Hello Again (Sequel)

Proposition

"I'll kill that son of a bitch, I swear I will!" Hikaru fumed as he paced the room. I was in a dining room chair with my knees pulled to my chest, sobbing. He stopped his ranting and looked at me. "A.J.! No, no, no. Don't cry, please don't cry," he pleaded. His arms were around me tight, even as I fought to wriggle out of them. "I'm not letting go," he stated firmly. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I should have been there, I shouldn't have left you. I should've protected you." His shoulders shook and his voice cracked. I grabbed his face in my hands and made him look at me. "Hikaru, it's not your fault, it's not!" I whimpered, desperately trying to wipe away his tears as they fell. "It is my fault! It is!" he insisted. I could do nothing to quiet his tears or constant apologizing. I only pulled him closer. His entire body wracked with every sob. He squeezed me tighter and buried his head in the crook of my shoulder and there was nothing I could do. Nothing at all but run my hands through his hair and tell him it was okay. It wasn't okay. It was horrible. We were both emotional wrecks.

"Mommy, Hik'ru, why ya cryin'?" Rose asked, standing in the archway between the dining room and the living room. Lily was hiding behind her fearfully. Hikaru looked over at them and grinned, tears still shining in his big olive eyes. "C'mere girls," I whispered, my voice hoarse from crying. They shuffled into the dining room nervously. Before I could say anything else, Hikaru pulled them both in his arms. "Lily, Rose...I'm your dad." Lily looked very confused, and Rose started crying. "Daddy!" she wailed, throwing her arms around his neck. He was in a state of klapsigelos* as he squeezed her tighter. "That's right," he breathed. Suddenly, there was a loud crack and the room went silent. We were all staring at Lily. She was shaking, and her hand was still raised. Hikaru had a small red hand-print on his face. "Lily-"

She cut her twin off, glaring at Hikaru the whole time. "Where were you?! You wasn't here! You not taked care of us, or Momma!! Momma was sad an' hurted, and we were too! Why you never wanted us?" she screamed. Hikaru opened his mouth and closed it over again, eventually lowering his head in shame. "Lily...I'm sorry. I didn't know," he whispered, letting her go. "I'm sorry, very sorry." Her fiery glare softened, and her resolve wavered, until she threw her arms around him, too. She buried her head in his chest and cried. "Don't leave us, Daddy. Don't leave," she whimpered. "I'm not going anywhere," he promised. I didn't know what to say, or do. I was left utterly speechless. Hikaru wasn't going anywhere, but the question was: did I want him to stay?

The girls were down for bed, and Hikaru was still here. We were sitting in the living room, him with a can of soda and me with a bottle of beer. We talked about what had happened to me after we broke up. He stared silently at the floor the whole time, but when I finished, he looked at me with resolve. "I want you to marry me, A.J. I want to move you and the girls out of here into a real house and raise them. I want to adopt both. I can argue all day that I have all right to Lily, but I want them both. And I want you." I stared back uncertainly. "I don't know if I can do that," I said after several moments of silence. "A.J.-"

"No, Hikaru!" I snapped. "I can't just jump back into a relationship, especially a marriage, with you when I haven't seen or heard from you in years. You've changed, I've changed...I need time." He nodded slowly and sipped at his drink. "Give me a month to find a house, you and the girls move in with me. We'll see how it goes. If it doesn't work out, you and the girls can keep the house. No conditions, no gimmicks," he said. I mulled over his offer for a long while, taking a heavy swig of Corona before I answered, "Deal."

**there isn't really a word in the English language for crying while laughing, so I used the Greek word klapsigelos for it