Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ An American Boy in Tokyo ❯ A surprise for Mina ( Chapter 16 )

The next morning, I woke up, and almost thought it was all a dream. That is until Mina's hand moved on my chest. Her head was still resting on my shoulder. I pulled up the blankets a little bit and smiled as I watched her sleeping. She snuggled into my arm a little more and a smile passed over her face. Finally she opened one eye and smiled up at me reaching up and kissing me.

"I almost thought it had been a dream." She said snuggling even closer to me. "A very nice, romantic dream."

"Tell me about it, then I woke up and found out that it was really just a dream come true." I smiled at her and squeezed her close for a second before climbing out of bed and pulling my sweats on. I lit a cigarette and sat down in the chair beside the bed, as Mina laid there and kept looking over at me. That's when the door opened and we heard her dad's voice from upstairs.

"Anyone home?" He asked. I quickly put the leg brace back on my leg and put out the cigarette, popping a breath mint in my mouth. I then messed up the blankets on the cot and turned hobbling upstairs while Mina was quickly trying to get dressed.

"How's it going, sir?" I replied. "Mina's downstairs, she'll be up in a minute." He smiled and looked at me strangely.

"Long night?" He asked. I smiled and chuckled, before nodding.

"I can't lie, sir, yeah." I said. He kept smiling and nodded.

"Is, uh, this the first time?" He asked.

"Yes sir, up until last night we slept on completely different sides of the room." I said just as Mina walked upstairs and winced, recovering before she came up.

"Morning Daddy, what brings you here?" She asked.

"Well, you didn't answer your cell phone, and I was wondering if something was wrong...Mina, I don't want to lecture you, but are you sure you know what you're doing?" He asked.

"Um, maybe we should sit down for this." I said. "I'll be right back." I went downstairs and got my cigarettes, relighting the one I had started earlier.

"You smoke?" He asked. I nodded.

"Given the extremely stress related conditions under which I met your daughter for the first time, I picked up the habit, yeah." I replied.

"Do you ever lie, son?" He asked. "You know that too much honesty can be bad for your health." He smiled. I joined him in the joke before walking over to close the door. "Anyway, are you alright talking about it?" He asked her. She looked up at me for a second, I nodded.

"Yeah, daddy, I'm fine." She said.

"Okay, good, because as of today, you're officially a woman, and I was hoping we could talk things out like adults." He said. She smiled nervously. "I was just wondering what you plan on doing in the event you get pregnant." He asked.

"Well, we never really talked about that." She said. "It's just that, when I thought of him dying in the hospital, I didn't want to have any regrets." She said. He smiled and nodded.

"You are so much like your mother." He said. "And as for you, young man, are you a man of your word?"

"Yes sir, I have a plot line formulating as we speak." I said winking at him as he stood up and I sat down. He smiled and started walking to the door.

"I just hate having to give up my little girl." He said. "Should I plan on moving the rest of your things over here?" He asked smiling slightly.

"We'll talk about it." She smiled back at him. "So you're not mad?"

"A little concerned, I mean, you've wanted to go to this college and work up to professional volley ball for a while, and I hate seeing you risk a dream's failure."

"I know, Daddy," she replied, "but this is another dream, much more meaningful, and much more rewarding than professional volley ball could ever have been." She replied.

"Or, you know, you could do both." I said. "I can always take my inventions on the road if necessary."

"Well, I'll let you two hammer out the details, while I go home and try to keep your mother from hyperventilating."

"Um, Daddy, could you please explain to her that we've already got the wedding plans lined out?" She asked.

"Wow, that was fast." He said.

"Well, when Alex and I first met, he was telling us about his dream wedding, and showing us some sketches he had made. Daddy he was describing the same wedding I used to tell you and Mom about." She said. He smiled and looked at me.

"It must be fate, Mina, you've got a keeper, don't let him go." He said. "If you've ever taken any advice from me seriously, let it be that piece."

"I'll remember that, thank you, Daddy." She said as he left. Afterwards, that afternoon, we were convened at the Ice Cream place each of us had selected our personal favorite, I had ordered for Mina, and was very edgy the whole time we were there.

"Alex, are you okay?" Serena asked, staring at me. "You seem pretty jittery." She said. I forced a smile.

"Well, um, it's just that, well I have to admit, I'm a bit nervous about facing them again, you know?"

"Oh come on, Alex, the guy got a lucky break, and Jackson gave you a new set of armor, even more powerful than your last one, next time you'll be ready for him."

"Ow!" Mina shouted pulling her spoon out of her mouth. "Something's in my Ice Cream. She spit it out into her hand and I snatched it before she got a good look at it, standing up and glaring at the counter.

"I'm gonna go lodge a complaint." I said starting off. Then I stopped as I looked at it, and took a few deep breaths before turning back around and maintaining my calm demeanor. "Actually, you know what this looks like?" I asked. Looking confused. I slipped a quick wink at the others before Mina turned around.

"What, Alex?" She asked. I got down on one knee in front of her and held it out.

"This looks like an engagement ring to me." I said shrugging, before a smile started spreading across my face. "You know, maybe it's just me, but I think I remember hiding it there." I said. She dropped her spoon to the ground with a clattering sound. "You know, Mina, I've only been here for about three months, almost four months, and a lot of people I know would say that's pretty quick on the draw to propose to someone, but in light of recent events, and the fact that I've been madly in love with you for years, I just couldn't hold back any longer." I said. "So, basically, what I'm trying to ask you is, will you marry me?" I finished. To this day I don't know who's reaction was better, Mina's, or Serena's. Mina was silenced by the tears that were now streaming freely down her face as she held her hands over her mouth, and after a few failed attempts to say yes, she nodded finally and held out her hand as I slipped the engagement ring on her finger. The few other people sitting out there with us all broke out into a round of applause as she bent down and kissed me. Finally I climbed back up and sat back down beside her.

"Nervous about facing them again?" Raye asked, smiling. "Is that your first lie? Because you have a natural talent for it." She said.

"Oh, don't listen to her, she's just jealous." Darien said. "Excellent job, Alex, when did you plan this?" I shrugged.

"This morning." I said shrugging and lighting a cigarette, my hands were still shaking so bad I couldn't hold the lighter. Darien finally laughed and took it from me holding it for me. "Thank you." I said. "I don't have a pillow to scream into."