The next morning Atem awoke with a start "Mother" he gasped as he flicked back his blankets and jumped out of bed, dashing down the hallway towards his parents' room but slowing down as he reached their door. Knocking politely then standing back away from the door Atem waited for the door to be opened for him.
Seeing the door handle move then the door swing open, Atem smiled "Good morning Father, is it ok if I come in and speak to Mother?" Atem asked with a small bow in respect "Of course my Son, I was just about to get up to get ready for work anyway, go right on ahead" Aknamkannon chuckled as he opened the door further before proceeding to make his way around to his Fathers side of the bed, Atem sat down next to his Mother "Good morning Atem, everything ok" Loretta asked looking curiously at her Son "Mother, I had a really horrible dream last night it was about...You" Atem sighed "Oh, what was your dream about, Atem?" Loretta asked as she sat up further in bed and took her distressed son's hand.
"It was about when I-er...I mean Heba and I were born and...and you were in a lot of pain" Atem sniffed trying to hold back his tears "Oh Atem, I'm so sorry for giving you such terrible dreams, I said to your Father last night while we were in bed that maybe I shouldn't have told you and Yami about that" Loretta sighed as she looked down then slowly back up again at her son "I'm sorry Mother, I'm sorry I caused you so much pain" Atem sniffed again as a stray tear trailed it's way down his cheek as he leaned against his Mother.
"Atem, it's not your fault, you never asked to be born but that sort of pain is natural for a woman giving birth..." Loretta stopped as she lifted her Sons chin up to look into his sparkling crimson eyes "But it was all worth it because I had two very beautiful boys" she finished as she smiled at her Son before pulling him into a hug "I wish I would have been able to meet Heba before he died but I love Yami and I know that he is my Brother now" Atem said as he gave his Mother a watery smile, finally making eye contact with her.
"I'm so proud of you Atem, it makes me so happy when I see you and Yami getting along and to hear you say that you love him makes me even happier" Loretta smiled kissing her son forehead between his bangs "Thank you Mother, I better go and get ready for school now and maybe see if Yami is up" Atem chuckled. Nodding at her son as he got off the bed, Loretta smiled "You better hurry, it smells like your breakfast has been made already and will probably be going cold" "Yes Mother" Atem nodded back as he walked towards the door, meeting his Father who nodded at his son and then opened the door for him allowing him to go first.
Arriving at his Brothers door, Atem knocked to no reply "Yami, time to get up...Yami" Atem called to still no reply. As his curiosity grew Atem slowly opened the door, sticking his head into his brothers' room he realised that it was empty and Yami was nowhere to be seen. Shrugging his shoulders Atem closed the door and made his way down to the dining room. Upon entering the dining room Atem's eyes widened when he saw that Yami was sitting at the dining table and had already eaten over half of his breakfast "Yami, what are you doing down here" Atem asked his younger Brother as he raised an eyebrow "Um...Eating my breakfast" Yami answered, swallowing his mouthful "I can see that, but what I mean is, how did you get down here before me?" Atem enquired as he took he seat next to Yami and started his breakfast.
"I actually got woken up by you and Mother talking, so I came down to eat breakfast" Yami pointed out as he swallowed the last mouthful of juice "Oh...I'm sorry I woke you Yami, I was talking to Mother about the horrible dream that I had last night" Atem sighed as he dropped his fork, losing his appetite. Looking at his Brother now with a horrible feeling in his stomach Yami stopped what he was doing to comfort his Brother. "It was about Mother, wasn't it" Yami asked knowing the look on Atem face "Yes, it was, I can't believe she went through all she went through just for it to be in vain" Atem sighed "I know I'm not Heba, but you will always have me Atem, your my big Brother and I'm here for you" Yami smiled as he tried to cheer Atem up. "Thank you Yami, I do miss Heba even though I never met him, but I wish I did," Atem said giving Yami a weak smile back.
"Hey!" Yami exclaimed suddenly "We better get going to school, we're going to be late" as he jumped off his seat and bounded up the stairs, grabbing Atem's bag for him on the way past his room. "Thanks, Yami, your the best" Atem chuckled giving Yami a bigger smile as he caught his bag "You first big Bro" Yami bowed to his brother as he opened the door for him.
Later that afternoon Loretta sat relaxing by the pool as she waited for her sons to come him from school, laying back in her seat Loretta let her eyes slowly slip closed as she too thought back to the day that they picked Yami up from the adoption centre.
~Flash back Start~
"Its ok my dear, I'm sure we will find a son or Daughter suitable to be Atem's Brother or Sister" Aknamkannon smiled at his wife as he parked the car up outside the agency "I'm really worried about doing this to Atem, what if the child we get doesn't get along with him or doesn't like one of us" Loretta panicked until she felt Aknamkannons strong but gentle hand on her shoulder "if it doesn't work out, I'm sure Atem won't mind being an only child for a while" Aknamkannon soothed, trying to calm his wife down. "You're right, I'm just a little anxious is all and I think the stress of what happened when I had Heba is still affecting me, even though Atem is almost three months old," Loretta said as she took her husband's hand and tried to smile "Are you ready to go? Take as much time as you need Loretta, we have all afternoon, our son is in good hands at home" Akmankannon asked giving his wife's hand a gentle squeeze. "I'm ready, we have to do this, we can't just sit in the car all day" Loretta chuffed as she leaned over to kiss her husband cheek and then got out of the car.
Walking into the building Loretta tried her best to hide her anxiety as she entered with her Husband, looking up at the pair from the reception desk the young lady smiled "Good afternoon, you must be Mr and Mr's Sennen, I will let Rachelle know you are here" she greeted as she picked up the phone and made a short call. A short while later a middle-aged lady with long dark brown hair stepped through the double doors, turning her head to where Loretta and her husband were sitting Rachelle smiled. "Hey Loretta, long time no see, come this way to see the kids" Rachelle gestured opening the door for them "Thanks Sis, its good to see you too" Loretta smiled poking her tongue out slightly at her elder sister "Im really sorry to hear about what happened Loretta but you will be pleased to know that we have had some children brought in recently that are in the age bracket that you enquired about" Rachelle explained opening another door for the pair to enter through.
"I just hope Aknam and I can find a Brother or Sister suitable for little Temmy" Loretta giggled, rolling her eyes at her own statement knowing already that her son didn't like his new nickname "Take as much time as you need, I'll be in the next room with the older kids" Rachelle said as she gave her sister a quick hug then dashed off. Looking around the room Loretta's eye's widened when she spotted a small boy laying in a crib who looked identical to her son "Aknam, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Loretta asked her husband in disbelief as her still widened eyes filled with tears of joy "I cannot believe it, this must truly be a blessing from Ra" Aknamkannon smiled at his wife as he pulled her into his side then looked down at the small boy. Looking at one another, Loretta and Aknamkannon nodded to each other "I'll go and get Rachelle" Loretta smiled as she reached up to kiss her husband's cheek before quickly leaving.
~Flashback dream end~
Being brought out of her thoughts Loretta was awoken by Yami gently shaking her "Mother...Mother, are you ok" Yami asked, concern showing on his face "...Yami, oh ah sorry son, I must have fallen asleep" Loretta yawn still in a daze as she pushed her sunglasses up onto the top of her head "Where is your brother?" "Atem just ran inside a few moments ago, why?" Yami asked as he tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow "I was wondering what you are your Brother wanted to do for your birthday? I figured you are now old enough to arrange what you want to do as long as don't make too much of a mess around the mansion" Loretta smirked looking down at her son with a raised eyebrow.
Standing and thinking for a minute, Yami stood next to his Mother tapping his finger on his nose "How about we get out of hot sun, you may be able to think better" Loretta giggled as she turned to head back to the house with her son quietly following her. After a few minutes, Yami struck an idea "Mother? Could Atem and I just have our cousins over and maybe have a sleepover" Yami asked as he sat in a chair across from his Mother in the living room "You do remember two of your cousins are girls and you would have to ask Atem how he feels about the idea, speaking of Atem I wonder where he is?" Loretta questioned as she looked around for her Son. Five or so minutes later Atem appeared in the living room, plopping himself down next to Yami "Good afternoon Mother..." he said nodding at her before turning to Yami "What'cha talking about Yami" Atem asked nudging him with his elbow "If you were here, you would know" Yami hissed, narrowing his eyes slightly at his elder brother "I'm sorry ok? I was busy, I had...Stuff that needed doing" Atem lied as looked between his younger brother and his Mother who shook her head and then went back to sipping her drink.
Explaining what he and his Mother had spoken about earlier, Yami caught Atem up to speed "...So yea, but Mother reminded me that two of our cousins were girls" Yami explained as Atem nodded "Well...Maybe they could just stay for the party and then go home after dinner and come back in the morning" Atem planned as he looked over at his Mother who nodded in agreement "wonderful idea Atem, I will get in touch with Seto and my Sister's to see if they would like to come, don't forget it is short notice, which is my fault, sorry boys" Loretta blushed. Jumping off the couch the two boys dashed over and hugged their Mother simultaneously "Thank you, Mother,, you're the best but can't we just ask them at school tomorrow" Atem asked "Yea, most of our cousins and Seto are in our class" Yami added "well, ok then but I will still have to ring my sister's for their approval, you can freely ask Seto though" Loretta said as the two boys kissed their Mother on the cheek before dashing off upstairs.