"Haruhiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

The sound of Tamaki's voice cut into Haruhi's very consciousness, and she rolled over and grumbled, pulling the covers up over her head. She wanted to stay in the cozy world of their bed a little longer, but Tamaki seemed to be set against that. There was only a moment of quiet before he tried again.

"Haruhi, Haruhi, Haruhi! Wake up, my darling!" with a jerk, the covers flew away from her body under his hand, and she grumbled some more.

"Leave me alone, Tamaki…" she growled dangerously, struggling to pull the downy yellow quilt out of his hands and back over her rather scantily clad body. Even on such a warm spring morning with the sunlight streaming in through the curtains Tamaki had just opened, she was still clothed in nothing but Tamaki's Kuma-chan t-shirt and the air felt a bit chilly against her bare legs.

"But it's time to get up, my dear!" Tamaki wailed, and she could visualize the look of distress on his face. "We have so many wondrous things to do today!"

"I'm tired," Haruhi deadpanned, shoving her head under the pillow. "You kept me up really late last night. Can't you at least give me some time to sleep it off before you drag me off somewhere?" she was certainly not in the mood to deal with his antics; she was cold, she was tired, and her hand was stuck against her head because her wedding ring had somehow gotten tangled in her hair.

"Don't deny that you enjoyed it…" the sinuous words slipped out in French, and she could feel his breath, warm against the nape of her neck, as he leaned down close and rubbed lightly at her back. "The way you were moaning--"

"Stop it," Haruhi snapped, blushing faintly. She was glad he couldn't see her face. "Where are you trying to take me, anyway?"

"For a walk, that's all," Tamaki whined softly. "The cherry blossoms are coming in, and I figured since we finally have a day off from school, I could see them with you!"

"You're going to be graduating in a week," Haruhi reminded him. "Shouldn't you be using your time off to study for exams? What if it's my fault you don't get into the college you want? Your grandmother would be furious."

"Then let her be furious!" Tamaki declared passionately, pulling at the t-shirt she wore. "I don't care if I get into a good college or not. I have you, and you are the only thing I'll ever need!"

"That's silly," Haruhi told him, though she grinned widely, out of sight. "I'm not going to be able to pay all of our bills by myself, so if you can't get a good job, then we'll end up in debt." the word had a cold chain of bitterness involving her debt with the now nonexistent Host Club, but since Tamaki had paid it off for her at the beginning of the school year just before they had gotten together, she could laugh about it now.

"Oh, stop being so practical!" Tamaki giggled as finally she sat up, rubbing at her tired eyes and reaching for her contacts. "Have a little fun once in a while! Be spontaneous!"

"I was spontaneous before," Haruhi reminded him. "And look where it got me."

"It got you happy," Tamaki's hand cupped her cheek and his thumb stroked gentle circles on the skin there. "Married to the man of your dreams with a perfect, happy family!"

"At too young of an age," Haruhi slid out of bed and turned her back on him, rummaging in the chest of drawers beside the bed and finding herself one of her own shirts, a pair of jeans, and a pink sweatshirt along with her underclothes. "I really would rather this whole thing could have waited. Don't get me wrong," she told him when she heard him whimper. "I'm happy. But still…"

"Still nothing," Tamaki argued. "This whole thing… is perfect. In a way, I think it was fate."

"You and your 'fate'," Haruhi said, laughing softly. "Maybe some things just… happen." Tamaki came up behind her as she pulled off her t-shirt and slid his hands down her bare sides to her hips. Haruhi shuddered slightly, turning her head to kiss him. "I thought you wanted to go for a walk."

"Everything happens for a reason," Tamaki told her, kissing her back hungrily. "And as for the walk… I'm sure that can wait," he whispered in French, and Haruhi shuddered.

"It's not fair, you pulling out your French on me," she growled.

"I know how sexy you think it is," there was laughter in Tamaki's voice as his hands traveled down her thighs. "I suppose that does make it unfair, doesn't it? I know it renders you absolutely powerless to resist me…"

"Do we really need to be doing this?" Haruhi asked with a sigh, her mind overtaking the signals her body was sending her for a moment. "You know where it got us before…"

"But we are 'safe' now, my love," Tamaki whispered against her ear. "And so nothing can go wrong, right?" Haruhi sighed, giving in and turning around to press her body against him. His tongue barely had time to trace across her lips before there was a faint cry from the next room.

"Sorry…" Haruhi stood on her tiptoes and kissed his forehead before dressing quickly. "Duty calls. You're just going to have to wait until later." Tamaki whined slightly, and Haruhi finished pulling on her sweatshirt and swatted him on the head. "No. No whining about it, senpai… period."

"Yes, dear," Tamaki said wistfully, following her like a lost puppy as she walked out of their bedroom and into the adjacent nursery. Kaoru Hitachiin was slumped in a chair beside the bassinette, obviously asleep, and from the small crib issued garbled cries. With Tamaki at her heels, Haruhi moved over to the source of the noise and lifted the small blonde toddler from his bed.

"Good morning, Antoine," she said tiredly, pulling the infant against her chest. "I see you wore Kaoru out…"

"Wh--what?" Kaoru mumbled sleepily, stirring and then sitting up a bit. "Did someone mention my name?" he rubbed his eyes for a moment and then sat up straight. "Wow… Antoine is one tough customer."

"Thanks for taking care of him last night," Haruhi said with a smile, bouncing her son a bit. "Tamaki-senpai and I really needed some alone time…"

"Yeah, I know you guys are insatiable," Kaoru laughed a bit. "It was no problem. But hey, Haruhi, do you really think adding the 'senpai' is necessary anymore? I mean… you guys are married and all. It just… seems a little weird to me."

"He's still my senpai," Haruhi pointed out, wincing as Antoine grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled. She wrestled the short brown locks from the baby's hand as she spoke. "Us being married doesn't change that."

"He has a point," Tamaki said thoughtfully, holding out his arms and smiling as Haruhi passed Antoine to him. He pressed kisses all over the baby's face and then lifted him in the air, zooming him around like a jet plane. Antoine, who had previously been displeased by not being the center of attention, began to giggle happily. "I wish you would just call me Tamaki more often!"

"Fine then, Tamaki, I'll work on it," Haruhi smiled slightly at his squeal of joy and leaned down to pick up Kuma-chan where he lay beside the crib, looking rather forlorn. She and Tamaki shared a secret smile, and Kaoru chuckled slightly.

"And that's my cue. I should get going. I don't want to disrupt your family time," the redhead said jovially, picking up his jacket from the chair.

"You're not disrupting it," Tamaki said, sounding mildly horrified. "You're part of it!"

"Thanks, tono. But still… I should be off. I've got a ton of stuff to do… Hikaru and I didn't finish our History project yet. I guess we should use this day off to get it done. So… I'll see you lovebirds later," Kaoru was already pulling on his jacket as he spoke. "Don't have too much fun without me."

"We're going for a walk," Tamaki said happily, waving at Kaoru's retreating back. "Oh Antoine, you look so cute in your bear pajamas!" As the front door closed and the small family was left alone in the house they shared, Haruhi smiled and watched Tamaki play with their son.

"Tamaki… about what I was saying before… I know we're too young but… in a way, I'm glad things turned out this way. The fact that it happened so early is just bittersweet, I guess."

"Like buttermilk!?" Tamaki asked, his eyes sparkling a little.

"Well… buttermilk isn't sweet," Haruhi told him, holding back laughter. "It's just bitter."

"But it's delicious! I want buttermilk pancakes now!" Tamaki declared, at which Antoine giggled as though his three-month-old brain could comprehend the concept of pancakes.

"Well… I can teach you how to make them after our walk. How about that?" Haruhi asked, and Tamaki whooped with joy.

"That sounds perfect!" Tamaki stopped whooshing Antoine around and fixed Haruhi with a puppy-dog stare that matched the baby's perfectly. When he made that face, his indigo eyes were nearly as large and Antoine's brown ones, and he was nearly irresistible. "Can we go right now?"

"Sure," Haruhi sighed happily and followed her babbling husband through the house and out the front door. Outside in the bright sunshine, the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and the family of three walked along admiring them, Antoine chewing on the string of Tamaki's Kuma-chan sweatshirt.

"This is amazing, Haruhi," Tamaki sounded a little enchanted. "Seeing the blossoms like this, and being with you, and Antoine… I'm just so happy."

"I'm happy too," Haruhi replied, giving him a bright smile. "Thank you, Tamaki. I didn't think… before… that things would ever end up like this. But… it's a good thing."

Tamaki stopped walking then and turned, holding Antoine in one arm and pulling Haruhi against his chest with the other. Grinning, Haruhi wrapped her arms around them both and leaned against her husband's warm body without a care in the world.

"I love you so much, Haruhi," Tamaki whispered reverently.

"I love you too," Haruhi told him with a smile, kissing Antoine's forehead and then standing on tiptoe to kiss Tamaki's. "Both of you."

Tamaki smiled warmly and took Haruhi's hand as she pulled back and they started onward down the sidewalk. Staring up at the sky, Haruhi could not help but smile at the warmth of the sun on her cheeks and of Tamaki's hand clasped around hers. With the innocent sound of Antoine's laughter making them both laugh as well, the small family held hands and headed onward into the bright and glittering expanse of their future.