"You can't be serious."

"Hm," Seto Kaiba hummed absently, smiling.

"You're telling me the truth right now?"

Kaiba didn't answer, just turned toward his assistant and smiled more widely. She was taken aback at first; Shizuka had never seen her boss look so peaceful.

"You actually cloned yourself," at this point, it wasn't even a question. Shizuka just thought that saying it out loud might make it sound more real.

Kaiba hummed affirmatively again and looked down into the crib between them, still smiling.

Shizuka liked children, and this baby was alarmingly cute. He was soundly sleeping but moving his tiny fists and legs reflexively. Somehow he already had a head full of brown hair, and there was something endearing about an infant wearing a full-length blue trench coat.

"But why?" Shizuka felt like it might be a strange question to ask of your boss: why did you clone yourself? But she was stumped. Kaiba didn't seem annoyed or even surprised by the question.

"I need an heir for the company. It has become clear to me that Mokuba isn't interested in running the company and therefore I would not expect any children he might produce to do so either. I don't care for relationships and this is the most logical solution to producing an heir without committing to a relationship," Kaiba answered quietly, clearly not wanting to wake the sleeping infant.

Shizuka was at a loss for words- not so much at the fact that Seto Kaiba had cloned himself in order to avoid dating, but at the tenderness in her boss's face as he stroked the baby's hair. She had seen Kaiba look at Mokuba in a similar way, but there was something different about this.

"Do you think you'll be able to raise a baby on your own? Your job certainly keeps you busy," Shizuka would know, of course. Being Kaiba's assistant, she certainly knew how often and how long her boss was in his office.

Kaiba's expression sobered slightly, but he remained calm. "Yes, I know it will be difficult. In a perfect world, I would have a partner that I could trust completely to help me. However, I am often able to work without being in the office, and I have staff members that will be able to assist me," he looked at her. Shizuka sighed.

"I will be happy to help you in any way that I can," she replied to his unasked question, feeling like she didn't have much of a choice. "I suppose that's why you're telling me all of this," Shizuka had been confused when Kaiba asked her to meet him at his mansion so late at night, but now she understood.

He nodded and looked down into the crib, watching the baby stir in his sleep. Shizuka wondered what kind of person Kaiba would be able to trust completely, and realized it would probably involve another clone- an adult, this time.

The baby made a noise that sounded like it might transform into crying, and Shizuka was surprised to watch Kaiba gently pick up the infant and rock him. Even more surprising was that the baby quieted almost instantly, yawning and putting a finger in his mouth before returning to sleep. Shizuka didn't have any words to describe the expression on Kaiba's face as he watched his clone (His son, she realized).

When she stopped thinking about the strangeness of the whole situation, Shizuka thought it was actually quite touching. She smiled.

"So, will you want me to throw you a baby shower?"

xxx

I needed to write something short so that I couldn't abandon it, and I remembered a drawing on Tumblr I saw and...yeah, I couldn't resist. (Said drawing can be found here: post/31537425476/ when-a-moneyshipping-couple-is-ready-to-settle)

Not exactly Moneyshipping, but I tried my best to hint at it. I just can't resist precious Kaiba babbu. :C

I also like the idea of Shizuka growing up and working for Kaiba in some way. I also briefly considered using an OC, but I figured that for something of this length, it would be easier to use an already-established minor character.