More Important Than Fear

by Reizbar-Ookami

One-Shot: When life knocks you down, you have to get right back up, and when it hands you lemons, you do your best to make lemonade. That's the way it's always been for Joey and he's not about to give up now just because he's been knocked down harder and the lemon he's been handed is bigger than any he's ever dealt with before. He'll persevere, like he always has.

Author's Note: Gosh, this took so long to write. But I'm quite pleased with the results here. It's… different from a lot of the things I've written, sort of like Feral is. But I think it's a good kind of different! Hopefully you guys will agree. ;3 I've been writing this for a month and a half and editing for the last week.

Enjoy!

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Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear. –Ambrose Redmoon

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More Important Than Fear

Joey took a deep breath, wringing his hands together nervously, then looked up at his friend and bit his bottom lip. "Yugi, can I borrow some money?" When the smaller boy looked up at him, shocked, he hurriedly added, "I'll pay ya back as soon as I can! My next few paychecks!"

"Uh, okay. Sure. How much do you need?" Yugi asked, pulling out his wallet.

The blond bit his bottom lip harder, then whispered, "…Two hundred and fifty dollars."

The younger boy physically recoiled. "Two hundred and fifty-! Why? What's going on? Are you in trouble?!" he asked quickly, eyes wide.

"Well, sorta—but not really, I mean…" Joey took a deep breath, then sighed, gripping his hands into tight fists as he looked down at his feet. "…I don't think so. I'll let ya know after… after I find out myself. And I'll pay ya back right away."

Yugi looked up at him in concern, brows furrowing together. "…I don't have that much," he finally answered. "I can only give you a hundred of my own money, because if I ask Grandpa for more, he'll want to know why, and you'd have to give him a good reason. I don't know what you need the money for, but it must be for a good reason, and I trust that you'll pay me back as soon as you can."

Joey felt tears beginning to form in his eyes, grateful and humbled as the smaller boy pulled two twenties out of his wallet and went to grab three more from his piggy bank. He didn't know how to tell him that he'd already gotten two hundred from Duke and had to pay it back. He hated that he had to go from friend to friend to make ends meet, but he didn't have enough money after paying bills and paying debts to cover this large expense.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"A hundred and fifty?" Tristan asked, frowning, as he bounced his nephew on his knee.

Joey felt sick to his stomach as he watched the baby gurgle and laugh. "…Yeah."

"Man, I just don't have that kind of cash." The other boy sighed and tilted his head, brows furrowing together.

Clearly, it was important, because Joey had never asked him for money so blatantly before, and when he'd dropped hints, he'd just given him the money. He'd never expected it back. He had a set of parents that supported him. He got money for babysitting his nephews every other Friday and Saturday and for his chores at home. Joey had money from his job and, rarely, after his father managed a gambling win and remembered that his son paid the bills.

He wanted desperately to give the blond all of the money he needed, but his parents were always leery of him because they believed Joey was the reason he'd been dragged into gang life for a while (and they were partially correct), so they wouldn't want him to lend the blond money. He could do without snacks after school and just eat the lunches his mother packed for him. He just wanted Joey to come out of this problem okay.

"…I only have thirty," he whispered, feeling terrible that it was only a fraction of what he needed. He hoped the money wasn't something he'd get shanked over. He just wanted Joey to be okay.

Joey smiled weakly. "Well, that's thirty more than I had. I'll pay ya back, Tristan. I promise."

"You don't have to do that, Joey. …I broke that pen you let me borrow the other day! Totally owe you for the pen!" Tristan exclaimed, smiling.

The blond's smile fractured for a second, just long enough for his oldest friend to see how stretched thin his spirit was, before his happy mask was back in place. "Aw, man, thanks. Now I hafta replace my fuckin' pen!"

The brunet's nephew smiled and burbled, "Fuh!"

Joey stared at the baby in horror, then shoved the brunet's window open and scampered outside and away.

Tristan reached after him desperately. "No Joey don't leave me with him like this my sister will kill me!"

"Fuh! Kiw! Fuh! Kiw!" the child crowed cheerfully.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey looked up at the white house in front of him and observed the nice green trim and shutters, then took a deep breath and walked up to the door. He brought his hand up to rap his knuckles on the door, then paused. After a few moments, he decided to ring the doorbell instead.

The woman that answered had brown hair tied up into a tight bun, and he forced a happy smile as her sharp green eyes examined him with obvious distrust. "Hey, Mrs. Gardener!"

"…I suppose you're here to see my daughter," she stated crisply, and he remembered why he never really came over here; while Tristan's parents made an effort to at least be cordial with him, Téa's did nothing to hide their disgust for the 'gangster' that their daughter hung out with.

"Uh… yeah," he answered, embarrassed to admit that his voice was softer and he felt incredibly small under her disgusted gaze. "If she's not busy or anything."

The woman slammed the door shut in his face, making him jump with eyes wide. 'Jesus Christ, lady, if I was gonna do anything bad t' your daughter I woulda done it already.' He shuddered. He could never do anything bad to Téa.

…She scared him.

A few minutes later, the door opened again, and he was relieved to see the familiar brunette standing there, a pleased smile on her face. "Hi, Joey! I just finished a new recipe for some cookies! You can be my guinea pig, because they look awful!" she laughed, opening the door to let him in. She paused, then turned a sharp look on her mother, who was hovering nearby. "Didn't you have some errands to run, Mom?"

"I'm not certain I'm comfortable leaving you here alone with a boy," she began, but her daughter cut her off.

"You let Yugi stay here alone with me all the time, Mom. Joey's a pussycat. You won't even know he's been here," Téa stated firmly, and apparently that was the end of the discussion, as the older woman huffed and walked out.

She paused outside the door to shoot a glare back at her. "I'm leaving because I do have errands, not because you told me to."

Téa smiled. "Of course you are, Mom."

Joey turned to watch her go to her car, then looked at his friend nervously. "Uh—"

"She's harmless. Come inside and have a cookie," the brunette ordered, smiling, and grabbed his hand so she could drag him inside. She knew her parents made Joey nervous, but her father was at least beginning to see that the blond wasn't as much of a thug as he'd first assumed.

He still didn't trust Joey, of course (what father did trust a boy with his only daughter?), but he didn't actively make Joey uncomfortable. He just checked on them as often as he could get away with and made small talk. Joey wasn't exactly comfortable with him, but he at least respected him for taking care of his daughter. That was more than he could say for Téa's mother.

She sat him down at the table and slammed down a big glass of milk in front of him, making him jump, then sat down across from him with a platter of awkwardly shaped, lumpy brown cookies. She smiled at him. "The dough tasted good, but I don't know about the finished products. It looks pretty bad."

"Uh—"

Téa's smile turned chilly. "Have a cookie, Joey."

Joey grabbed a cookie, shoved it in his mouth, and stared at her in terror as he munched on it. After a few seconds, though, he realized that even though the cookies didn't look good, they certainly tasted good, so he reached for another one. "Thanks."

Her smile returned to the usual warm one he was used to. "Oh, good. I'll figure out a way to make them look better next time, then. So, why are you here? You usually try to avoid my house like the plague."

"Oh. Uh." He blushed, suddenly embarrassed. He knew that she didn't have much money; besides, she was saving that money for college. He shouldn't have come here.

Sensing that something was wrong, she reached out and grabbed his hand, smiling encouragingly. "Joey, I'm your friend. You can say anything to me. I won't get mad." When he hesitated, she gave his hand a comforting squeeze.

Joey looked down at his lap, feeling like the shittiest friend ever and hating himself even more that she was even putting up with him because of friendship. "…I need a hundred and twenty dollars."

"Come with me to the bank and I'll get it for you," she replied swiftly.

Joey looked up at her, shocked. She didn't even ask why. And she was smiling at him. She was smiling at him so warmly that he felt that warmth building in his eyes until finally it condensed and he felt a tear of pure gratitude roll down his cheek. "I'll pay ya back, Téa. I promise. I'll pay ya back with interest—"

"Just… pay me back the one hundred and twenty and we'll call it even, Joey," she answered. She knew something must be wrong, but if he wanted her to know, he would have told her before he asked. So she just smiled, squeezed his hand again, and slid the platter of cookies closer to him.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Kenji Nakamura examined the papers in front of him with the intensity of a thousand suns. How the fuck did it keep happening that his people couldn't collect even the simplest loans? He missed the good old days when they could just break knee caps, chop off fingers, and threaten castration.

He looked up as he heard a knock on the door, then sighed in frustration as his right hand man walked in, a young man named Akira Satou who, despite his dark blue hair that he sometimes fashioned into a Mohawk, was the epitome of professionalism.

Akira bowed. "There's a boy named Wheeler here to see you."

"Mm." Kenji began moving his papers around, then let out an angry snarl. "I knew I was meeting with him today, so why the fuck can't I find—" He paused as Akira slid a folder in front of him, then scowled. "I'm getting predictable. How upsetting."

"Sorry, sir," Akira answered politely, despite them both knowing that he wasn't sorry at all.

The black-haired man muttered to himself and examined the loan and the payments that had been made faithfully each month. "I suppose if he wants to renegotiate his loans, that can be arranged," he murmured to himself, looking through a few pages to remind himself that because it was technically his father's loan that he'd been paying on, he wouldn't mind knocking off a few thousand dollars, simply because he'd been so prompt and exact in his payments.

"…Of course, sir," Akira answered again, then left the room to inform the blond he could enter. He followed him inside and shut the door behind them, interested to see his employer's reaction.

Kenji looked up from his folder to look at the blond. "I suppose you're here because of—what is that?"

Joey frowned awkwardly and bounced the baby in his arms. "It's a baby. …My baby."

Kenji felt rage for a fraction of a second before he was able to school his expression. "I see."

The blond gave the bundle of tiny-person a small squeeze, to comfort himself that even if these men killed him, they would take care of the child. "I… I know I'm s'posed t' pay for my dad's debts, but… but I also know that once I have a kid of my own, I don't hafta pay anymore. You'll go after my dad for the money, not me."

The older man took note of the child's size. "I would think that as soon as the baby was born, you'd be here to inform us of the change."

Joey flushed. "Ah—I didn't actually know she was pregnant. She just showed up one day and said the baby was mine and she didn't want it." He looked down at his feet. "I had a paternity test done. He's mine, for sure. I just… I just can't take care of him and pay back my dad's debt at the same time."

Kenji stared at him for several minutes, watching the blond shuffle awkwardly. "…How old is the child?"

"He's eight months."

"I see." The man pursed his lips, then glanced down at the folder in front of him. There was no way the blond had been able to afford a paternity test on his own. "…How much was the paternity test?"

"It—it was four-fifty." Joey bit his bottom lip. "I'll… My friends—It—I'll just figure somethin' out."

Kenji stared at him for several more minutes, watching the blond become more and more uncomfortable, then turned toward Akira. "Akira, please bring me four hundred and fifty dollars."

Joey's eyes widened. "What—But, I can't—"

"You are not going to make that child begin his life in debt," Kenji stated firmly. "Take the money, pay your friends back, and start life fresh."

The blond flinched a little, then sighed as the blue-haired man left to do as he'd been asked. "…Can I sit down please? He's heavy."

Kenji motioned toward the chair he knew to be more comfortable. "What's his name?"

"She said it was Atticus," Joey whispered, sighing in relief as he finally sat down and gave his arms a break. "I call him Atty."

"That's a nice name." He looked down to make a note of the boy's name and age. "Atticus Wheeler?"

"Yeah. She said that was his last name at the hospital. I guess she always planned on leavin' him with me," the blond muttered nervously.

"I see. Akira, put that money in an envelope so we can send Mr. Wheeler on his way. Make sure to spread the word that his responsibility on his loan is ended."

"Yes, sir," Akira replied, placing the money in an envelope and handing it to the blond. "Would you like me to walk you out?"

"Uh! No, that's okay!" Joey exclaimed, smiling awkwardly as he took the money. He bowed to them both, then scampered out.

Kenji laced his fingers together and placed his chin on them, chewing his bottom lip lightly in thought. "…Akira."

"Yes, sir?"

"…Have him followed and make sure they take note of how his friends respond. I want a report when the day is over." When the blue-haired man merely blinked at him, he smiled. "And put the word out that Joseph and Atticus Wheeler are under my protection. If anyone can make it out of poverty, I believe it's him."

Akira blinked, then smiled and bowed. "I'll see that it's taken care of, sir."

Once the man left, Kenji looked down at his notes, took in the payments Joey had made while he hadn't had the child, then began doing some math. He decided that the twenty-four hundred dollars he'd paid while the child had been alive would be an excellent belated birthday present for the baby.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey chewed his bottom lip nervously, reaching up to stroke Atticus's thin hair as he tried to steel his nerves. He glanced down at the envelope in the diaper bag, then swallowed thickly and stepped into the Turtle Game Shop. He flinched as the bell tinkled cheerfully, then forced a smile.

Yugi smiled at him brightly, saw the bundle in his arms, and paused, tilting his head curiously. "Hi… Joey."

Tristan, Duke, and Téa, hearing his name, turned to greet him. Tristan froze, eyes widening when he saw the baby. Duke blinked; he hadn't expected the baby to actually belong to the blond. He'd always seemed too noble to just sleep with someone and not talk to them again.

Téa almost jumped on him. "Oh, so cute! What's his name? Is he a cousin? What a beautiful little boy!"

Joey's smile turned awkward. "Er… Téa, he's mine."

"Your what?" she asked, too busy cooing over the baby, before what he said registered. She looked up at him sharply. "He's yours? Like, you had sex with someone, got her pregnant, and she had the baby?"

"…That's usually how someone's born…"

"Is this what you needed the money for?!" Tristan asked incredulously. "For child support?!"

"…I… needed the money for a paternity test," Joey answered haltingly, cheeks flushing in embarrassment and shame. "T' make sure he was actually mine."

"I want to hold him," Téa stated, and suddenly the blond realized the baby wasn't in his arms, but hers. He wondered if it was a girl thing that made it look so effortless. She smiled at the baby and began humming a slightly familiar tune as she walked the baby around the small shop. "How old is he, Joey?"

"Eight months, give or take a week. I'll know for sure when his ma finally gives me the fuckin' birth certificate."

"Joey, if you'd just told me, Grandpa and I would have given you the money!" Yugi exclaimed, torn between a million different feelings.

He was sorry he hadn't helped more. He'd thought it was just a money problem, but as he watched the brunette carry the baby around and the blond tiredly let the diaper bag drop to the floor, he realized that while it was a money problem, it was also so much more. Joey now had a baby to take care of. Babies were expensive.

Joey pulled out the envelope from the diaper bag and opened it, pulling out ten twenty dollar bills to hand to Duke. "Here. Uh—I don't think I have a ten in here, Tristan. Maybe Téa can make change for one of these…"

"If you think I'm taking that money back you are sadly mistakeeeen!" Téa cooed, smiling. "What a beautiful baby. Joey, keep that money. I'll probably have to earn some more money to afford that school anyway. What's a hundred more dollars?"

"But—Téa, this money was given t' me so I could pay you guys back. –So Atty didn't hafta start his life with debt."

"Joey, you're going to need that money more than we are," Duke began, holding his hands up to refuse the money. He'd loaned him the most (two hundred dollars), but he could see that Joey needed the money more now.

Joey scowled. "I don't think you guys understand. I borrowed the money, so I'm payin' ya back!"

"No, Joey. Use it for the baby instead," Yugi argued, refusing to take any money either.

Tristan glared at him, as if daring him to try and get him to take his money. Joey would have yelled and cursed loudly if not for fear of waking up Atticus.

"You know what, fine," Téa snapped, passing him the baby and snatching the envelope out of his hand. She pulled out her phone and looked up a few web pages, pulling out a pen to scribble a list onto the envelope, then looked at the other three boys. "I loaned him enough to pay for a good stroller. He'll need one as Atty gets bigger."

"I can pay for some diapers. Joey, are you using disposable diapers?"

"Well, his ma gave me some reusable ones, and that seems a lot cheaper, even if it sounds gross to clean up—" Joey began, scowling. "I don't think you guys understand—"

"So I'll pay for some formula and some beginner foods," Tristan decided, pointing at that part of her list. "He's probably eating a lot of cereals and purees now, anyway." When Yugi and Duke turned to look at him, he scowled. "Uh, I've been babysitting my nephews regularly enough to know what mini-people eat."

"…Right. Well, I can pay for a shit ton of clothes. We can get him some clothes for now, and get him bigger clothes for when he grows. Don't they grow like weeds?"

"Yeah. But hey, let's get the clothes at a thrift shop. You'll get a hell of a lot more for your money and it's usually name brand. You just throw that stuff in the washer and it's good to go," Tristan added, smiling.

"…So I'm givin' your money back… so you can buy me things," Joey deadpanned, scowling.

"Oh, don't be silly, Joey," Téa exclaimed, patting his arm. "We're not buying these things for you! We're buying them for Atty."

"…I—"

"Let's face it. He's much cuter than you are anyway," Duke added, smirking.

"Suck my dick, ya prick-a-saurus." Joey shrank back as Téa turned to look at him, expecting to be hit for using such foul language in front of the baby.

Instead, she blinked at him. "'Prick-a-saurus?' That's the best you could do?"

The blond frowned, brows furrowing together as he looked down at the baby in his arms. "It's not my fault. I've had him for three days and he won't lemme sleep." He sighed, sinking to the floor and setting the baby in his lap. "I don't even know what I'm gonna do for school. I might just need t' drop out and work full time…"

It seemed like the seriousness of the situation came crashing down on their heads all at once.

Joey was a father now. He could no longer come to game nights or go to the movies with them or hang out at the arcade. His money had to be used to pay for food and clothes and toys. He'd probably have to pay for a babysitter for when he worked, too. And any dueling tournaments would probably be out of the question. It wouldn't be fair to the baby to carry him around all day, and Joey probably wouldn't get all of the time off to join a tournament.

He probably would have to drop out of school to get a full-time job—maybe even two. This child was his responsibility for the next eighteen years.

Joey felt tears filling his eyes, and he sobbed before he could even try to control himself. This had really come out of nowhere for him and he didn't know what he was going to do.

Haruka had just shown up at his door, told him that her parents (who had disowned her) would take her back if she got rid of the child, and informed him that the baby was his. He'd pulled together the money for a paternity test because he knew the condom had broken when they'd had sex, but he'd never really expected the baby to be his because she'd just been so… loose.

Now that the baby was undoubtedly his, though, he felt his world falling apart. He had to move out of his father's apartment, because he was terrified of his father hurting his son. He didn't know anyone that would rent to a seventeen-year-old with an eight-month-old baby. He was stuck and scared and confused and none of his friends could help him because they had no idea what he was going through.

And he was so tired and discouraged and anxious because Atticus wouldn't let him sleep.

Joey hugged the baby to his chest and sobbed, his voice drowning out the baby's as it woke up and began to wail as well.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Seto fought the urge to tap his index finger against the top of his desk, eyebrow twitching as he glanced at the empty desk in front of him. Of course, nothing could actually be wrong with the mutt, otherwise the teacher would be gloating about it. She was a sadistic bitch that never hesitated to rake Joey over the coals, whether or not he was there.

He noticed that his friends only seemed slightly worried, so clearly the mutt wasn't dead or missing or whatever else could possibly happen to him. He sighed, scowled, began to tap his finger, stopped when he realized what he was doing, then rolled his eyes angrily. Joey wasn't even there and he was bringing out his worst habits.

Seto clenched his hands into fists to keep from tapping his finger. He didn't want to exhibit his nervous habit to the world. Not that he was nervous. It was more like an annoyed habit. When he was annoyed, he tapped, and the harder he tapped, the closer he was to exploding and fucking up everything and everyone within yelling distance.

Whenever he was around Joey, though, he sometimes skipped his annoyed habit entirely and tackled him to the ground to beat his face in. Luckily, Joey had never actually fought back.

He wasn't stupid. He knew that Joey knew how to fight and while he was trained in most martial arts, the mutt was too unpredictable to choose a specific art to use against him and Joey could beat him to a pulp once he found an opening. And it was 'when,' not 'if.' Joey was nothing if not patient, even with his temper—especially when he was fighting.

Seto frowned a little, fingers beginning to drum lightly on the top of his desk. Perhaps he'd look into the blond's whereabouts. Not because he cared or anything, he told himself quickly. It was because he was… curious, that was all. And while curiosity had been known to be dangerous sometimes, he knew that if he let this itch in his brain, he would be driven mad until he accidentally did something to make him look really creepy.

At least, Mokuba told him it made him seem creepy. He didn't really see the problem, but Mokuba insisted, and since he was more in tune with the world at large (in a social sense, anyway), he trusted his little brother's judgment.

…Most of the time, anyway. He'd trust Mokuba more when he stopped wearing striped shirts. They were starting to look silly.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey set Atticus down in his crib and stroked his hair, smiling tiredly. "Take your nap, Atty." The brunet burbled and whined quietly. Joey sighed and sat down by the crib, reaching through the bars so the tiny person could wrap his tiny hand around his big finger. "Fine, ya little bug."

Tristan and Duke had both gotten pacifiers for the little munchkin, but Atticus still preferred to wrap his little hand around Joey's index finger and suck on the end. He'd gotten some teething rings, too, from his landlady, but Atticus always seemed more interested in chewing on his finger.

Joey watched his son drift to sleep and felt his heart skip a beat. He'd helped make this little person. It was hard, raising the baby on his own despite help from his friends and his landlady. But, now that he'd had a few weeks with him, this 'father' thing was pretty awesome. He'd just make sure not to do anything his father had done to him.

He lifted his head as he heard a sharp knock on the door, then grabbed the tail of a soft toy puppy to slip it into the baby's tiny hand in place of his finger. Once sure that Atticus wouldn't begin wailing as soon as he walked out (he had a strange sixth sense that he needed to wake up and cry whenever Joey had a down moment), he hurried to the door before the person became impatient and started pounding on it.

Opening the door, he sighed tiredly. "Yeah, what?"

Seto blinked. "You look… terrible."

Joey stared up at him almost blearily. He recognized that it was Kaiba, but he'd sounded so… not-cruel. It was bizarre. "…Thanks, Kaiba."

"I don't even have raccoon eyes like that after a few all-nighters," the brunet continued.

The younger boy glared at him. "Yeah. Alright. Will ya get t' the fuckin' point?"

"You haven't been to school in a month."

"I dropped out," Joey replied shortly.

Seto stared at him for a few minutes, baffled. Sure, the blond wasn't what one would call an academic, but he was quite social. "…Why?"

"Why do ya care?" the blond snarled, voice rising along with his temper. He was tired and he'd been planning on using Atticus's nap as his own naptime. "Is there somethin' really pressin' that ya need t' know or can I slam the door in your face now?!"

His grip on the doorknob tightened as he heard a wail behind him, eyebrow twitching as he realized he'd begun yelling in his stress and had woken his son. He rolled his eyes toward the ceiling and let out a shaky, strained sigh, unsure if he could comfort the baby without shaking him. He didn't want to think he was capable of hurting his son, but he was currently going on his fifth day with only eight hours of sleep, and he didn't trust himself.

Seto heard the cry as well and moved past the blond, walking swiftly toward the room where the bawling was coming from, then paused in the doorway. He looked at the baby, watching as he tried to pull himself upright in the crib, then tilted his head, continued into the room, and lifted the baby into his arms. Once he'd settled the tiny brunet in his arms, he began rocking him slightly, then turned to look at the blond, brows furrowing together.

"…This is a baby."

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Joey spat, stepping into the room. He held his hands out to take Atticus, but Seto merely hummed and pulled his locket out of the baby's hands. "He's got your eyes. And your lungs, apparently." He listened to the baby gurgle and coo, then stroked his cheek with the back of his index finger. "Good little boys go to sleep when their parents are exhausted."

Joey watched, eyes wide, as his son began to drift to sleep in the brunet's arms. He wondered vaguely why the little pain in the ass never fell asleep like that for him, but he was mostly concerned with the fact that Kaiba—the man that called him a mutt and an imbecile and always questioned his intelligence—was placing his sleeping son back in his crib like he'd been doing it all his life.

Seto saw him staring and scowled. "My parents made every effort to have me involved with Mokuba when he was born. I know how to hold a baby." He swept toward the door, grabbing the blond's elbow to gently lead him out, then closed the door softly behind him.

Joey opened his mouth, closed it, bit his bottom lip, then leaned his forehead against the brunet's chest. "Maybe you can teach me how then. He isn't lettin' me sleep and I'm so tired."

Seto kept the thought, 'You must be, since you're willingly touching me without trying to kill me,' to himself, instead patting him on the shoulder. "You'll learn." He led him over to the couch and motioned for him to sit, then sat down across from him. "You dropped out to take care of your baby?"

Joey rubbed his eyes and sighed, falling back against the cushions. "…Yeah. And t' work. My landlady will babysit him sometimes, when Téa and Yugi are busy." He frowned and bit his bottom lip. "I just… can't. I'm so tired, Kaiba. I'm not a good dad. I dunno whatever made me think I could be."

"…Have you hurt him in any way?" Seto asked after a few minutes of thought.

The blond glared at him immediately. "No!"

"Has he ever gone hungry? Has he ever been forced to sit in his own filth?"

"NO, HE HAS NOT." The younger boy gripped his hands into fists, ready to leap from his seat and beat the brunet to death for his insinuations.

"…Has he ever wanted for anything with you?"

"NO, I'VE GIVEN HIM EVERYTHING A BABY NEEDS!" Joey roared, standing up.

Seto listened to the baby begin crying again and tilted his head, raising an eyebrow at the blond as he watched him physically crumple before his eyes. "…Then you're not a bad father, because you're doing your best." He stood and pushed him back onto the couch, then disappeared into the baby's room.

Joey listened to his son's cries as they began to fade, wondering why he couldn't get Atticus to go back to sleep as quickly even if Seto had helped with Mokuba. He wanted to be a good dad, but as he heard the door open and close again, he bit his bottom lip and whimpered, feeling exhausted down to his bones.

"…Do your parents know?" Seto asked after a moment, sitting down across from him again.

"Dad knows. Probably. He was drunk when I told him, and barhoppin' when I moved out." The blond grabbed a pillow and put it over his face, frowning. "Haven't told Ma or Serenity. Ma hung up on me when I told her I dropped out and Serenity's too young t' be an aunt yet." He sighed, brows furrowing together beneath the pillow. "I mean, if I'm too young t' be a dad, she's too young t' be an aunt."

The brunet opened his mouth to question the younger boy's logic, then paused, frowning. He supposed it might seem wrong to some people, especially if they'd grown up on the streets and had seen children as burdens. Joey recognized that his son was a mistake and a strain and clearly didn't want to put that strain on his sister.

"…What's his name?"

"…Atticus. His mom named him that. It's an okay name, but I call him Atty." Joey set the pillow aside, stared at the ceiling a minute, then looked at the brunet in surprise. "Ya want coffee or tea or somethin'?"

Seto held his hands up. "No, thank you."

"Oh." Joey looked at him a few minutes, then smiled. "I am so delirious right now."

"Go to sleep, Joey," the brunet ordered firmly. He watched the younger boy mull over the pros and cons of listening to him, smiling a little as the blond finally nodded, turned, and passed out on the sofa.

Standing, he carefully pulled the blond more comfortably onto the sofa, then pulled a thick blanket from the back of it to cover him. He walked into the kitchen to make himself some coffee (he'd thought about telling Joey yes, but he figured if he was tired enough to offer his self-proclaimed enemy refreshments, he really needed sleep), then looked into the refrigerator. He picked up a Styrofoam box and peeked inside, flinched, then closed it again and shoved it back in the fridge.

He paused a moment as he took in the rest of the refrigerator's contents, frowning when he saw few actual groceries but plenty of baby foods. Opening the freezer showed the same thing, and as he checked the cupboards, he realized that Joey was forgoing healthy food of his own to provide the best for his child.

He didn't understand how Joey could think of himself as a bad parent when he had old leftovers to eat but premium baby foods, but he figured being as tired as Joey was could mess up his judgment.

Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed his secretary. "Hanita, what do you feed a new parent?"

"Sir, you don't feed a new parent. You pray for them."

Seto blinked. "…What?"

"I'm sorry. That's a joke only experienced parents will understand."

"…Um."

"It's helpful to have meals prepared. Casseroles, pot pies, soups, anything they can throw in the oven or the microwave while they're taking care of the baby. Lots of cold food, too, so they can eat it quickly without worrying about it cooling."

"I see."

"…If you give me an address I'll have some meals arranged, sir."

Seto walked outside to give her the apartment number, ordered her to throw in a few sugary things as a treat for the blond, then sat down in the recliner and used his phone to check and reply to some emails. When he heard Atticus begin to fuss, he returned to his room to play with him and give him a snack of some crackers that would melt in his mouth, then returned to the living room just in time to answer the door, put the meals and their cooking directions in his fridge, and leave a note telling the blond what he'd done for Atticus before he left.

When he returned home to Mokuba, who had waited up for him, he was embarrassed to admit that he'd enjoyed watching the baby and he'd realized that he'd missed taking care of someone, since his little brother was already beginning to grow up himself. After all, he was thirteen, and he'd heard him tell his friends that he really didn't need to be looked after anymore.

He felt needed again, for just a few hours, and he realized with a growing feeling of dread that he wanted to feel that way again.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey blinked. "…You."

"Yes." Seto tried to smile, but it only came out as a grimace. "Hello."

"…Hey." The blond blinked at him for a while longer. "…Uh, thanks for the food, Kaiba."

"You're welcome."

They stared at each other for several moments longer.

"…May I come in?"

Joey looked at him with clear bafflement but stepped aside to allow him into his apartment. "I'm leavin' in a few minutes t' go t' work. My landlady is watchin' Atty tonight."

"I can do that."

The blond looked up at him, unsure of how to respond. "…Uh?"

"I mean, I'm not doing anything, and…" Seto frowned. He clearly hadn't thought this out. "…I want to take care of him for a while."

Joey tilted his head, brows furrowing together in disbelief and confusion. "…Um, I don't… really…"

"…I'll pay you to let me watch your child."

"…I almost feel like you're tryin' t' prostitute my kid…"

"I have toys."

Joey stared at him a while in disbelief, making the brunet almost uncomfortable (well, to be honest, Seto felt really uncomfortable under that stare, because he felt like a freak when Joey looked at him like that, but he wasn't going to let him know that), then sighed and threw his hands up in frustration. "You know what? Fine. I'll have my landlady come check on ya and when you're finished playin' babysitter for whatever fuckin' reason, you can hand Atty over to her."

The blond flinched at the way the older boy's eyes lit up, as if someone had just gotten him exactly what he wanted for his birthday. He wondered for a moment if leaving Atticus with the brunet was safe. He'd never been this leery of people, and he was ashamed of it, but having a child at his age automatically made everyone seem like a threat at this point, since they all seemed to think he was too stupid to care for another living creature that was so dependent on him.

He'd gotten more parenting advice and scolding for being his age the first time he'd walked down the baby aisle than all the times he'd been caught shoplifting. And to be honest, he preferred being made to feel guilty about stealing than listening to women screech about how irresponsible he was and how they hoped children's services would show up to take his son away.

Seto walked past the blond to sit with Atticus, smiling as the baby looked up at him and burbled happily. He set his bag down beside him and pulled out a hand puppet.

Joey stared. "…Is that the Dark Magician?"

"Go away."

"…You've got a Dark Magician puppet."

"GO AWAY."

The blond smiled as the older boy decided to resolutely ignore him, then left to go ask his landlady to check up on them every hour or so until Seto decided it was time to leave. He figured it had something to do with the brunet's lost childhood and questionable upbringing.

Besides, he knew where Seto lived. If anything happened to his kid, he'd just go to the mansion and kill him.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey went to his landlady's apartment first and was surprised when she merely smiled and informed him that Seto was still at his apartment, taking care of his baby. She seemed quite pleased for some reason and insisted that she wouldn't mind trading his lease for a lease for two people. Joey had been baffled, but had declined, saying that Atticus wasn't a person yet. She'd laughed and shut the door in his face.

Unlocking his door, the blond couldn't help a smile as he heard the gurgling laugh of his son. He opened the door and smiled. "Daddy's home!" His smile immediately faded when he saw the camera in the brunet's hands, instead bristling in case he needed to defend his son's honor (for whatever reason). He glanced at his son, paused, then turned a glare back on the brunet. "What are you doing?"

Seto stared at him, surprised. "…Um."

Joey glared harder.

Seto awkwardly and slowly hid the camera behind his back, wondering if it was too late to make up a decent excuse.

Atticus smiled and waved his hands. "RAH!"

"IS THAT A BLUE-EYES COSTUME?!" Joey bellowed, glaring at the older boy.

"…Um."

Atticus burbled and smacked the Dark Magician puppet.

Joey watched the puppet roll over the ground a few times, looked at his son dressed up like a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, then turned a glare on the brunet and roared, "AT LEAST GET A RED-EYES COSTUME, YOU SELFISH PRICK!"

"…I already dressed him in that one."

"So ya put him in this costume so you could get pictures of him smackin' around a Dark Magician?!"

"…I got a video too."

"GET OUT, YOU FREAK!" the blond screeched, smacking his arm angrily. "JEEZ! GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OOOOUUUUT!"

"He's had a snack and you just need to give him a bath and put him to bed!" Seto exclaimed, rushing toward the door as the blond began picking things up to throw at him. He paused, using the door as a shield. "…I could send you copies of the pictures?"

"YES, PLEASE DO THAT. GET OUT!"

Seto shut the door quickly and flinched as something shattered against it. After a moment, he turned to leave, and squawked as he nearly walked into the blond's landlady. "Agh!"

"Having some troubles?" she teased, elbowing him playfully. She mistook his discomfort for embarrassment and laughed. "Young couples usually do! Well, have a good day, young man. Joey, I've brought a pot pie!"

Seto heard the blond stomping toward the door and, terrified that the blond would find him still standing there and beat him to death, fled.

He wanted to believe that he was braver than this, but he had put Joey's son in a Blue-Eyes costume, which he had clearly taken as a personal offense.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Seto leaned his chin on his hand and sighed quietly, looking at the picture of Atticus he was using as his screensaver. He was sure Joey would be shocked to know it wasn't when the toddler had been wearing the Blue-Eyes onesie. It wasn't even from the video of him smacking the Dark Magician puppet.

It was of a moment when the brunet had fallen asleep for about twenty minutes, dressed in his Red-Eyes onesie and clutching the Dark Magician puppet. He looked incredibly cute when he was asleep. Just as cute as his dad did.

"Who is that?!"

Seto jumped. He hadn't even heard Mokuba come in. "What?!"

"Who is that?" Mokuba repeated, brows furrowing together.

On one hand, he was hurt and jealous because he'd always been the picture on his brother's screensaver (his desktop, too). On the other hand, he was worried, because he knew he was pulling away from his older brother and he knew that Seto needed someone to take care of so that he felt needed. Maybe he'd been planning on adopting the kid or something.

"…This is Joey's son," Seto replied after a moment, unsure of whether he was supposed to be telling his brother or not.

After all, Mokuba and Joey were friends, so if Joey wanted Mokuba to know, he could have told him. Then again, perhaps Joey hadn't told him because he'd worried that he might sound like he was asking for a handout. While Mokuba would have willingly given him money, he knew that Joey was a proud person and wouldn't want to take money from a kid, even if the kid was wealthy.

Mokuba appeared stunned. "Joey… has a kid? Why wouldn't he tell me that?!"

"Maybe for the same reason he won't tell his sister," Seto mused. "He thinks she's too young to be an aunt, since he'd too young to really be a father. Maybe he thought you were too young to understand."

"What, that he got someone knocked up? I get that!" the younger boy argued. "I may still be your 'innocent baby brother' but I know how—"

"The mother disowned her child."

Mokuba fell silent and blinked, stunned.

"And she gave it to Joey, the father, just so her wealthy family would take her back under its financial wing. This isn't a normal situation, Mokuba. And let's face it; life has never been fair to Joey."

The younger boy stared at the picture of the sleeping baby on the screen of his brother's computer, then turned, grabbed the nearest comfy chair, and dragged it over to the desk to sit down across from him. "What's his name? Tell me about him."

Seto blinked, then smiled a little. "His name is Atticus. Joey calls him Atty."

.-.-.-.-.-.

Seto walked up to the blond's door and knocked, wondering how the younger boy would like the gifts that his brother had picked out. He worried that Joey would punch him in the face. It wasn't his fault that Mokuba had made him get lacy red panties as a joke!

Seto paled a little. He'd thought about just leaving the panties in his car and telling Mokuba that he'd 'forgotten them' and that it had been too late to bother Joey with a joke, but… he was pretty sure Mokuba would know it was a lie and would find a way to make his life miserable.

Mokuba was thirteen. He was discovering new ways to make him miserable every day.

Seto knocked again, frowning a little. "Wheeler?"

A girl passing by him toward the end of the hall noticed him and replied, "Oh, he went out. Takin' Atty t' the park, or something." She smacked her gum, blew a bubble, and popped it with a loud crack and squeak as she sucked the air back out of it.

Seto's eye twitched. He hated bubblegum. "…I see."

She smiled in what she probably thought was a flirtatious manner. "Yeah. Hey, ya want me t' tell him you were here?"

"I'll go find him, thank you."

She pouted. "Ya sure?"

"…Goodbye," Seto told her, then turned and strode away swiftly.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey smiled and pushed the stroller under some trees. "Are ya excited, Atty? We're gonna have a picnic, and play on the swings, and go in the sandbox! And maybe Yugi and Téa will stop by and play with us!"

"Bah!" Atticus clapped his hands in excitement as the blond spread a blanket out on the ground. "San'!"

"No, we can't go play in the sand yet. We're gonna have food." Joey set the different foods out, then pulled the brunet out of the stroller, smiling as he roared at him because he was wearing his Red-Eyes jacket. "Yeah, you're a big scary dragon. Ya know how big scary dragons get so big an' scary? They eat their vegetables. Can ya say carrots?"

"Car!"

"No, carrot."

"CAR!"

"CARROT."

"CARRY."

"…That's close enough." Joey ran a hand through his hair, then pulled out a cooked carrot stick. "You want a carrot?"

"Bleh!" Atticus turned his head away, blowing a raspberry.

"Fine. Fruit? I got banana, I got cherries, I got squash and sweet potatoes… I'll let ya have strawberries if ya have some cheese, too."

"Babanananana!"

Joey laughed. "Babanananana? Okay." He opened another plastic container and set it down in front of him, watching as the brunet reached into it with both hands and pulled out three slices, his hands slimy and sticky with banana as he mashed it all into his mouth.

The blond stared. He was glad he'd brought wet naps. He hoped he never looked like that when he ate nowadays. He knew he was messy, but this was ridiculous.

His poor mother!

"What!? Atty, how'd ya get a banana on your forehead?!" Joey exclaimed, rolling his eyes.

He reached out to pull the slice of banana off of his head, popped it in his mouth, and pulled out one of the thermoses. He wondered when he could stop giving Atticus formula. His landlady said at about eleven months, he could start transitioning from formula to milk, but when he'd talked to the pediatrician, he'd said not a day before his first birthday.

He questioned the pediatrician's credentials, considering he had no children and his landlady had had five.

"Mutt. Mutt, help. Please help me!"

Joey blinked and turned, jumping when he saw the brunet standing in front of him. "Gah!"

"I think they police are after me!" Seto hissed, looking over his shoulder nervously.

Joey blinked at him again, leaned over to look at the pair of police officers making their ways toward them, then looked up at him in confusion. "What did ya do?"

"I was just looking for you. I think I may have upset some other parents," the brunet muttered, body tense.

"Sir, is this man bothering you?" one of the officers asked. He furrowed his brow. "We've been getting some complaints from other parents."

Joey vaguely wondered why no one seemed to recognize him as Seto Kaiba, the man who had built theme parks for children, but he figured that maybe the parents were too busy being parents that feared men being pedophiles and Seto, without a child, appeared to be one, looking at all of the children the way he was. "Well, he only bothers me as much as he always has."

Seto made a noise. It was the most wonderfully hilarious noise.

The other officer huffed. "Alright, creeper, let's go."

Atticus saw Seto and lifted his hands, babbling and gurgling and smiling in glee. "Shshsh!"

Sighing, the blond rolled his eyes. His son liked Seto. He probably shouldn't just let him get arrested. "Nah, guys, it's okay. He's with me."

The two officers fixed him with a look, wondering why he was protecting this man. Perhaps they were in it together? After all, children trusted other children. Perhaps this was some act, like they were pretending the child was theirs, and—

"Perhaps you two would like to come answer some questions over at the car," the older officer suggested, smiling reassuringly, and took the brunet by his arm.

Seto blinked. "What?"

Joey, luckily, wasn't that slow, so he stood and glared at them, roaring, "I SAID HE WAS WITH ME AN' MY SON, BITCH, NOW GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFFA MY MAN!"

The two officers stared at him, slowly realizing what he was insinuating, then hurriedly apologized and fled.

Seto blinked again. "What just happened?"

"They thought ya were a pedophile and thought I was in on it with ya," Joey spat, smacking his arm. "Idiot! I got a cell phone! Get the number from your brother and just ask where the hell I am!"

The brunet flushed. "I… Oh. …Sorry."

"You damn well should be, Creeper McGee!" the blond snapped, smacking him again. He huffed. "Well, I guess we're boyfriends now. At least, that's what the officers are gonna tell everyone for their peace o' mind. Way t' go. Gah."

"…I have toys."

"Why is that your solution t' everything?!"

"These are from Mokuba this time, not me," Seto answered defensively, and sat down on the blanket next to him. He paused. "…Is that sweet potato?"

"…Yes."

"With marshmallow?"

"…Kaiba, would ya like some sweet potato?" Joey deadpanned. He rolled his eyes when the brunet immediately scooped up the container, found a fork, and began eating. "Atty doesn't like sweet potato anyway. He usually just eats the marshmallow."

"I like sweet potato."

"I can tell."

Seto looked at the baby, paused, then frowned. "Atticus, how did you get banana on your head?"

"GAH IT'S IN YOUR HAIR THIS TIME!" Joey wailed. "Wet naps can only do so much!"

"He's fine. It'll keep until we can give him a bath."

The blond was immediately disgruntled. "Whatta ya mean, 'we?'"

Seto blinked. "Didn't you just say we were boyfriends now?"

"Only t' those police officers!" the younger teen moaned, covering his face. "Kaiba, you're so stupid—"

"So I've been told." He watched Joey put the formula in a bottle for the younger boy and tilted his head. "When does he get off of that?"

"Couple months, I think. See, he's ten months now," Joey murmured, frowning, and scratched his chin thoughtfully. "And my landlady said that we could start switchin' him out to milk around eleven and a half or twelve months…"

Seto stared at him for a minute, then smirked. "What do you mean, 'we?'"

The blond looked up at him in disgruntlement. "Oh, shut your face. It was a slip of the tongue!"

"What other things does your tongue do besides slip?"

Joey blushed brightly, scowled, and punched him in the face.

"Ow." Although, considering how hard Joey could punch, he was glad this one hadn't hurt so badly.

Joey bit his bottom lip as the brunet merely went back to eating his sweet potato. He was supposed to hit him back. But, as he glanced at Atticus, he realized perhaps he should learn to control his temper. If he just hauled off and hit Seto when he pissed him off or embarrassed him, wouldn't that mean he could haul off and hit Atticus? What a terrifying thought.

He gripped his hands into tight fists as his son continued to eat until he was full, thinking about all of the horrible, terrifying outcomes of him losing his temper with his son.

Atticus crawled into his lap and whined. Joey smiled sadly. "Ya wanna go on the slide, Atty? Let's go on the slide." Hoisting the brunet onto his hip and playing with his hair, he began toward the slide. Then, he paused, frowning as he looked up at the top. "Hmm."

Seto, wiping his hands with a wet nap, come up beside him. "If you climb up to the top, I can climb the first few steps and hand him up to you."

"Uh—Okay." Joey handed Atticus to him and began climbing the ladder. When he turned to look down at them, he almost laughed when he saw both brunets looking up at him almost curiously. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought that Seto was one of Atticus's parents. Hell, they both could have made him!

Blushing a little at the thought, he reached down. "Hurry up!"

"Alright. Here we go, Atticus." Seto climbed the first three steps and handed him up.

Joey tickled the brunet a moment, making him laugh and squeal, then laughed a little himself and turned to set him on the slide. "Kaiba, get ready t' catch him!"

"…And suddenly I realize that I'm the one doing most of the work," the older boy mused to himself, smiling, and walked around the slide. "Alright. Let him go."

Joey pressed his lips to his son's head and smiled before giving him the tiniest of shoves. Atticus threw his hands up, squealing as he sped down the slide.

Seto smiled, then immediately frowned, as the child was quickly becoming a screaming missile. "Shit!" He bent down quickly, caught him, and grunted as he fell backward. "Ow."

"Kaiba, are ya okay?! How's Atty?!" Joey exclaimed, leaning forward worriedly.

"I'm fine. Ow. I think I know what I did wrong. Ouch. But he's fine too. He's laughing."

"Well, I guess he finds pleasure in your pain just like I do," the blond teased, smiling awkwardly.

"It was like being hit with a cannonball…" Seto climbed the steps and hoisted Atticus up again. "I know what I'm doing now." He lifted the baby up and smiled as Joey stroked his hair out of his eyes and made sure he was still smiling before he laughed himself. "Okay. Here we go again."

And he did figure out what he was doing. Joey found that the brunet seemed to get more and more into playing with them, with Atticus, and he felt his heart warming. But, as Seto kept coming to give him Atticus, he saw a bruise getting darker and darker around his eye where he'd hit him. On the next turn, he dipped his head a little, bit his bottom lip, and sighed.

"…'m sorry," Joey muttered, frowning.

Seto looked up at him in surprise, waiting to pass Atticus up to him. "For what?"

"…For givin' ya a black eye."

"I kind of deserved it, you know." He shrugged, as if to wave the apology away. "Asking what your tongue could do in front of a child. Really. How disgusting of me."

Joey blushed a little and took the burbling brunet from him. "Yeah, well, I didn't hafta hit ya so hard. …In the face."

"It's fine. It's not the hardest you've hit me, anyway." Seto walked around to the bottom of the slide. "How many times are we going to do this? Don't slides get boring eventually?"

"Of course they do. Don't worry; this is the last time. Then we're gonna have a drink and take a break! Ya ready, Atty?"

Atticus let out a high-pitched scream and threw his hands up, eyes wide and bright as he was settled on his bottom at the top of the slide. He screamed again as he slid down, laughing as Seto caught him at the bottom, grabbed him around the waist, and swung him up into the air. He squealed as he was airborne for a few seconds before dropping into the brunet's arms again.

Seto tickled him a few minutes, chuckling, only to yelp as something much larger than a child bashed into his legs. "Agh!"

"Ow! Why the hell were ya still standin' here?!"

"Why the hell didn't you look before you came down?!"

The two teens glared at each other for a few moments before Atticus made himself known.

Joey huffed and took the brunet from his arms, glared at him a second longer, then turned and marched back to the blanket. "Yugi and Téa said they might come by after their date."

"Greeeat."

"Oh shut your face." Joey grabbed the baby's bottle again and gave him a drink, smiling. "Ya excited t' go in the sandbox, Atty?"

"Absolutely not."

Joey blinked slowly, then turned to look up at the brunet, frowning. "Uh… what?"

Seto glared at him. "Do you have any idea how completely unsanitary sandboxes are?"

The blond blinked again. "…No?"

"All sorts of animals defecate in sandboxes. What if Atticus eats some of the filth-ridden sand?!" the brunet exclaimed.

Joey stared at him for a minute, then scowled, pulling the bottle from Atticus's mouth. He set the bottle aside, picked up his son, and walked over to the sandbox. Before the brunet could even sputter a protest, he plopped the baby down in the sand.

Seto almost choked on his sharp intake of breath. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT AFTER EVERYTHING I JUST TOLD YOU?!"

Joey glared at him a second longer before sitting down in the sandbox himself.

Seto roared, "YOU ARE BOTH DISGUSTING!"

Atticus didn't think so. He screamed in delight, picked up handfuls of sand, and began tossing it around happily. Joey smiled at him.

Seto was quite perturbed, to say the least. "You get out of there this instant! You are going to get every disease in the world!"

Joey simply looked up at him, a determined glint in his eyes, and grabbed a handful of sand.

The brunet glared at him. "What are you doing?"

Joey lifted his hand.

"Stop it. Don't even think about it. DON'T YOU EVEN DARE—"

Joey grinned, brought his hand back, and threw the handful of sand at him.

Seto began wiping himself frantically and shedding his jacket and shirt. "AGH! DISEASE AND PESTILENCE ALL OVER ME!"

Joey smiled, quite pleased with himself.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"Joey! You'll never guess what happened!" Téa exclaimed, plopping down next to him. She glanced over, saw Seto, and waved a greeting, then turned back to the blond, leaning closer to him excitedly. "Someone is going to sponsor me! They're going to pay for my dance school in New York!"

"Uh—" Joey blinked at her in surprise. "That… that's great, Téa!" He smiled, feeling a twinge of regret. He knew he'd never be able to afford college—he barely had enough to afford high school—but the idea had always been there until he'd learned about Atticus. "Who?"

"That's just it," Yugi replied, sitting on his other side. He smiled at Seto. "Hi, Kaiba." He turned his gaze back on Joey and frowned. "We don't know who it is; we just know they must be incredibly wealthy."

Seto's eye twitched as they all turned suspicious gazes on him. "Let's be realistic. If it was me, I'd lord it over you until the day you die."

Téa hummed thoughtfully. "Well, that's true. I wonder who it could be then!"

"Yeah, I have no idea," Joey replied, bouncing Atticus on his knee. "But at least Aunty Téa is gonna be a world-famous dancer, right, Atty?"

"Babananananana!"

"…You ate all the banana," the blond answered helplessly. "How about some carrots?"

Atticus let out a sound clearly conveying distaste.

Yugi smiled. "I'll go get some ice-cream. I think the vendor has some banana ice-cream."

Seto didn't get a chance to tell him that was a terrible idea before he got up and walked away. So, he leaned back and refused to deal with the chaos that followed.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"Kaiba, I am so, so sorry. I hope that doesn't stain. Oh, jeez, he didn't mean it."

"I know he didn't mean it. He's not even a year old," Seto snapped, rolling his eyes. "Joey, I wasn't even mad until you started making a big deal out of it."

"But ya got a yellowy stain right in the middle of yer shirt! I can't afford t' replace it after we made that mess!"

The two teens froze as they heard a strangled gasp. Turning, they blinked when the girl down the hall stared at them in disgust and horror, then fled toward the stairs.

"Jeez, what was her problem?" Joey muttered, scowling, before turning to jab his key in the lock.

Seto rolled his eyes again and decided not to explain that she thought he was talking about semen instead of ice-cream.

Joey opened the door and led him inside. "Um. If ya wanna put that bag over by the couch… Aw, Atty, don't fall asleep yet. I still gotta make dinner and give ya a bath!" He paused, then glanced at Seto, who was trying very hard not to shake his coat to get sand out of his pockets. He smiled brightly. "Hey, Kaiba, ya wanna take a bath?"

Seto looked at him in disgruntlement. "What are you insinuating?"

"Well… you're covered in sand and ice-cream, so—" Joey bit his bottom lip, then smiled nervously. "If ya give Atty a bath while you're takin' one, I could make dinner and wash your clothes."

"…Why should I?"

"…Because I'll… wash the disease and pestilence outta your clothes?"

They stared at each other for several minutes as Atticus fussed in the blond's arms. Finally, though, Seto dropped his coat, unbuckled his pants, and began unbuttoning his shirt, all while keeping eye contact with the younger teen. Joey blushed brightly as he heard the brunet's pants fall around his ankles and couldn't help a whimper as the brunet slid his shirt off of his shoulders to fall on the floor as well.

Seto took the baby from his arms, stared at him a moment longer, then turned and began toward the bathroom. The door slammed shut, and then opened again a few minutes later to toss out the brunet's boxers and Atticus's clothes.

Joey whimpered again. He'd felt like Seto was looking into his soul.

And maybe he was.

Joey grabbed all of their clothes, making sure none of them would stain each other, then scampered over to his small washer and shoved them inside. Once the washer was going, he moved toward the kitchen, deciding he'd make some beef stir-fry. He could feed Atticus some cooked vegetables and then finish it with formula, and put him to bed. He supposed Seto would like it, too.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"Joey, did you forget something?"

Joey blinked. "Huh? No, I got the rice cookin' and the vegetables steamin' and… Um…" He trailed off as he turned to find the brunet standing in the doorway with only a towel wrapped around his waist, Atticus wrapped up in a big towel of his own. "…Oh."

"…Will I be dining in a towel?" Seto asked after a moment.

"Uh, no." The blond blushed a little and rushed past him, frantically wondering if he had any clothes that would fit him. He didn't think he did. He grabbed some clothes for Atticus and tried to look through his clothes, but he knew he didn't have anything, so he just grabbed an old robe he lounged in on days he was too lazy to get dressed.

He threw the robe at the brunet and took Atticus so he could get him diapered and dressed, glad that he'd finally ditched the cloth diapers. While diapers were expensive, he much preferred throwing the new ones out to washing the used silk ones.

When he walked out, Seto had already served the food, and was waiting patiently for them to join him. He'd set up some different cooked vegetables on the high chair, too. Joey set Atticus in his high chair, secured him from falling, then sighed and sat down in the chair beside him.

They ate in relative silence, but for Seto thanking him for the good food and Joey replying it was no problem. It had been a long day and everyone was tired. Joey stared at the dishes in despair, sighing as the washer buzzed to signal the end of the cycle.

Seto stood. "If you'd like, I can give Atticus his formula."

"Oh, yeah. Thanks." Joey put his formula into a bottle while the brunet carried the empty dishes to the sink, then handed it to him and began to pull Atticus from his seat. "Come on, Atty. Formula and beddy-bye."

Seto took Atticus from him and hummed as he walked over to the couch, settling Atticus on his lap and turning him so he could let the baby try and hold his own bottle. He'd seen the brunet eat fruit by hand, of course, but with Mokuba, he'd been walking early, talking early, could drink from a cup without spilling a drop, but damned if he wouldn't lift that bottle by himself. His parents had always laughed about it. Luckily, Atticus could hold his bottle, which was good for Seto because he felt himself drifting off.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"Kaiba, I got your clothes—Oh." Joey smiled and leaned over the back of the couch to look at the two sleeping brunets.

After a moment, he rushed to get his camera, snapped a few pictures, then sighed and leaned down to kiss his son's forehead. After a hesitant pause, he pressed a quick kiss to the older boy's forehead, too. He couldn't help a smile and pleased blush as the corners of the CEO's lips quirked upward.

Joey picked up Atticus and took him to his room, settling him in his crib. He sighed wistfully. Ever since Seto had begun spending time with Atticus, he hadn't had to use his finger to put him to sleep. On one hand, he was glad he didn't have to do it, but on the other… he missed doing it. He missed being needed for that.

Joey texted Mokuba that Seto was asleep on his couch and chuckled a little when the raven-haired boy texted back to just let him sleep, since he did it so rarely and if he was passing out willy-nilly, he should probably just be left to his own sleepy devices. He thanked Mokuba for the toys and turned his phone off once it was confirmed that the toys were indeed from him.

Sitting next to the bag of toys, he began going through them, smiling when he found new clothes hidden beneath them. Seto must have helped him pick them out, because they were all the right size—or just a little bigger, for him to grow into. He was glad, because he was starting to grow out of some of the clothes Duke had bought.

Joey blinked as he found something red and lacy, then pulled it out and held it up so he could see what it was. He stared at it for a few minutes before gasping and sputtering in outrage.

Seto grunted as he felt something hit his arm and looked up blearily. "Hng?"

"WHAT AND WHY ARE THESE?!" Joey hissed angrily, glaring at him.

"…What-?"

The blond, lost for words, threw the panties in his face. "These! What the fuck!"

Seto blinked, lifting the lacy undergarment from his face, then sighed. "Oh. Those."

"Yes, those," the blond growled, glaring harder.

The older boy hummed. 'To throw Mokuba under the bus or not?'

Joey snarled. "Kaiba!"

'Well, Mokuba would kill me if I did that, so…' He sighed, then smirked, looking at the blond smugly. "I thought they'd look good on you. Boyfriend."

Joey bit his bottom lip in surprise, cheeks flushing dark cherry red. His face heated further when the brunet continued to smirk and licked his lips at him. "You—You—Kaiba, you—"

"Yessss?" Seto asked, leaning toward him a little.

Joey squeaked. "I… I… Oh, shut up! Just shut up!" he moaned, covering his face, before he scampered to his room and slammed the door shut.

Seto chuckled and leaned back in his seat, ready to fall back to sleep.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey rubbed his eyes and sighed, wondering vaguely what he should make for breakfast, only to freeze as he saw Seto beginning to scrape something into the garbage can. "…What is that?"

Seto froze, eyes wide, before he glanced away awkwardly. "Well, it… was breakfast."

The blond stared at the crumble wet mess. "…In what country?"

"I mixed up sugar for salt and I forgot to put the egg in it," the older boy snapped, glaring at him. "The next batch should be fine!"

"Ha… Great," Joey muttered skeptically.

Seto huffed. "Oh, shut up and help me slice some strawberries!" He began pouring the new (and mostly correct, he hoped) waffle batter into the waffle iron.

Joey caught his hand and jerked the bowl upward. "Agh, Kaiba, ya still need t' close it!"

"Oh. I thought it was like an egg. …Like you cook it from the bottom and it'll cook all the way to the top."

"No, ya close it so both sides cook evenly!" the blond sighed. He moved in front of the cutting board to begin cutting the strawberries. He didn't really trust Seto to do it anymore. "God, it's like havin' another kid. A big, stupid kid."

"I'm not stupid," Seto muttered, scowling, but grabbed a pot and poured some water and sugar into it. "I've just never used a waffle iron before. Mokuba always does that part because he likes watching it cook."

"Of course he does," Joey muttered. He began slicing the strawberries in half, then slicing them in half again, so they'd be small enough for Atticus to eat. He dropped them into the glass bowl beside the cutting board and sighed, tilting his head a little, then turned and glanced at the brunet.

He was humming quietly and stirring the simple syrup he was making. He watched the older boy reach over for a bottle of maple extract and wondered where the hell he'd gotten it because he certainly hadn't bought it, but ignored the thought as he watched him drop a little extract in. He was making his own maple syrup.

It shouldn't have been so shocking. It's wasn't like people didn't make their own syrups all the time. But seeing the CEO doing something so…domestic, when he probably had people to do that for him at home, was really… nice. Surprisingly so.

Almost nice enough to make him forget the panty incident last night, but not quite.

Smiling coyly, Joey turned to look at the brunet and purred, "I'm gonna go take a shower and change before Atty wakes up. You'll be okay in here, right? The waffle's done when the green light turns on."

"Huh? Yeah, fine. I'll toss some blueberries in that, too."

"Hmmm, okay!"

Seto blinked and turned to watch him walk out of the kitchen, frowning a little in confusion. "…Hm." He tilted his head a little, then shrugged, turned back to his syrup, and turned the heat from medium to low, so the syrup would still be warm when he drizzled it on the waffles. He found the whipping cream he'd bought from the corner store when he woke up (even exhausting days at the park did not keep him from waking up early) and poured it into a bowl so he could whip it up.

"…Am I the only person in the world that owns more than one whisk? Why doesn't Joey own one?" he muttered, scowling, and opened and closed all of the drawers in the small kitchen. He paused. "Although that might be because I pay people to whisk things for me. Maybe I can give Joey one of ours." He pulled out a large metal spoon with holes in it and glared at it. It wasn't a whisk, but he supposed it would do. "I think I'll bring a whisk next time instead of toys."

Maybe he should make a list of all of the cooking tools he could sneak into the blond's apartment before he noticed. He couldn't imagine Joey opening a drawer and accusingly snarling, "This isn't my whisk!" or, "This isn't my apple corer and slicer!" Quite frankly, he was sure Joey would just look in his drawers and say, "What the fuck are these for?"

He didn't look forward to explaining the concepts of a whisk or an apple corer and slicer. Seto sighed. Joey was so adorably stupid sometimes.

"Hey, Kaiba, I think these actually look pretty good on me!"

Seto blinked in surprise and turned, eyes going wide when he saw the blond standing in the doorway in nothing but a large t-shirt and the lacy red panties that had only been meant as a joke and now he was wearing them and they looked really good on him not that anything looked bad on him but these panties especially looked good on him and—

The spoon fell out of the brunet's hand and clanged on the floor.

Joey looked down at the spoon, startled, then looked back up at Seto, blushing a little when he saw blood running from his nose. "Uh, Kaiba… Are you okay?"

Seto stared at him a little longer before he lifted his arm so he could wipe his face with the back of his hand. He was so distracted, though, that he only ended up hitting himself in the nose quite hard with his knuckles. He yelped, grabbed his nose and bent down in pain, only to yelp again as he hit the counter and knocked himself forward.

Joey watched him face plant and covered his mouth in horror. "Oh God Kaiba it was just a joke!"

"…I landed on the spoon…"

The blond rushed to help him up, hurriedly putting the spoon in the sink so that if Seto fell, he couldn't possibly fall onto it again. "Kaiba, I'm so sorry! If I'd known you'd react like that—How was I supposed t' know you'd react like that?!"

Seto stood up, blinked a moment, then turned to the younger boy and snarled, "You and your infallible confidence! If you were less self-assured this never would have happened!"

Joey flinched backward, brows furrowing together in confusion. "Um… I'm… sorry?"

"Don't be; it's unattractive."

The blond stared at him for a few minutes, absolutely baffled, before patting his chest as if to reassure himself that he should get used to this because the older boy was doing a good job of weaseling into his life whether he wanted him to or not. "I'll go change then. …Your waffles are burning."

Seto spun around quickly to face the waffle iron and cursed before ripping the waffle iron open. He yelped as the waffles stuck to the top of it and were flung up at him when he opened it, ducking quickly.

The waffles smacked into the opposite wall, leaving the nice criss-cross marks of the waffles on the white paint in grease. It then smacked onto the ground. It cracked at the edges.

Seto stared at the waffle on the floor, then sighed and sat down at the table, covering his face. He'd ruined a whole batch of batter, had gotten blood on his shirt, and he would probably have a nice bruise from the spoon later in the day. This was why he didn't cook. There were too many outside factors to distract him.

Nothing could have prepared him for seeing Joey in panties.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"So, uh, what are your plans for the next few days?"

Seto looked up from the burbling twelve-month old in front of him, blinking in surprise. "Uh. Going to work. –Mokuba has parent conferences on Wednesday, so I won't be over that evening, but I thought maybe I could come over after work tomorrow and the next day…?"

"I either won't be here or I'll be way too tired," Joey replied, walking over to the sink to wash the dishes from dinner. Seto came over for dinner a lot now, actually; it seemed like the only times he didn't come over was when Mokuba had a soccer game and the weekends, not including tonight, because Mokuba was at some friend's birthday party.

Seto blinked. "…Oh?" He turned back to the baby and began stacking his blocks up so he could knock them down. "Why did you ask what I'm doing for the next few days then? You know I always text or call you before I come over."

"Uh. I was… Well." Joey frowned and traced his wet finger along the counter. "…I need t' go across town t' work and it would be easier and cheaper if I just got a capsule hotel and stayed there instead of bussin' back and forth and payin' for a babysitter." He clenched his hand into a fist nervously. "I thought… maybe ya wouldn't mind stayin' with him a few days. The gang's in school and I know ya only hafta go in a couple times a week t' turn in homework—"

"Because I have to be at work instead," Seto cut in.

The blond's shoulders sagged. "Oh, right." He sighed and lifted his soapy hand to scratch his head, then wiped his hands on his pants and walked over to the calendar hanging beside the refrigerator with a large memo pad beside it.

He looked at the lists of babysitters he had, brows furrowing together when he realized most of them were students just earning some spending money and he lacked any that were adults that could watch him the entire day. He could ask his land lady, but she'd already told him that she was going to go examine some other properties she'd like to invest in. She'd gladly put it off so he could work to pay his rent, but he didn't want to make her do that.

"Guess he's gonna hafta go t' a daycare," he muttered, frowning. "Damn." He'd be dipping into his grocery money this month. …He didn't need to have lunches this month. And hey, he wasn't usually hungry in the morning anyway!

"…I can take care of him for a few days," Seto replied, coming up behind him. "I'm sure I can get one of the maids—"

"No!" Joey blushed when he sensed the brunet bristle at being cut off, but he turned to face him and rushed on anyway. "Kaiba, it's bad enough I'm leavin' him with different people all day while I work. I want him t' be able t' come home—to his home—and feel comfortable. And I already have so many people watchin' him—I can't make him keep wonderin' how many people I'm gonna swing through his life."

The older boy tilted his head. "You could have let me finish my sentence before you shut me down."

The blond frowned. "Kaiba, when have I ever done that for anyone?"

Seto hummed. "…Never."

"Yeah."

The brunet crossed his arms, sighing quietly. "…I… suppose I could take him to the daycare at work, and then stop at Mokuba's school and bring him here, too. You wouldn't mind Mokuba staying here too, would you?"

"As long as he doesn't leave any panties lyin' around, no," Joey drawled, crossing his arms and smirking up at him.

Seto blushed a little and glared at him. "I'm telling you Mokuba put those in as a joke and even if I'd done it I never would have expected you to put them on!"

"Yeah, but ya thought I looked sexy in them when I did," the blond purred. "So sexy that ya got a nose bleed!"

He couldn't deny it, because it was true, so the older boy merely sighed in annoyance. "Oh, shut up."

Joey leaned toward him and ran his fingertips over the brunet's chest. "Come on, ya know ya liked it." He paused, then added, "Boyfriend."

Seto bit his bottom lip, frowning, then leaned down a little. After another hesitant pause, he leaned down the rest of the way to brush his lips over the blond's gently. He lifted his hand to cup the younger boy's cheek when he didn't immediately head butt him or punch him and leaned back. "…Boyfriends do that."

The blond blushed a little and turned his glance away, reaching up to place his hand over the older boy's. "…I guess they do."

"And we've been calling each other that for a few months—" Seto paused, wondering if he'd done the wrong thing. Had he taken something that had just been playing and made it awkward? He probably had. 'Shit.'

Joey bit his bottom lip, unable to help an awkward smile. "Well, I guess kissin' isn't so bad."

"…You wouldn't mind if I continued to kiss you?" the brunet asked after a moment.

"…I wouldn't mind, no." He smiled a little.

And then suddenly he realized why their quiet moment of tenderness was so nice.

He leaned around the brunet, peered into the living room, and screeched. "HOW'D YA GET INTO YOUR DIAPER POWDER?!"

Seto turned around quickly and choked on a gasp when he saw the tiny brunet had gotten the bottle of baby powder and had covered everything in the living room with it.

Including himself.

Joey rolled his eyes and stomped into the room, reaching down to ruffle Atticus's hair to get some of the powder out of it. "Ma always said she knew I was doin' somethin' wrong when she couldn't hear me."

"I didn't even know there was this much baby powder in a bottle," Seto muttered, frowning, and walked over to dust off the toddler's toys. "You go clean him up. I'll get his toys cleaned up so we can vacuum."

"Jeez. Jeez. Jeez. How'd ya do this. Did I ever do this t' Ma? God I hope not. Come on Atty. Let's get clean."

Seto smiled a little as the blond grabbed Atticus's hands and swung him in a circle before carrying him over to the bathroom.

"It's Super Atty t' the rescue! Able t' make a mess within a single second! Wooooosh t' the bathroom!"

Seto chuckled and continued to pick up the toddler's toys. "Faster than his speedy father."

"Ah, shut up! He only ran away one time!" the blond exclaimed, shooting him a short glare, before finally carrying Atticus into the bathroom to get him clean.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"So the diaper bag's got diapers, snacks, some toys, his security blanket—Oh, what if he gets bored with these toys? I don't want him t' get fussy and annoy the daycare people," Joey worried, and walked over to the toy bucket to grab a few more.

Seto caught him around the waist and heaved him back to the door. "I've only been in there once, just to make sure everything is running smoothly, but I'm certain they have other toys if he gets bored with his own."

"Snacks, then!"

"We provide meals and snacks."

"…He'll need extra diapers!"

"We have diapers and extra clothes for accidents and you've packed almost an entire bag of diapers already." Seto frowned and grabbed the blond's chin to force him to meet his eyes. "Joey, everything will be okay. We'll take good care of him."

Joey frowned and turned his gaze down and to the side. "…Yeah, I guess."

"…Will it make you feel better if I go check on him every hour and send you a picture on your phone?" the brunet deadpanned.

The younger boy's eyes lit up. "Yeah!"

Seto sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine. I will. Come on. Let's go. I'll drop you by the bus station."

"Okay. A picture every hour, alright? And I'll call every night when I get t' the hotel so I can talk t' Atty and—"

"Joey, I believe you. Now let's hurry before we're both late, okay?" Seto turned to the stroller the toddler was sleeping in. "How does he sleep through you talking?"

"Psh, probably got used t' me talkin' 'cause he realized if I kept talkin' I'm not yellin'."

.-.-.-.-.-.

Seto placed his hands on his hips and stared at the skeletal stroller in front of him, then looked at the car seat that the toddler was sitting in. "…Now how the hell did your daddy do this?" he asked the baby, scowling.

He knew he should have watched more carefully when Joey had pulled the car seat out of the stroller and put it in the limo. It had taken him twenty minutes to figure out how to get it out until finally the limo driver had come around to help him, too. They'd tinkered with everything for ten minutes before they finally got the car seat out.

The limo driver had gotten back in the car and drove off before he could even begin to suggest him helping to put the car seat back in the stroller. He'd tried to figure it out himself, but he was absolutely baffled by it. Even one of the strangers passing by that had stopped to help him had been stumped.

Seto stared at Atticus, who merely burbled and smiled up at him. "…Well. Maybe someone inside can tell us how this works."

"Babananana!"

"You ate breakfast already," he sighed, rolling his eyes, before placing his briefcase where the car seat should go and catching the car seat so he could steer with one hand and carry Atticus with the other. "Come on. Maybe the babysitters in daycare will give you a snack. …You're a black hole like your father."

He didn't quite remember where exactly the daycare was, so he went up to the desk near the door, lugging the car seat and Atticus onto the counter. "Could you please remind me where the daycare is?"

"Oh, good morning, Mr. Kaiba! Hey, who's this cutie?" she asked, smiling, and stood to look at the toddler. "Aw, he looks a lot like you, sir! I didn't know you had a girlfriend!"

"…I don't. He belongs to a friend and I'm watching him while he's out of town."

"Wow, that's still an uncanny resemblance," she murmured in surprise as she looked back and forth between them. Remembering that he'd asked her a question, she blushed brightly and leaned back. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir. It's on the second floor, in the first door on the left, and it takes up three rooms depending on how many children are here."

"I see. You wouldn't happen to know how to put this—" Seto motioned at Atticus in the car seat. "—Into this?" He motioned at the stroller. "His father didn't show me and I spent forty minutes trying to figure this out."

"…It might help if you took your briefcase out," she teased. "Oh, it's been years since I've used a stroller. Let me see if I can help. If I can figure it out, I'll show you how."

He was already late. He figured he could wait twenty more minutes. "Alright." He took Atticus from the car seat and bounced him in his arms as he took his briefcase from the stroller and put it on the counter so she could fiddle freely with the stroller and the car seat that went into it.

He watched her poke around the stroller and hissed as Atticus grabbed some pens out of the glass on the counter. "Atticus, stop it. Just wait a few minutes and we can go play with all the toys you wan—" He caught the toy that was tossed up in his direction as the woman happened to be next to the diaper bag. "Thank you. Here, Atticus. Give me those."

He was just setting the pens back in the glass and moving them onto the desk instead of the counter when he heard a sharp voice calling out, "Seto! Seto, I wanna talk to you!"

Seto rolled his eyes and sighed, wondering what he'd done to deserve this, then turned his head, unable to help his lip curling up in disgust. He wished he could fire Haruka, but she'd been hired before he had found out about her and she'd threatened to sue that he'd fired her merely because he didn't like her instead of based on merit. She used the fact that she was his biological cousin to the fullest extent she could, and Seto wondered how someone as spoiled and rude as she was had managed to get hired in the first place.

Haruka crossed her arms and glared at him. "I got some memos on my desk saying that my program wasn't good enough, and they're signed by you."

"Maybe if you'd stop being lazy and actually coded things correctly, I wouldn't have to take the time to send them to you—because really, my time is too important to be wasted on you," Seto spat, glaring right back. He comforted himself knowing that if she fucked up her program one more time, he could fire her for incompetence.

"Oh, you asshole! You just can't stand the fact that our family is still successful despite you running us out of business!"

Seto turned to face her angrily. "I did no such thing, my step-father did. You know, the one that adopted me after your parents left my brother and me at the orphanage?"

"Like that's my fault!"

"If I remember correctly, you always complained to your parents about how annoying and in-the-way Mokuba and I were. And don't even get me started on all the times you used to bully me and beat me up."

"Why, you—" she began angrily, only to catch sight of the toddler in his arms. She paled, mouth hanging open for a few moments, before she pointed a shaking finger at the child. "W-what are you doing with him?!"

"I'm babysitting him for a… friend…" Seto raised an eyebrow, then stood up straighter, brows furrowing together as he glared at her with all of the hatred he could muster. "You. You're the Haruka that dumped Joey with this baby. I'd heard you were out whoring around with dangerous people a few years ago—that's why your parents disowned you. You're not even paying Joey child support! He's paying for Atticus all on his own without any help from you.

"My God, I knew there was a reason I hated you and your family but you've reached a whole new level of shitty. And let me guess, dear aunty and uncle promised to take you back if you got rid of your illegitimate child." He was glad for the twelve inches he towered over her, because as he glared down at her, it made him feel even more powerful, and he liked the way it made her quake in terror. "In a way, I'm glad. At least now Atticus won't grow up to be a terrible person like you. Joey's doing a fine job raising him."

"…I… I…!" Haruka took a step back, tears filling her eyes.

Seto took a step toward her and growled. "And if you try to use custody of Atticus against me, not only will I crush you and the rest of your family financially, but Joey will kill you. He will literally hunt you down, beat down any and every bodyguard you hire that is in his way, and he will strangle you to death. Not that I would let you get custody, of course. Joey couldn't afford a lawyer to save his life, but I can hire the best—and I will, just to keep Atticus away from you."

"…I-it's none of your business!" she snapped, gripping her hands into fists. "It's between Joey and me, not you, so why don't you just butt the fuck out!"

"Haruka, I do tend to get peevish when my boyfriend and his son are threatened." Seto smirked when she paled again. "I'll have security escort you to your office so you can gather your things. I don't like it when my employees curse at me and tell me what to do."

He turned to the woman who manned the front desk, unable to help his smirk growing when he saw she'd fixed the stroller and was playing with the brakes on the wheels to keep from distracting them. He glanced at her name plate, then looked back at her. "Marian. Please call security. Make sure they take her badge before she leaves."

She stood up straight and smiled brightly. "Right away sir." She paused, then leaned in to whisper, "If you stop by the desk before you leave tonight, I'll show you how to get the seat in and out of the stroller."

"Thank you, Marian." Seto buckled Atticus into the stroller and smirked as his cousin began to shriek and curse at him more. "And you profess to be a lady," he tisked, before walking over to the elevator.

He flashed her one last smirk before the doors slid shut. He suddenly felt triumph greater than any dueling win had given him.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"So we're just gonna eat take-out for the next three days?" Mokuba asked, falling onto the couch.

Seto huffed. "Unless you want to make something, I really don't want to be bothered. …I can make waffles."

"I like waffles," the younger boy replied. He yelped as Atticus was unceremoniously plopped on his stomach. "Agh!"

"If I'm cooking, you're watching Atticus. That's what I do for Joey when he cooks."

"Ah, okay, fine."

Seto looked in the blond's cupboards and refrigerator. "Uh. I'll have to go to the store then."

"Ow he's got my hair!"

"Stop letting him get to it," the brunet snapped in annoyance. "It's not rocket science. Joey has some spare hair ties in the bathroom. I'm going to the corner store to get some things."

Mokuba stood to go get one of the hair ties, passing Atticus to his brother so he could do it in peace, only to sigh as he heard a knock on the door. "I'll get it…"

"I don't remember ever acting as sulky as you are when I was your age," Seto muttered, setting Atticus on the floor and setting up some blocks. He put the Dark Magician puppet on top and grinned when the toddler knocked it over and roared. "That's my baby dragon."

The younger boy rolled his eyes and opened the door, blinking when he was faced with a girl a few years older than him standing outside and smacking her gum, eyelids lowered as if she really didn't want to be there. She looked down at him, froze, then smiled, exposing the wad of gum in the side of her mouth. Mokuba blinked. "Hi."

"Hey." She batted her lashes coyly. "Joey asked my ma if she'd mind makin' you guys some dinner while he's gone, since he didn't trust ya to cook."

"That was nice of them," Mokuba stated. He looked down at the casserole dish in her hands, then reached out to take it. He nearly shivered when she purposely moved one of her hands under his, so he had to touch it. He smiled awkwardly as he took the dish. "Well, thanks. We'll return the dish when we're finished!"

"What's your name?" she asked, leaning toward him a little.

He squeaked. "I'm thirteen."

She paused, then smirked and moved her hands like claws. "I guess you could call me a cougar then. Rawr."

Before she could continue, Seto appeared in the doorway. He looked at her, scowled, and firmly stated, "No." Then, he slammed the door in her face.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Seto grabbed his phone as it began to ring and sighed. "No, he hasn't had his bath yet, and yes, I'm planning on rectifying that soon."

"What's he doin'? He ain't watchin' TV and meltin' his tiny brain, is he?"

The brunet rolled his eyes and forced himself not to sigh again, deciding not to mention that Joey watched plenty of TV too. "No. Mokuba's playing with him, and then after his bath, he's going to read Atticus to sleep."

"Oh, good. How were your conferences?"

"Miserable. Either gushing over what a gifted student Mokuba is or how he needs an attitude adjustment. I was unimpressed and unsympathetic, respectively."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. He's a smart smartass. He probably gets it from you, asshole."

"You wound me." Seto smiled a little. "How are you, by the way? How's work?"

"Hard and hot, but I'm doin' alright." The brunet must have gasped or choked or something, because the younger boy hurriedly replied, "Hard work that makes me uncomfortably warm and sweaty, asshole, not hard and hot like a dick."

"Oh, that's a shame. I was about to say that you could have stayed here and I could have given you the same experience." Seto smirked.

"If I was there I'd punch ya."

"I suppose you would." The brunet tilted his head. "…So… just kissing, then?"

"If I wanna have sex I'll tell ya when I'm good and ready."

And Seto knew he would. Joey wasn't shy and even if he was, he wasn't subtle. If he hinted, Seto would have been able to figure it out. He wasn't completely hopeless.

"I'm gonna be so glad to come back home tomorrow. This is exhausting and I wanna eat real food."

"I could wire you some money to go to a good restaurant," the brunet began to offer, but he knew he would be declined. "Well, I could make waffles for when you come back."

Joey laughed. "Are waffles the only thing you can make, Kaiba?"

"…I can make pasta."

"…Can you make anything to go on the pasta?"

"…You can put butter on it…"

"You know they sell sauces in jars, right? You could just get one of those and warm it on the stove."

"I could do that. Spaghetti? No, I'll surprise you." He paused. "…If I did spaghetti after I told you I wasn't going to do it, would that surprise you?"

"No. No, it really wouldn't. I'd be more surprised if you didn't do it."

Seto frowned. "…I'll ruminate on this later."

"You do that. Well, I'm tired, Kaiba. Say g'night t' Atty for me, 'cause I'm about t' pass out."

"I'll do that. You just sleep so you can come home tomorrow. Pasta."

The blond laughed. "Pasta. Thanks, Kaiba. G'night."

Seto turned his phone off and sighed. "…What sort of pasta should I make, Mokuba?"

"Spaghetti!" Mokuba replied immediately.

The brunet groaned and slapped a hand over his face.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey trudged up to the door of his apartment and smiled, sighing tiredly as he turned the knob and stepped inside. It was so good to be home. He'd missed Atticus.

And deep down, he'd missed Seto, too, but he wouldn't tell him that. Seto's head was big enough.

Walking into the apartment, he smiled when he saw Seto sitting on the floor with Atticus, both of them oblivious to his presence. He sighed. There was something incredibly… nice about coming home to people.

Just when he was about to make himself known by slamming the door (and perhaps making them jump; he was a little bit of a jerk), he saw Atticus look up at the CEO, smile, and proudly proclaim, "Dada!"

He felt like his chest was being crushed while someone was pouring ice water over his head. He didn't know one simple word—not even a word, just babbling that turned into a word—could make him feel like he'd just been run over by a dozen semi trucks and someone was rubbing salt into every wound from it.

He'd been replaced. In three and a half days, Atticus had decided that Seto was Dada.

Atticus hadn't even called him Dada. Not even Da. Just… burbling and grabby hands and sometimes a long whine.

Joey felt the doorknob slip from his fingers but was more focused on trying to breathe, because he felt as if the air had been knocked out of him.

Seto looked up as he heard the door slam, then smiled. "Welcome home."

"Yeah…" the blond muttered, trudging past him to walk into the bathroom.

The older blinked, frowning, then looked down at Atticus. "Wonder what's gotten into your dad. Probably just tired."

Atticus reached for the Dark Magician puppet so he could throw it. "Rawr!"

"No, I'm going to make some fettuccini for your dad and prove that I can make something that isn't waffles and he's expecting spaghetti."

Seto was determined. He placed the toddler in his high chair so he could begin boiling the noodles. He examined the cooking directions on the Alfredo jar, then dumped it into a pan and hoped for the best. Wait, did the jar say pot? Well, it was already in the pan. It would have to do. He'd just stir it a lot so it didn't burn. Could Alfredo burn? He hoped not. He didn't buy enough Alfredo to make it twice. He should have. It always took him twice to figure things out.

While the Alfredo was cooking and the noodles boiling, he squatted in front of the toddler's high chair. "Your daddy took a long time to get home. Give him a kiss and then I'll put you to bed, okay?"

Atticus had had a very busy day at daycare. They'd had an activity day, so he had slept hard during his nap and Seto had had to bribe him with food to keep him awake on the way home so he'd sleep through the night.

Seto pulled the noodles from the pot of boiling water and set the colander in the sink to drain. He stirred the Alfredo. It hadn't burned. This was good. He was doing okay. He was—

BURNING HIMSELF.

"AGH!" Seto dropped the spoon quickly, hissing when he realized it was a metal spoon and he'd just rested it on the pan.

The brunet hissed and ran his hand under some cold water, because he needed his hand to be okay for work tomorrow. He had at least an hour's worth of code to look over and if one of his hands was hurt, he could be looking at up to three hours of work. Ugh. What an awful prospect.

He turned as he heard a chair being pulled out from the table and couldn't help a smile when he saw Joey still toweling his hair dry. "How was work today?"

"…Mh." Joey set his towel on the table and sighed. "It… was. It just was."

Seto blinked at him. "…O… kay…" He tilted his head, frowning, then turned to put the fettuccini in a bowl and drizzle some sauce on top of it. He mixed the noodles so they were covered completely with sauce, then turned and set it on the table. "See? Not spaghetti."

The blond frowned and picked up a fork. "…Good job, Kaib'."

Seto blinked again. "…Thank you." He noticed Atticus's eyes falling shut and reached out to pluck him up. "Say goodnight to Joey, Atticus."

Joey looked up at the toddler and managed to halfway smile, reaching up to cup his cheek, then looked back down at his food and twirled it around his fork. He listened to the brunet walk away and sighed, frowning, then put the noodles in his mouth. It was a shame he was in such a shitty mood, he mused. The fettuccine Alfredo was actually really good.

Not good enough to cover up the fact that he was such a terrible father despite everything he did for Atticus that his son would call Seto 'dada' before he even tried to call him anything.

Joey swallowed thickly around the lump in his throat and sniffled. He'd worked so hard to be the best father he could be—had worked this difficult job so that he could get a little extra money—and now Atticus was becoming more attached to Seto. He jumped a little when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder and lifted his head.

Seto frowned at him in concern. "Joey, what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothin'," Joey spat bitterly. "Just that I'm obviously a terrible parent."

The brunet sighed and rolled his eyes. "I thought we'd already gone through this. Joey, you're not a bad parent. You're doing the best you can—"

"Well clearly not good enough if he's callin' you 'dada!'" Joey exclaimed angrily as he turned to glare at him.

"Wh—" Seto stumbled backward when the blond shoved him and flinched as his back hit something sticking out of the wall. He growled in annoyance, but before he could even get up and go after him (if only to hit him back), he heard the door slam and feet stomping away.

Seto thought about going after him, but he was pretty sure Joey would hit him. Hard. He didn't want to deal with that, especially when he noticed that the thing that had hurt his back was a hook, and he felt a small spot of blood forcing his shirt to stick to where he'd been cut.

He gave Joey an hour to calm down; then he started calling his cell phone. He jumped as he heard a loud ring and turned, scowling in frustration when he realized that Joey had left his phone in his bag and had stormed out without it. He called Yugi then, but when he was told that Joey hadn't been there, he'd asked for the numbers of the different places Joey would go to.

He'd called Tristan's cell phone, but he wasn't at home, so Joey wouldn't be there either. He tried Téa, but she said he hadn't been by, and he never tried to come to her house after seven-thirty in the evening, so he thanked her and hung up. He called Ryou and Duke, but Ryou was busy studying and hadn't noticed if anyone had knocked, so he wasn't there, and Duke informed him that Joey would never come to see him when he was feeling vulnerable (which Seto understood after learning about the dog suit incident).

He was at a loss for whom to call next. He couldn't reach Joey, and no one else knew where he was. He couldn't even fathom where he could have gone. And he couldn't leave Atticus here all alone. He didn't want to go to Joey's landlady, because he didn't want her to view Joey as someone who would abandon his child when he got angry, so he had to stay there.

So, Seto called his brother, told him he didn't know what time he'd be home, and to go to bed at a reasonable hour. Mokuba, for the most part, could tell something was wrong, so instead of making a fuss, he simply agreed, and actually went to bed before midnight, which was early for him.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey shoved his hands in his pockets and snarled when someone approached him. "Whatcha want?!"

The hooker blushed and turned to scuttle away. "Sorry. Di'n't know ya was in a bad mood, man."

"Waitwaitwait."

She turned and yelped as he flicked something at her, but caught it. She beamed when she saw it was ten dollars—ten dollars more than she'd had. "Blow for your trouble?"

"Nah." He waved her away. "You could get lost for ten minutes."

She followed his gaze to the apartment building and chewed her lower lip nervously. "Well—Okay." She smiled sweetly before swiftly scampering away.

Joey made sure she was gone before he continued into the building, eyes hard and cold as he climbed the steps to the third floor. He paused outside the door, glaring at it, before he kicked it open, not caring if his dad had to pay for it to be replaced. After all the times he'd paid for it after his dad had broken it, he figured he could get some fun out of it, too.

When he found his father, he was passed out on the couch. He looked at him and felt hate building up in his body. He hated this man with every fiber of his being. Yes, he missed the man that used to take him to ball games and showed him how to fix cars and how to stop the sink from leaking. He missed the man that would play hide-and-go-seek with him and his sister, that would throw them up in the air from the pool or the pool deck.

But the man in front of him was no longer his father, and hadn't been for a long time. The man hadn't been a father long enough for Joey to learn how to be one himself.

And he hated him especially for that.

The man on the couch coughed and blinked his eyes open blearily, as if able to sense the fury-filled eyes. He squinted at him. "Boy?"

His father hadn't called him by name for years.

Joey felt his rage compound with that single word. All of the years of skipping meals to make ends meet because of his father's debt, all of the years he'd been beaten around and spat at and discouraged, all of the years he'd spent hoping and praying that his father would change and get healthy and be the man he'd used to love.

His rage blinded him. But that didn't stop him from leaping on the man and screaming about the terrible father he was and what a stain to humanity he'd become, and why it was his fault that he didn't know how to be a good father to Atticus, his grandson, if he'd even heard him when he told him about him.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey shoved his hands in his pockets, the blood on his knuckles and fingers smearing the denim red as he walked over to the broken door. He stared at it a moment, then pulled one of his hands from his pockets, grabbed the knob, and closed the broken door as best he could.

When he turned from the door, he blinked when he found three men in suits staring at him. He smiled. Even the best thugs couldn't hide their intimidating slouch. Clearly, they'd come to collect a payment for his debt. "Hey."

One of the thugs nodded to him. He recognized him as the kid that always paid this guy's loans, but he'd been told that the kid no longer had any ties—he was free and clear.

Joey shrugged. "If you're here for th' old man, 'm sorry 'bout that. He'll be… busy for a while. Still alive." He paused. "…I think." He smiled at them, then walked past them to the stairs.

The thugs waited until he was gone before the first directed the other two to go inside and inspect the damage. Then, he flipped open his cell phone to call his boss.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Seto looked up as the door opened, then stood and strode toward it.

Joey looked up from closing the door, startled, and blushed a little when he saw the hard look he was being given. He looked down and bit his bottom lip, hiding his bloody hands behind his back.

Seto grabbed his wrists and pulled them forward so he could examine his hands. He took in the blood that clearly didn't belong to Joey and the broken skin on his knuckles. He brushed his fingers over the bruises around the broken skin, then slid an arm around the blond's shoulders and yanked him up against his chest.

Joey struggled a moment, growling, but fell silent when he heard the brunet whispering to him.

And the words made tears form in his eyes and roll down his cheeks because he hadn't realized how much he needed to be reassured that he was doing an okay job.

You're not a terrible father. You are the best single father I've ever seen. Look at how healthy Atticus is. Look at how clean you keep your apartment. Look at how hard you work each day so you can afford the best for him. He doesn't even know what words mean yet. He knows for bananas he just screams 'ba's and 'na's. He knows that "daddy" has 'da's in it. He doesn't know what a daddy is. If it helps, I'm sorry he called me 'dada.'

Joseph Wheeler, you are an excellent father.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey flinched as he heard the chair across from the couch creak. He knew he should get up and check, but he was so comfortable, and the couch was stroking his hair—

…The couch was stroking his hair?

The blond blinked and looked up, eyes widening when they met familiar blue ones. "Geh?!"

Seto smirked. "Well hello, sleeping beauty. You have company."

Joey blushed a little and turned his head, shrieking in shock when he saw Kenji Nakamura sitting in his easy chair. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

"I heard about the incident with your father," Kenji stated simply. He looked up at the blond's landlady and smiled when he heard Atticus begin fussing and crying in his room. "Auntie, would you mind watching Atticus until our business is finished?"

The blond squeaked. "Auntie?"

"Sweetie, who else would rent to a seventeen-year-old without a security deposit and the first month's rent without a good reference?" she asked, smiling at him, and patted Kenji on the shoulder. "Kenji vouched that you were good for it, and you've proved yourself trustworthy." She grabbed a bottle of formula and some toys so she could entertain the baby while the men talked.

Joey pushed himself into a sitting position and flinched when he heard Seto groan loudly. "Sorry."

"How do you always find my most sensitive spots without even meaning to first the hook in my back and now my testicles uuuuugh…!" Seto shoved the blond's knee away and bent over, muttering to himself angrily.

Joey blushed even more. "Ya want me t' get some ice, Kaib—"

"LEAVE ME ALONE TO NURSE MY EGO."

Joey and Kenji stared at him for a moment. Eventually, though, the blond turned to face the other man, frowning and picking nervously at his pants. "Um."

"It came to my attention that you visited your father yesterday." Kenji paused. "…He won't be pressing charges, of course. After all the times we've deferred your payments so you could pay hospital bills, we reminded him just how much your hospital bills were. He decided his hospital bill was much smaller."

Joey bit his bottom lip when he sensed Seto glancing up at him, even as he was bent over in pain. "Uh. Okay."

"Don't do it again," the older man ordered sharply, making the blond flinch a little and shrink backward. "Next time he might press charges. You're doing so well getting out of poverty I hate to see you fuck it up. I didn't put in your down payment and first month's rent for this place just for you to lose your temper."

The younger boy blinked. "You… huh?"

"The money you paid after Atticus was born—even if you didn't know he existed. I gave it to my aunt so she didn't suffer any losses and you could have a relatively safe place to stay. I like seeing people work their ways out of poverty and gangs." Kenji nodded toward Atticus's room. "Auntie's children are successful. They clawed their ways out of debt while I clawed my way up the social ladder. I'm proud of my aunt and I'm proud of my cousins. I'd like to be proud of you."

Seto blinked up at him. "That's quite charitable of you."

"You know why people work for me? They like me. I don't want people to work for me just for money; it means someone with a better price can steal them away. I want them to be loyal to me because I'm just as loyal to them. It's why Wheeler's monthly payments were so low and why I'm sponsoring his friend to dance."

Joey's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth.

Kenji glared at him. "If you tell her, I'm not going to sponsor her."

All that came out of his open mouth was a squeak.

"Your friends gave you money for a paternity test. When you tried to return it, they bought you supplies for your baby and refused repayment. Friends like that are difficult to come by and when I saw them taking care of you, I wanted to take care of them. I just have one question for you, Wheeler."

Joey blinked. "Huh?"

"I can sponsor Gardener's schooling, I can send Moto on an archeological dig, I can make an anonymous donation to Devlin's store, but what the hell do I get your other friend?!"

The blond blinked again. "Wha—Tristan?"

"Yes, that one!"

"…Uh… motorcycle…?" Joey muttered, brows furrowing together.

Kenji threw his hands up. "Oh my God, even you can't tell me!"

"He just really wants a girlfriend and ya can't really just do that for him…"

"GIRLS ARE NOT THAT IMPORTANT UGH."

Joey's landlady poked her head out of the door and glared at her nephew. "Kenji, you're upsetting the baby. Be quiet."

Kenji gripped his hands into fists and shook them at the ceiling wordlessly.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"…Interesting character. Reminds me of you," Seto commented after Kenji and his aunt had left.

Joey stared at the wall, shell-shocked.

"Except not as hot-tempered. He gets exasperated, but I think he reins in his temper well."

"…"

"And he's not as cute as you are."

Joey bit his bottom lip and looked up at the brunet in surprise, then glanced away and giggled half in amusement and half hysterically.

Seto frowned. "So… don't make comparisons like that ever again?"

The blond smacked his arm. "Never."

"Hmmm. Well, I'm late for work." Seto looked at his watch. "Are you working today?"

"Nah, I get a day off."

"Good. At least your job's not at risk." The brunet stood and dusted himself off. "Ugh. You're heavy. Damn it, there's blood on my shirt."

Joey frowned. "I could wash it."

"No, that's alright. Shake the press up this way. I have clean shirts at work anyway. I used to get nosebleeds all the time," the CEO explained, packing up his briefcase.

"And now ya only get 'em when I'm wearin' lacy red panties?" the blond couldn't help but tease.

Seto paused, blinking slowly, then turned to smirk at him. "Are you offering to do it again?"

"What if I am?" Joey challenged, standing up and putting his hands on his hips with a smirk.

Catching sight of the blond's bruised knuckles, the dried blood flaking off, the brunet couldn't bring himself to smile back. He reached out to touch the blond's hand gently. "Would you like me to help you with this?"

The younger boy blinked at him, then looked down at his knuckles, blushing a little and flinching as he brought his hand up to look at. "Oh. No, I can clean this up myself." He traced his fingertips over his knuckles and frowned. "Nah, I got this. Sorry I worried ya last night, Kaiba. I was just… havin' a bad day."

Seto lifted his hand to cup his cheek, sighing quietly, then leaned in and kissed him. "That's alright. I'll see you later. Make sure to take care of these." He tapped the back of the blond's hand and nuzzled his ear for a moment before picking up his briefcase and walking to the door.

Joey trailed after him, pausing just at the door as he looked up at him. "…Kaiba?"

"Hmm?" Seto paused and looked over at him from putting on his coat.

"…'m sorry I pushed ya and hurt ya on the hook in the kitchen yesterday." He looked down at his feet. "And when I accidentally jammed my knee into yer balls this mornin', too."

The brunet smiled awkwardly. "That's okay. Well, I'd prefer it not happen again, but really. I'm fine now." He paused. "…You know, when you go back to work, instead of getting a babysitter, I could take Atticus back to the daycare in my building. He's really a social butterfly. He plays with everyone."

"Oh." Joey tilted his head, frowning. "Well—Maybe. We'll see. I mean, it's not that I don't trust your daycare!" he added hurriedly when the brunet raised an eyebrow. "It's just… the people I get t' babysit are usually earning money for somethin'."

"Yeah. Toys, because their parents don't give them enough allowance." Seto smiled. "Well. Whatever you decide, you know where to find me."

"'kay. Ya comin' for dinner tonight?"

"Mokuba's got a soccer game, so no." The brunet sighed. "Maybe tomorrow."

"Yeah," Joey murmured, smiling a little. He watched Seto open the door, then grabbed his sleeve. When the brunet turned toward him, he went up on his toes to kiss him lightly.

Seto kissed him back in surprise, raising an eyebrow as the blond relaxed and smiled up at him. "What was that for?"

"…No reason. I just like kissin' ya."

The brunet paused. "…I think that's a good reason."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

The smiled at each other for a few seconds, feeling rather comfortable and happy, before Seto tapped the blond's hand again. "Take care of those before tomorrow."

Joey brought his hand up so he could look at the bruises and broken skin and frowned. "Yeah, I will. I'll ice 'em, too."

"Good. See you later."

"Yeah, bye."

Joey shut the door and locked it, staring at the smooth wood. He had known that his landlady was giving him quite the benefit of the doubt, but having Nakamura paying her for the difference made sense. He liked Nakamura, even if he was creepy sometimes, and he was thankful that he hadn't been told beforehand, because he had to admit that he would have been too stubborn and proud to accept it.

He trailed his finger over a knot in the wood and smiled when he remembered how Seto had held him until he'd fallen asleep with him on the couch. He'd felt so comfortable and… content. It felt nice.

He jerked his head as he heard Atticus begin crying, then smiled and walked into the toddler's room to get him. "Atty, ya wanna go visit Seto at work and go t' Mokie's soccer game?"

"Bababanana!"

Joey snorted and leaned down to kiss his forehead. "Alright. Breakfast time."

.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey pushed Atticus's stroller up to the main desk of the first floor of Kaiba Corp., smiling at the woman that looked up at him when he approached. "Hi."

"Hello. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yeah. Um, well, maybe." Suddenly, he realized that Seto wasn't expecting him, and he could be thrown out if they thought he meant trouble. He should have called ahead. Perhaps this was a bad idea. He blushed a little. "Um. Well, we wanted t' see Kaiba, but—he's probably busy, and—"

"We?" She stood to look over the counter, then smiled. "Oh, Atticus! What a sweetie! Mr. Kaiba will be leaving soon, but let me call his secretary and see if she can squeeze you in!"

"Oh, I don't wanna put him out or anything—" Joey began, feeling out of place in his jeans and t-shirt as people in business attire passed around him. The thought that this was a bad idea grew as he noticed all of them giving him sideways and disparaging glances.

"Don't worry, dear. He won't be put out," she replied, still smiling. "If Hanita lets me talk to him, he's probably not that busy, and if she doesn't, he won't even know."

"Oh, well… okay…"

He turned as Atticus let out an excited squeal and frantically shushed him. "Atty this isn't really the place t' scream! Inside voices!"

"It seems ironic that you are telling him to use his inside voice."

Joey jumped with a yelp and turned, scowling when he found Seto smirking at him. "Oh, fuck you. With a rake. AN OLD RAKE WITH SPLINTERS."

Seto stared at him for a moment, then looked at Marian. "If you were calling me, I'm here. I was just coming in from a late lunch meeting." When she nodded and bid goodbye to Hanita, he turned back to the blond. "What brings you here?"

The blond blushed a little and turned his gaze on his feet. "Um. Well, I thought, we could come see Mokuba's soccer game."

The older boy raised an eyebrow, surprised, then smiled. "I think he'd like that."

"Good because Atty and I made cookies for his team!" Joey exclaimed, smiling.

"…And how did Atticus make them?"

"By throwin' flour everywhere and makin' a mess. Duh," the blond replied, as if it were obvious.

And looking back on the question, Seto realized that it kind of was.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Seto looked through the bag of chocolate chip cookies and hummed. "May I have a cookie?"

Joey looked up at him in disgruntlement. "Those are for your brother and his team."

"…So I may not?"

"Not until the kids have some, no." Joey spread out a blanket and pulled Atticus from his stroller as the teams began their warm-ups. "Jeez. It's like talkin' to a big kid."

"I'm not a big kid." Seto pulled out some toys from the diaper bag and sat down next to Atticus, setting one of the plush dragons in front of him. The other he held himself, making it roar and growl. "Raaawr I'm a mean dragon!" He paused, then turned and threw the dragon plush at the blond's head. "Sneak attack."

"Geh!" Joey jerked in surprise and glared at him. "What were you just sayin' about not bein' a big kid?"

"I am not a goat."

The blond continued to glare at him, mostly because he felt that was often the proper response when faced with… Seto being Seto. "I hope your brother wins this game because that's your only redeemin' feature right now."

"…My brother's success is my only redeeming feature?"

"You just threw a dragon at my head. Yeah. That's the only way I'll forgive you."

Seto turned to face the field. "MOKUBA WIN THIS GAME OR YOU'RE GROUNDED."

Mokuba nearly tripped over an orange cone his coach had set up for one of their warm-ups. "Gah!"

Joey sighed and covered his face in embarrassment when the other parents (both home game and away) turned to look at them, most appalled by his threat.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"That was really low, threatening to ground me if we lost," Mokuba grumbled, even as he reached for a chocolate chip cookie.

"My relationship with Joey depended on it."

The younger boy stared at his older brother, brows furrowing together. "I can't believe that Joey would base his entire relationship with you on whether I won or lost this game."

Joey passed out cookies to the rest of the team. "Well. I was sort of jokin', but your brother is kind of bad at that."

"I'd think you'd learn that Seto is incapable of joking," Mokuba deadpanned.

Seto huffed in disgruntlement even as he passed a cracker to Atticus. "I can joke. I even made one."

"When?" Joey muttered, rolling his eyes.

"You called me a kid and I said I wasn't a goat."

Mokuba and Joey turned to look at him, decided not to say anything to hurt his ego (like that his jokes sucked or that he was unfunny), and returned to chatting with the rest of the team, Joey continuing to hand out cookies.

Seto thought for a moment that that was an insult in itself, but then Atticus threw the dragon plush and the marble eye hit him squarely in the forehead. "Ow!"

"That's what karma feels like," Joey stated.

He smiled as one of the other players approached and bashfully asked for a cookie for his little sister because she was getting grumpy and his mother had run out of snacks. The game had gone into overtime and, while no one had been expecting it, it had been a spectacular match. It had ended with a sudden death, Mokuba had made the winning score, and the team was still laughing and patting each other on the back.

Joey allowed everyone to take seconds and even thirds, in some cases—cases where Mokuba whispered that those students weren't as well off as some others. He waved as the team wandered away, then turned to put the plastic container back in the duffle bag.

He yelped when he found Seto standing in front of him. "Agh Kaiba!"

"Do I get a cookie now?"

Joey glanced away before looking back up at him. He hadn't realized Seto liked sweets. "Uh." He glanced into the tub. It only had a broken half of a cookie inside it. "Oh."

As if to rain on the CEO's parade more, a bird flew down, snatched the cookie up, and knocked the bowl from his hands.

Joey honestly felt bad when he saw the brunet's expression fall. "Kaiba, I have some more cookies at the apartment," he said quickly, reaching out to put his hands on the older boy's shoulders. "You and Mokuba can come over and have some more cookies and then I'll make some dinner, okay?"

Seto sighed. "Okay."

"'m sorry, Kaiba, I didn't know ya actually liked cookies that much." He bit his bottom lip. "…I could make a batch of cookies just for you tomorrow."

"I would like that."

"…I feel like I just left a kitten out in the rain on purpose…" Joey muttered to himself, frowning, but began to put Atticus in his stroller.

"SETO!"

Seto blinked, then rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Oh, damn."

Mokuba saw the woman approaching them and pulled out his phone. "III'll just call the police then."

"Eh? Why?" Joey asked, looking toward him in surprise. "It's not the first time a crazy fan girl's gone after your brother—"

Seto turned to face the woman as she approached, lip curling up into a sneer. "What do you want, Haruka?"

Joey blinked, then peeked around the brunet and blanched when he was faced with the mother of his child. He began to hurry securing Atticus in his stroller and picking up the blanket and packing up the diaper bag so they could flee.

"Asshole, I know you've been getting my calls! The least you could do is get back to me!" she screeched, glaring at him.

Seto rolled his eyes. "Well, actually, I haven't been getting your calls. Because, you know, that restraining order I made sure to obtain after you tried to steal property from my corporation. By the way, I'm compiling all of these records for a permanent restraining order as soon as this temporary one expires." He sighed when she merely glared at him. "Alright. Humoring you. Why have you been calling me?"

"Those false allegations against me, selling information to your competitors?! I have done no such thing! You're just being hateful!"

"I have proof," Seto stated shortly. "But I'm not going to discuss that with you. We'll settle it in court."

"Ugh! This is just because my parents dropped you at that shitty orphanage, isn't it?! You hate them so you're taking it out on me!"

Joey's eyes widened as he finally saw the resemblance between the two. He glanced at Atticus. Suddenly the reason why his son closely resembled the CEO was so clear. He flinched a little at the thought that Seto might be taking over for her, to make up for her mistake and provide Atticus with things when she obviously wasn't.

The thought immediately vanished when Seto turned toward her and snarled, "I don't hate you because they left us at a shitty orphanage; I hate you because you're just a shitty person in general!"

Haruka screamed in pure rage and tried to leap on top of him. "YOU BASTARD!"

Seto flinched. He knew her nails were long, but he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of fighting back so she could cry to the police (and probably her lawyer) that he'd beaten her. Before she could even touch him, though, he saw an already bruised fist fly out in front of him, smashing into her mouth and knocking her off her feet. He blinked, startled, then turned his head slightly.

Joey glared at her, trembling with fury. "God damn, woman, I always knew I shouldn't stick my dick in crazy. Clearly your face is the only thing ya got goin' for ya, and it's gettin' sourer by the day."

Haruka stared up at him in horror as blood dribbled from her cut lips. She thought maybe he'd knocked out one of her teeth, too. She couldn't tell. She was in too much shock.

"You're a horrible human bein' if ya think that bringin' up Kaiba's past is gonna hurt him. Now, I'm not as smart as Kaiba, but even I can tell that tryin' t' assault someone richer than you can ever hope t' be isn't a good move. And I know that hittin' a woman ain't a good move either, but let's think for a minute. I'm a little testy because the mother of my child ain't footin' any of the bill. As far as I know, courts frown on that, especially when I'm known as a thug and you're pretty well known as a slut."

She opened her mouth and glared at him. "I'm not a—"

"Slut," Joey snarled, glaring at her. "Sluttiest bitch I ever even heard of. Guys over in the gang still talk 'bout ya, bitch." He spit at her, then turned and stomped back to the stroller. "Kaibas, we're leavin'."

"But—" Seto began.

"Ya want cookies?"

"…Yes."

"Then we're leavin'."

"…But the police are already here…" Mokuba whispered, frowning.

"Fine. Mokuba Kaiba, we're leavin'. Let your brother handle things."

Seto frowned. "But my cookies—"

"THEY WILL BE ON A PLATE WITH A GLASS OF MILK WHEN YOU GET HOME."

It only occurred to Seto later that Joey had called it 'home' and not 'my apartment.' Like Joey was not only comfortable having him in his home, but also felt like maybe Seto and Mokuba belonged there.

…Maybe he should start inviting Joey over to the mansion. It would be safer there if Haruka got even more out of hand. And if she didn't, her parents would; replacing her knocked-out tooth would be expensive.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"I think you should stay with us for a while."

Joey paused, chopsticks stilling just in front of his mouth. He looked up at the brunet and raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

Seto tilted his head a little and unconsciously used the hand holding his own chopsticks to gesture as he talked. "Haruka will be… perturbed by this assault. While I believe you were well within your right to hit her, because she's clearly a deadbeat mother and you've been raising Atticus on your own, the courts are going to frown upon that—" He jumped when Mokuba reached out and plucked one of his chopsticks out of his fingers, then smiled awkwardly. "Oh. Sorry."

"Put someone's eye out with that," Mokuba teased, smiling, and handed the chopstick back to him. He held his empty bowl up. "More please?"

"…Didn't you just have seconds…?" the brunet murmured, more to himself than any of his eating companions.

"Jeez, kid, you're gonna eat me outta house an' home." Joey stood to scoop more sticky rice and teriyaki chicken into the younger boy's bowl. He teased, but he knew that Mokuba was probably starving after his awesome game. "That's really nice of ya, Kaiba, but it's not really necessary. Haruka don't scare me."

Seto sighed and scratched the back of his head, muttering, "Well, to be honest, it's not really Haruka I'm worried about. After they pay for her dental and medical bills, her parents are going to be pretty pissed. And while I'm sure you could put them in their places just fine, I'm worried about the people they might hire to hurt you. They're just vindictive enough to do it and I don't want you or Atticus to get hurt."

Joey seemed to consider this.

"…And you wouldn't have to give up everything. You could just… live with me. I could drop you off at the bus station and take Atticus to daycare and then I could pick you up from the bus station on the way back."

"Hey, that may actually get Seto out of the office on time!" Mokuba exclaimed cheerfully, eyes shining at the prospect of seeing his brother more.

He had to admit that a lot of the time, he was gone too, but the times he was at home and Seto wasn't happened enough that he was starting to miss him. He was even beginning to feel a little jealous that Seto would go out of his way to spend time with Atticus after work instead of coming home to see him, even though he knew that Seto was missing someone to dote on. He was growing up and they were both having trouble finding a happy medium as it happened.

But if Joey and Atticus were at the mansion, Seto would come home, and he could spend time with his brother and one of his best friends. Heck, he was even becoming attached to Atticus himself (which he hadn't expected, because babies were messy and smelly and usually burpy, too).

He was also certain that his brother was right—that their former aunt and uncle might send someone after Joey for hurting their daughter. They probably already hated him for knocking their daughter up out of wedlock (not that they'd allow them to marry anyway, what with Joey being so poor); the assault on Haruka would just give them the excuse they needed to attack him.

Joey had worked so hard already for the last five months, he didn't want him or Atticus hurt.

"…I'll think about it," Joey stated after a moment, and the Kaiba brothers had to admit that that was much better than the immediate 'no' they'd actually been expecting.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey bounced Atticus on his knee and frowned, brows furrowing together. "You think we should go stay with Kaiba, Atty?"

"Draaaaaaaaa!" Atticus threw his dragon plush in the air.

"…You're completely useless in decision-making," the blond muttered, smiling a little as he bent to pick up the fallen toy. "It's true, I guess. It'd be safer there. And Haruka's just fucked up enough t' come after us…" He wrapped his arm around the brunet and stood, carrying him over to his playpen so he could make some sandwiches for lunch. "Well, I can protect ya just fine. It hasn't been that long since I got off the streets."

He chuckled as Atticus took the dragon plush and began hitting the Dark Magician puppet with it. "Atty, I'm so lucky t' have ya."

The toddler looked up at him, burbled, and smiled.

BANGBANGBANG

Joey nearly leapt over the playpen in surprise. "Agh!"

BANGBANGBANG

He turned toward the door sharply, biting his bottom lip, then clenched his hands into fists and took a step toward it. "Who's there!"

BANGBANGBANG

His clenched fists shook as he approached the door, more from adrenaline than fear. He'd protected people before—protected his friends, protected his sister, even protected his mother from his father at one point—but this time, it felt different. He was still protecting someone, but this time it was his son. He stepped closer to the door and peered out the peephole so he could see who he may have to fight.

He felt ice run up his spine when he saw three men, one on either side of the door and the third kicking and punching his door. He could hope to take out two of them, maybe even all three, but that was only if none of them made it past him and got Atticus. He knew if one of them got past him and grabbed his son, he'd do anything they asked of him.

Joey looked around frantically for a weapon as the door shook and creaked with the strain of the constant attacks. After a few seconds, he ran into the kitchen for a few knives, then rushed over to Atticus, grabbed him, and took him into the bathroom and locked the door. He was suddenly glad Kenji had gotten his aunt to accept him as a tenant because the doors were sound and the locks strong.

Sitting down in the bathtub as Atticus began to cry in terror and hide his face in his shirt, Joey grabbed the plunger next to the toilet and used a knife to slice off a strip of the shower curtain. He used that strip to secure the longer of the knives to the plunger so he had a longer weapon. He set the knives beside him and clenched the plunger in one hand while he lifted the other to gently stroke Atticus's hair to hopefully calm him and quiet his cries. He knew the thugs weren't stupid and would figure out he was in the bathroom anyway, but he was hoping that they would be.

Joey pulled out his phone and called the first number that came to mind.

"Kaiba."

Joey couldn't help a relieved sob. "Kaiba!"

"Joey? Are you okay?"

"Kaiba they're tryin' t' break int' my apartment!"

"Who? Never mind. Have you called the police?"

"No I just got in here I got some knives but there's three of 'em and they're gonna hurt us!"

"So hang up and call the police!"

"Seto I can't what if they bought off the police, too?! I used t' be in a gang and I got arrested all the time why would they take me at my word?!" He flinched as he heard the front door creak and break. "Kaiba help they're breakin' down my door!" He gave Atticus a squeeze. "And I got Atty but what if they try t' take him away?! What if they try and hurt him?!"

"Joey, even if they tried to pay off the police, they can't beat my price. I'm going to call the police."

"Don't hang up on me Seto please don't leave me I'm scared and I don't want them t' hurt Atty!"

"Joey, I can't call the police if I'm talking to you."

Joey jumped as he heard banging on the bathroom door. "OH GOD SETO THEY'RE AT THE DOOR!"

"I AM HANGING UP AND CALLING THE POLICE."

"SETO PLEASE DON'T—"

Abruptly, the beating on the door ceased.

He heard yelling outside, though, so he held the toddler tighter. "Seto I don't know what's goin' on. They're not beatin' my door anymore but I can hear them yellin' and fightin' out there."

"Probably because one of your neighbors called the police. Like we should have been doing."

"It don't sound like police," Joey whispered, trembling.

The yelling faded, and so did the sounds of fighting. The blond took a few deep breaths, but he couldn't bring himself to check. He was still scared and Atticus was still crying and he was still holding onto his faux-spear.

A few minutes later, even as Seto tried to coax him down from his adrenaline high, he heard a knock on the door. Not a pound, not a kick, but a knock.

"Joey?" He heard a key in the lock, making his breath hitch at the thought that they'd stolen it from his landlady and she could be dead in her own apartment. "Joey, are you alright?"

"…Na… Nakamura?" He watched the figure outside of the shower reach for the shower curtain and whimpered, clenching the plunger tightly as it was slid aside.

Kenji stared at him in surprise, then sighed, smiling awkwardly. "I was visiting my aunt when your neighbor called about a disturbance. My… employees took care of it." He held his hand out to him. "Come on. Auntie is making some tea."

Joey stared up at him, the plunger-spear falling from his fingers just as the phone did, clattering across the porcelain bottom of the tub. He heard Seto yelling for him, and he wanted to answer. He saw Kenji's hand, and he wanted to grab it and leave. But all he could do was hug Atticus tightly and sob his heart out.

.-.-.-.-.-.

When Seto ran into the blond's apartment, he was glad to see the younger boy well and in one piece. Kenji had picked up the phone and told him that Joey was fine, but he'd wanted to come and see for himself. He walked over to him and pulled him into his arms, leaning his face into the blond's neck.

Joey simply let him, feeling exhausted and maybe just a little shocked still. "Kaiba…"

"I have never felt as powerless as I did on the phone with you. Not even when Mokuba was kidnapped. God, damn it, Joey." Seto turned his head and sighed when he saw a rather large man in a suit playing with Atticus in his playpen. The absurdity of it—this grown man, basically a thug, playing with a small child and enjoying himself—made him smile. "At least you're safe now."

"Yeah." Joey nuzzled into his chest. "We just got finished packin'. I don't have a lot but I had t' pack all Atty's clothes and toys. And there's stuff in the fridge, too, I didn't get t' that. Nakamura had t' go deal with somethin', but he left one of his guys here and another with his aunt. Seto, 'm so tired."

Seto hugged him tighter. "I'll take you back to my place and you can take a nap then. I'll watch Atty while you sleep, and then when you wake up, we'll have dinner and then we can talk." He glanced around. "…I'll send someone over to pack up the rest of your things and bring them over. How does that sound?"

The blond pushed him back so he could look up at him, clenching his shirt in his fingers weakly. "Seto, that sounds wonderful." He used his grip on the older boy's shirt to pull him down and kiss him lightly. When the brunet finally pulled away, he smiled a watery smile. "'m sorry. I've been callin' ya by your name. I know ya don't like that."

"We're familiar enough with each other that I don't mind." Seto thought about telling him that he'd liked it and had been thinking about telling him he could use his given name. He decided now wasn't the time. "Come on. Let's get Atticus and your bags."

"'Kay," Joey whispered, letting the brunet pull him to his feet. He approached the man playing with his son. "Thanks for stickin' around. Can you tell my landlady that I'll come back and pay the rest of my rent for breakin' the lease?"

The thug didn't mention that the older woman probably wouldn't hear of it. "Alright, sir. We'll stick around the building… just in case."

"If ya need to, I guess." The blond took his offered hand and squeezed it, then turned to pick up Atticus. "Come on, Atty. We're gonna go stay with Kaib'."

"Rawr!" Atticus reached out for Seto and squealed.

Seto chuckled quietly. "Okay, baby dragon." He grabbed the stroller and rolled it over to them. "What do you want for dinner, Joey?"

"Oh, uh… Whatever you want is fine." Joey secured Atticus in his stroller. "I'll eat anything."

The brunet rolled his eyes and sighed. "What's something that will make you feel comfortable?"

"…I like curry and rice."

"Then I'll have the cook make curry and rice." Seto picked up the few duffle bags and suitcases Joey had packed. Once down at the limo, he called for some of his security team to come and pack up the rest of the apartment and bring it to the mansion as well.

As he watched Joey secure the car seat, he smiled. "At least I don't have to sneak a whisk into your kitchen."

Joey turned to look up at him, frowning. "Why would I need a whisk?"

"Do you have any idea how difficult it is to whip cream with a spoon?"

"…Can't say that I do." Joey slid into the seat beside his son and turned to look at him. "I don't usually whip cream."

"It's necessary for waffles." Seto tilted his head. "…French toast, too. I like fruit and whipped cream on my French toast."

The blond chuckled. "I'd accuse ya of bein' a health nut but those waffles were heavy."

Seto wrapped an arm around the younger boy's shoulders and sighed. "The next ones will be better."

Joey looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah. I'm sure they will."

.-.-.-.-.-.

"I figured you and Atticus could share a room until I can go get a baby monitor." Seto paused. "…Actually, if you're uncomfortable with that, I can probably make one out of a speaker phone if you just give me a few minutes."

Joey had no doubt that the brunet could. "That's okay, Seto." He hesitated before reaching out to take the older boy's hand. "…Seto?"

Seto looked down at him and blinked. "Yes?"

"…I don't wanna be alone tonight."

The brunet bit his tongue to keep from immediately pointing out that Atticus would be here with him. Clearly, the attack that could have ended badly but hadn't had put the blond so on-edge that he couldn't feel safe if he was alone with his son. "…Would you like me to sleep with you?"

Joey looked up at him and bit his bottom lip. "…Yeah."

"I'll have you know I hog everything. And sometimes I kick." Seto paused. "…And I'll sometimes have nightmares, so you could very well find yourself on the floor."

Before he could list a myriad more reasons why sharing a bed was a bad idea, Joey went up on his toes and gave him a quick peck. He looked down at the younger boy, blinking slowly.

Then, he continued, "I may also molest you."

Joey smiled and tilted his head. "Ya can't molest the willin', can ya?"

"That's not a good idea. You've just had a terrible shock and I would be taking advantage of your need to be—"

The blond went up and kissed him again.

"…You're really in a delicate state right now and I would just exacerbate—"

Kiss.

"…I wouldn't want to upset you if I did something wrong—"

Kiss.

"…Well, my penis has clearly made the decision for me."

Joey cupped the brunet's cheeks and looked up at him. "Seto, I know what I'm doin'. If we kiss a little and we pet each other a little, that's fine. I'm not lookin' for sex or anything like that. I just wanna know you're there and that the possibility is there, too."

Seto sighed. "If that will make you feel comfortable."

"It will." The blond trailed his fingers down the older boy's cheek. "…Too bad I can't wear those panties around the mansion." He grinned as the brunet's eyes widened. "Didn't think about that, didja?"

The older boy groaned. "Why do you do this to me?"

"Because I can!" Joey teased, kissing him again, then walked over to pick up Atticus. "Bath time!"

"…You're the worst possible person."

"Careful, Kaiba. Your arousal is showing."

Seto gripped his hands into fists and rolled his eyes. "It is not."

Joey hummed and smirked at him. "Ooooh?"

The brunet glared at him, then glanced down quickly. "NO, it is NOT."

"Ya had t' check!"

"GO GIVE ATTICUS HIS BATH."

.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey stared up at the ceiling and hummed. Seto took a drag from his cigarette. "So much for petting."

"Sometimes I get carried away." The blond sighed. "Wow."

The older boy tilted his head. "'Wow, that was mind-blowingly amazing' or 'wow, that was awful?'"

"Wow, it's been such a long time since I've had sex that I'd forgotten how fuckin' awesome it is." Joey paused. "Last time with a man, anyway. I usually topped, 'cause everyone else was always so damn impatient that they wouldn't prepare me right. It was much better with you."

Seto snorted. "I enjoy foreplay almost more than the actual act of sex. There is nothing more erotic than seeing my partner enjoying just my hands and mouth." He slid a hand down the blond's thigh. "But continue feeding my ego. I like it."

Joey laughed a little and tilted his head to look up at him. "Like your ego needs me feedin' it. It's too big already."

"Like yours isn't as big as mine." Seto reached over and patted his head. "Admit it. Your ego is quite large."

"Yeah. I guess it is." The blond tilted his head, frowning. "Well. It wasn't for a really long time."

The older boy raised an eyebrow, then turned to look at him again. "Oh?"

Joey lifted his hand to rub his still-bruised knuckles over the brunet's shoulder. "…Last time I had sex at all was with Haruka. Condom broke and it spooked me. Didn't even wanna try it with anyone else. 'course, didn't know how much of a whore she was back then until after it happened. I felt real low after that. Didn't let my friends in on it. Couldn't. It was… a dark time. …I thought she liked me," he whispered after a moment.

"Haruka is incapable of liking anyone but herself," Seto stated quietly, taking a long drag on his cigarette. "She's always been like that. Even when we were children and Mokuba and I were staying with her parents. She pretended she liked us in front of other people. She knew she couldn't embarrass her family by being openly rude in front of family friends. But when it was just us, she complained about us all the time.

"She pretends so she can get what she wants. And apparently what she wanted was you. I can understand why. You're an amazing person." He ran his hand through the younger boy's shaggy blond locks. "She probably wanted to hurt you, so you wouldn't seem so good—you, basically a street rat, while she was just a rotten human being even as rich as she was. She thinks wealth makes up for her bad attitude."

"…I'm better than she is?" Joey asked quietly. "Stupid, drop-out, working-class me?"

"Of course you are. Look at you. You're more attractive than she is, you've get better ethics, and let's face it; she may have a Master's degree in whatever, but you're much smarter than she is."

The blond looked up at him and blinked slowly. "I am?"

"I don't think you've ever bitten the hand that feeds you. She has done it multiple times. She is an idiot of the highest order." Seto scowled and stubbed out his cigarette. "I bet you could code better than she could with a paper bag on your head."

Joey looked up at him in disgruntlement. "What?"

"…That last part was supposed to stay in my head."

Joey giggled a little and reached up to kiss him. "You're so dumb. I know ya got a brilliant brain in that pretty head of yours, but you're so incredibly dumb."

"Leave me alone," Seto groaned.

Joey rolled on top of him and smiled. "You're silly, Kaiba. I think I'll keep ya."

"No, it will be the other way around. Mokuba and I will keep you and Atticus and we will be the happiest family." Seto blinked for a moment, then blushed a little. "If you want to."

The blond stared at him, opened his mouth, then closed it, eyes wide. He made a rather strangled sound like a cross between a squeak and a whimper, then opened his mouth again. "You… you askin' me t' stay with ya, Seto? For… like, ever?"

"Well, clearly it won't be forever. Eventually, we'll die." Seto wanted to punch himself when Joey made the squeak-whimper sound again. He decided to try again without sounding so creepy or depressing. "Listen. I've been helping you take care of Atticus for four months. I like taking care of him with you and I thought you liked me helping you. I'd like to continue helping you raise him so I can see what a great man he will become with you for a father.

"I like having sex with you. I like discovering new things about you both physically and personally. I want to continue getting to know you, both physically and personally. And I want us to raise Atticus together."

Joey opened his mouth, then closed it, squeaking again. After a moment, he rolled off the brunet and went back to staring at the ceiling.

Seto turned to look down at him worriedly, wondering if he'd just royally fucked up everything. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, to take back his stupid feelings, but he couldn't think of anything.

Joey stared up at the ceiling a little longer, then turned his head to look at Atticus's crib, where he was sleeping soundly after their… exciting day. He watched the tiny hand curl around the dragon plush, then looked back at the ceiling. "…I'll think about it."

He couldn't help a smile when the brunet leaned over and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey smiled as he walked into Kaiba Corp. "Hey Marian. Kaiba better be on his way down!"

"Hanita just called me to tell you he was running late, but he'd be down in at least fifteen minutes," Marian replied. "He said you could go ahead up to the daycare and he'd meet you there."

"Thanks, Marian. I think I will."

He walked over to the elevator, paused, then took the stairs to the second floor instead. He took a lot of stairs lately. It helped him think. He still hadn't given Seto an answer and even though it had been a year, Seto hadn't pushed him for one. He'd called it a 'trial period' for him to get used to the idea of them being together.

He wanted to say yes. He enjoyed staying with Seto. He liked seeing Seto help with Atticus, and he knew that Atticus liked Seto. Hell, Mokuba was basically an uncle to him, anyway. Quite a doting one.

And a pervert, he mused, smiling a little. After all, when he'd accused the little weasel of sneaking more panties into his clothes, the kid had only smirked. He was just as bad as his brother. He supposed that would be normal, though. Having a pervert as your role model would probably make someone a pervert too.

Walking to the door of the daycare, he leaned in the doorway for a minute, the top half of the door open to allow the caregivers to see any employees just getting off work coming for their kids. He watched Atticus play with another child, looking happy as could be. 'Wish he had someone at home he could play with like that.'

He stood up straight and frowned at the thought. Atticus was hard to keep up with even on his best days. Luckily Seto and Mokuba helped, but it was still hard work to take care of the little bugger, since he was a runner. He didn't want another child so soon. Did he?

…He wondered if his mother had wanted another child when she'd had Serenity. He couldn't imagine life without his little sister. He couldn't imagine being an only child. Yugi, Duke, and Téa were all only children, and Yugi and Téa had turned out rather well. Duke was questionable. Just questionable enough to make him wonder if he wanted Atticus to have a sibling.

Joey frowned thoughtfully. '…Maybe I do want him t' have someone at home he could play with like that.' He smiled a little. 'Yeah! That could be nice.'

.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey pushed his cake through some melted ice-cream and hummed. "Hey, uh, Mokie."

Mokuba looked up at him mid-lick, his plate literally sparkling because he'd licked all of the melted ice-cream and cake crumbs off of it.

Seto stared at him in disgust. "What is wrong with you?!"

"But—Cake!" Knowing his brother would never understand, Mokuba looked back at Joey. "Huh?"

"…Take Atticus and get lost for a while."

Mokuba smirked, about to make a snarky and probably perverted comment on leaving him alone with his brother, but he saw something in the blond's eye that made him pause. He set his plate down, stared at him a minute, then nodded and stood, pulling the toddler from his highchair. "Come on, Atty. Let's take a bath. You got cake and ice-cream all over you. Then we'll play dragons knocking over the Dark Magician!"

Seto smirked proudly.

Joey made sure they were actually gone, then turned to the brunet quickly. "Seto, I think I wanna have another baby."

Seto blinked at him, trying to digest what he'd said. "…You didn't have the first one."

The blond stared at him, patiently waiting for the idiot to get it.

"…Oh!" Seto blinked again, then frowned. "You want another one? What's wrong with the one we already have?"

"I was watchin' Atty play in daycare earlier t'day and he was playin' with another kid, and I thought, wouldn't it be nice if he had someone near his own age t' play with at home?" Joey explained quickly, so he wouldn't lose his nerve. "And I was thinkin' about my childhood and I couldn't imagine it without Serenity. And I know that ya couldn't imagine your life without Mokuba, either. Now, Yugi and Téa turned out really well, but Duke turned out just iffy enough for me t' worry about Atticus bein' an only child. It might be more work, but I'd really like t' have another kid."

The brunet stared at him for several minutes, then set down his fork and pushed his plate away. "No."

Joey frowned. "Really?"

"Not like this. I've held my tongue for a year. I want us to be together. I'm not going to adopt another child when I have no legal standing in Atticus's life. You need to decide either to be with me—legally—and we'll look into adoption, or we'll just stay as we are."

The blond pushed his plate away too and leaned his head on his hand. "…Well, I have been thinkin' about it. I mean, I don't mean t' make ya wait, but… Seto, this is really hard for me."

"I know. You're the result of a broken home and you did quite well on your own, proving that you didn't need anyone. The idea of being with me upsets that idea." Seto frowned and rubbed the back of his head, trying to find the right words so Joey wouldn't punch him. "You're trying to come to terms with the fact that your view of yourself might fragment if you were to make a serious commitment to me."

Joey frowned. "It's not that. Well, not entirely, anyway. I mean, I like knowin' I can take care of myself, but… I like bein' taken care of, too. It's just… Atty is the only thing that's ever really been mine, and… I don't really wanna share him. I know it's really selfish, but people always leave.

"Ma, Ren, Dad always went off drinkin' and shit. Téa's gonna go t' New York. Yugi's goin' t' school for archaeology and then he's goin' on a dig. Ryou's goin' abroad t' study and Duke's gonna be serious about his business again. Tristan's thinkin' about police academy. Everyone's leavin' me. Atty won't."

"And… you're afraid I'll leave you?" Seto asked after a moment, brows furrowing together. He felt hurt, but he'd never tell Joey that. He didn't want to guilt him into anything.

Joey stared down at his lap for quite some time, frowning, before he whispered, "I really wish I could say no."

"I won't." Seto reached out to grab his hand and gave it a squeeze. "I like you. I like having you and Atticus around to take care of. I like arguing with you. I like making up after an argument. I like going to the park and getting ice-cream on my shirt. I like yelling at you when you and Atticus get in the sandbox and you just smile that stupid, smug grin that I love because who the fuck would ever dare just smirk at me when I yell at them? I want to keep you around. I will not leave you, and I most certainly will not leave Atticus. You two are a package deal and I wouldn't have it any other way."

Joey felt tears fill his eyes even as he smiled. "Yeah? I like ya too, Seto. I like all that stuff, too."

The brunet lifted his free hand to cup the younger boy's cheek, stroking his cheekbone gently with his thumb. "I know you're scared. I'm a little scared too. Neither of us have very good track records when it comes to love lives, but I'm sure we could make it work somehow."

Joey's smile wavered as he bit his bottom lip and looked down at his lap. "I'm sure we could."

Seto held his breath, eyes widening a little. He wanted Joey to say yes. He wanted Joey to be his. He wanted to have some say in the way Atticus was raised rather than making suggestions and wondering if Joey would take them. He wanted—

…He wanted to make a life, together, with Joey.

Joey sighed, then lifted his head and gave the brunet's hand a tight squeeze. "Seto."

The older boy forced himself not to gulp. "Yes."

"…Let's do it. I like ya and ya like me, and we've even been throwin' 'love' around lately. That's better than what some married couples have. So let's do it."

Seto let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and smiled. "Alright. I'll have my lawyers find out the best way to go about this." He paused. "…I hope you weren't expecting something like a wedding with a huge reception and a big cake and champagne everywhere. That would just be hell." He grimaced. "Oh God. The press would have a field day."

"Well, I won't lie. I've always sort of wanted a weddin'," Joey admitted. "But if we can't have one, that's okay."

"…We could have a ceremony, I guess. Just a small one, with your friends and family." He paused. "…I don't know anyone I would invite that you wouldn't invite already."

The blond sighed and stroked the older boy's hand idly. "…I wouldn't mind a little party with my friends, I guess… I just wish I could invite my ma and my sister."

Seto blinked. "How is it that your sister hasn't found out yet? Mokuba's a loudmouth at the best of times, and I imagine Devlin and Taylor would tell her anything as long as she'd listen—"

Joey looked up at him and flexed his hands. Each of his knuckles cracked.

Seto paled a little. "…I see." He paused, then murmured, "Why don't you try and tell them again?"

Joey flinched when he remembered his last conversation with his mother. He'd told her that he was dropping out of school, but she'd been too angry to hear the reason why, just yelling that she wanted him to make something of himself and he couldn't do that as a fucking drop-out and if it was money he needed she'd pay for it as long as he kept going to school. When he'd told her no, that wasn't the reason, she'd just hung up on him. He couldn't even imagine what she'd say about him knocking someone up at sixteen and becoming a parent at seventeen.

Oh God. What if his mother wanted to meet Haruka, just to see what sort of person she was? Haruka and her family were crazy and manipulative from what he'd seen. He couldn't protect his mother from them, and if Serenity got involved, he couldn't protect both of them at the same time if he tried.

…But he'd done well. He had a good job, his son was healthy and happy, Seto thought he was swell enough to tie them together legally, and he was… content.

That one thought shook him to the core. He thought he'd been content before, having fun with his friends and making enough ends meet that life was… okay. He hadn't realized how unhappy he'd been like that. Sure, he was fine when he spent time with his friends—genuinely happy to be around them—but his home life had been pulling him down the whole time. He'd pretended to ignore it when with his friends, but… it had made things quite tense.

Being financially free, even if he had to work hard all day long, was liberating. He could remember balancing his checks to pay for school and pay off the monthly debt and rent and utilities. He didn't have to do that here. He hadn't even had to do much of that at his own apartment.

…He was happy.

Seto blinked as he watched the blond's lips spread into a grin. "…That's a good smile, right?"

Joey looked up at him. His life had been hard, but it seemed like his hard work had finally paid off. "Yeah, Seto. I'm really happy."

Seto smiled back. "Good."