned her forehead against Takumi's forehead. "Happy Birthday."

"My life would be incomplete without you." Takumi confessed from the bottom of his heart.

"Mine too." Smiling, Misaki replied.