Twilight picked himself up, then crouched down, retrieved Richie from where he had been flung, and cradled him in his arms.
Yor blushed and rubbed her fingers together. "Well, as an extension of our arrangement..."
"Actually, for a woman my age, being single makes it easy to fall under suspicion, so I'd like to get married to avoid that." It was also so she could continue working as an assassin.
"So, if you're willing, instead of only pretending during the interview, could we actually start a family?" Yor's cheeks were bright red. As a young woman, she felt rather embarrassed saying something like that herself.
Twilight Dad crouched on the ground, staring up at Yor in a daze. Could I really be this lucky?
Yor continued, "This would benefit both of us." Surely he's the only person willing to accept someone like me as I am now!
Richie struggled free of Twilight's arms and bounced excitedly on the ground. "Marry him! Marry him! Marry him! Marry him!!! Marry him..."
Richie clapped as he bounced. "Marry him!!!"
The enemies: You sneaky bastards are acting like we don't exist.
Richie was beside himself with excitement. The iconic scene was coming! Ahahahaha!
Twilight was still a little dazed. Everything had happened so quickly that he could barely process it. His good fortune had come so suddenly.
Twilight quickly collected himself, stood up, and said solemnly, "Then let's stop by the marriage registry on the way home to complete the paperwork!"
Richie's eyes sparkled. "Mother, that's what you call skipping dating entirely and going straight to motherhood! Congratulations!"
The blush had yet to fade from Yor's cheeks. "Huh? We're going right now?"
Twilight straightened his clothes a little and held out his hand to Yor. "No time like the present. Ah, right."
Twilight reached into his pocket for the large diamond ring he had swiped from the artwork earlier. After fumbling around for a while, he found a hole in his pocket.
Twilight felt a little disappointed. Where did it fall out?
Richie grinned toothily. "Hehehe." He held up the diamond ring. "Is this what you're looking for, Father?"
Twilight looked puzzled. "How did you get it? I thought I'd dropped it somewhere."
Richie placed the diamond ring in Twilight's hand. "Father, I was worried you'd lose the diamond ring you were going to propose to Mother with, so I took care of it for you ahead of time. Aren't I capable?"
Richie blinked his big eyes, looking eager for praise.
Twilight stroked Richie's little head and said fondly, "Thank you, Richie. If you hadn't kept it safe for me, I really would have lost it."
"But didn't you take my ring because you wanted to play with it in secret? Why else would you take it? Unless you can see the future and knew my pocket would tear?"
Twilight assumed Richie had only wanted to play with the ring and had saved it by sheer coincidence. It was a blessing in disguise.
A bolt of lightning flashed through Richie's mind. Twilight Dad's powers of observation are so sharp! He's figured me out!
Richie couldn't very well admit he could see the future. He could only scratch his head sheepishly and pretend he had taken the ring to play with it all along.
A shout of "Bastards!" rang out. The enemies had found them.
"They're right here! They can't get away!"
Every enemy carried a loaded gun. Ahead lay the end of a narrow alley, leaving the three of them nowhere to run.
Twilight scooped Richie up under one arm and gently drew Yor close with the other, taking cover behind a metal box.
Once Yor and Richie were safely under cover, Twilight braved the hail of bullets to take a grenade from one of the dead enemies.
"Hurry, kill them!"
Richie giggled. "Those people behind us are even using guns to force you into marriage! Father, hurry up and propose!"
Twilight pulled the pin from the grenade, threw it toward the enemies, and dropped to one knee. "Miss Yor, whether in sickness or sorrow, no matter what hardships we face..."
Richie's eyes shone, his expression radiant. Standing between Twilight and Yor, he watched Twilight kneel on one knee and propose to her.
BOOM! With a deafening blast, all the enemies behind the metal barrier went off to have tea with God.
Twilight slipped the diamond ring onto Yor's finger and continued, "We'll face them together."
Richie's mouth hung open in awe. What a happy pair of newlyweds.
His wish to see the iconic scene of Twilight proposing amid an explosion had been fulfilled, and so had his wish for Twilight to give Yor a real ring. There truly were no regrets left.
Richie felt dazed and floaty, hardly knowing what to make of it all.
As the dust stirred up by the explosion settled, Yor's heartfelt smile emerged. "I do."
Richie was even more excited than Yor and Twilight. It was as though Twilight were proposing to him instead of Yor. It was just too sweet.
Richie took a reserved step forward. "Father, Mother."
Twilight was still basking in the joy of being able to make further progress on his mission. As long as my spy missions can continue.
Yor was secretly delighted too. As long as my assassination missions can continue.
Richie sniffled in the cold. Elegant, elegant, truly elegant!
The bright crescent moon cast its glow, yet it could not wash away the darkness in the alley's corners.
Twilight and Yor parted ways and went to their respective homes.
When Twilight arrived at his front door carrying the sleeping Richie, Anya was still awake.
"Father, you're back."
Anya eagerly opened the door. Her eyes were heavy with sleep after waiting so long for Twilight in the living room.
"Father, Richie is asleep..." Before Anya could finish, she snapped wide awake, because she saw another Richie nestled in Twilight's arms.
"Big brother Richie-why is there another one here? Two big brother Richies!!"
Anya was utterly bewildered. Richie was truly amazing. There were actually two of him.
Twilight once again chided Anya for talking nonsense. "Anya, what are you saying now? How could there be two Richies?"
Supporting Richie, Twilight tiptoed toward Richie's room.
Richie shifted restlessly in Twilight's arms, searching for a comfortable position.
"Father, big brother Richie fell asleep." Anya meant that Richie had already fallen asleep at six, yet now another Richie had appeared, also asleep.
Twilight nodded and said softly, "That's right, Richie's asleep. Anya, you should go to bed too."
After they entered Richie's room, Anya wanted to see whether Father would be surprised to discover two Richies.
The light in Richie's room was off. By the moonlight and the light from the living room, Twilight carefully tucked Richie in.
Anya craned her neck. There's only one Richie! When did Richie go out? Why didn't he take Anya along?
Twilight thought, Richie's sleepwalking has been so bad lately. What causes children to sleepwalk, anyway? Have I not been giving him enough attention lately? Or could it be...?
Anya stood in a somewhat dark little corner, wearing the sly expression of someone who had just uncovered some juicy gossip. So that's it! Big brother Richie sleepwalks! Looks like Anya can have lots of fun with sleepwalking big brother Richie from now on. Hehehe.
Before you continue