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Jemmea
I lay partially on my back, twirling my hair in one hand as I held my book with the other. My children were tucked safely away in their beds. I laid on mine, wondering if my husband would come share it with me anytime soon.
As per usual at this hour, the light was soft and the house was still, until suddenly my door opened, catching my attention immediately. I looked, seeing my son there, his eyes big and filled with tears. I sat up quickly.
"Jackson, what is it?" I implored.
"Monsters- are out- to get me," he heaved hysterically before beginning to sob again.
This was not the first time this had happened. Both of my children had seen a slew of monsters from the game. Artemis thought they were cool, but my other child was more sensitive to them. Some terrified him.
"Oh sweetie," I comforted. "Come here."
Jackson didn't wait and scrambled, quickly in the middle of the bed. I took him into my arms. "Are they the monsters that come from Daddy's work?" I clarified.
"Mm- hm-" he choked.
"Oh, those monsters aren't out to get you, Jackson. Daddy makes all those monsters, and they all know better than to not listen to him. And your daddy would never, ever let anything happen to you."
Just then, in walked Seto. He saw what was happening and paused.
"Oh look!" I rejoiced, pulling back a bit to look at my little one, though he still clung fast to me. "Daddy's here. Let's ask him."
"What is it?" Seto asked.
"Jackson is afraid that monsters are out to get him," I informed in a very what-are-you-going-to-do-about-this sort of way.
Seto looked away, rolling his eyes, and began to unbutton his suit. I guessed he was partially annoyed now that this seemed a trivial matter. He looked back.
"Jackson, monsters aren't real."
"Daddy does a good job making them look real though, huh?" I asked Jackson, looking down at him again. He nodded. He was not as hysterical, but still shook in my arms and breathed in deep, short breaths. "Jackson you need to calm down," I said, taking a more serious tone and tucking him under my chin.
Seto started to walk away, taking his coat off and tossing it onto a chair. He turned back. "Come on, Jackson. Time to go back to bed."
I looked up to my husband, feeling that was fast. I wondered if Seto thought I shouldn't be comforting him like this. He had noted before that he thought Jackson partially did this for attention.
Then I realized, "Does Daddy need some Mommy time?" I asked, speaking in childproof code.
"Yes," he said boldly.
I tilted my head. "Give him another minute," I requested.
"Fine," he replied, turning back. "When I come out, I'm taking him back," he announced before going into the bathroom to ready for bed.
I looked down at our son. "Is Daddy mad?" he asked.
"No, Daddy probably had a long day. He is irritated, meaning bothered or annoyed. Can you say 'irritated?'"
"Irritated," he repeated. Jackson's tears had stopped.
"And he's not irritated with you, Daddy's just like that. You shouldn't take it personally when he's like this, meaning you shouldn't think that it is because of you."
Seto returned. "Come on," my husband shot, picking Jackson up. He held him with one arm as he whisked him away, Jackson tightly wound around him with everything he had. "I'll show you there are no monsters," he snapped as he turned.
"You won't let anything happen to me, Daddy?" I heard him ask as they left.
"No," he said fiercely.
I smiled faintly at this. With their disappearance, I turned my eyes back to the room. I saw Seto's suit jacket still out. I rose from bed, going to put it where it belonged. I took my time, and Seto returned before I made it back to the bed.
"Rough day?" I asked, gradually approaching him.
"I had meetings all day today. All day. My secretary left me no time to do actual work. They were all idiots and wasted practically my whole day. And now I need to find a new secretary." Within a couple steps, I reached him, and he was done with his explanation. He wanted his turn. Quickly he bent to kiss my neck, then chest, before lifting me to bring me to the bed.
He dropped me to my back, then went in, again burying himself in me. But he sensed my unintentional withdrawal. He drew back, a hand resting on the bed on either side of me.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Jackson..." I confessed.
He was again annoyed. "It's a phase. He'll get over it."
I shrugged, looking away. "He's scared. I don't want my baby to be scared..." I looked back. I wasn't sure what to do and was having trouble with it.
This seemed to take the edge off and he hesitated. Finally, he assured, "I'll take care of it."
I trusted him, allowing myself to move on. "Ok," I replied, reaching up to grab his collar and pull him to me.
Seto
"Through here," I instructed, leading the twins through my building. I had never taken them to the testing floors before and they were getting distracted, their curiosity leading them all over the place in my orbit. When the doors opened for me and I started to turn, however, Artemis reached up and grabbed my hand. I glanced down to see her happily walking with me. Jackson didn't notice and ran straight ahead of us, jumping and landing to come to a stop before he spun around to see where we were.
It was the same space where I tested all my holograms and had also tested the Obelisk card. I told Mokuba to meet me, and he stood, only just arriving himself.
"Hey, bro," he greeted casually. It was early in the morning as I wanted to get this over with; the concern in my wife's eyes a couple of days ago had forced me to deal with it—I found her only too compelling. Mokuba usually came in a bit later than me, and took a sip of his morning coffee aiding him through this early start.
"Uncle Mokie!" the twins rejoiced, running to him to grab his legs. They jostled him as they got a grip, and he teetered for a moment before again grounding himself. Coincidentally, my children's inability to say his name at a young age brought about Mokie, the same nickname I had given him when we were kids. They released him, then went to go run about the open space.
I knelt, setting and opening the briefcase I brought. I retrieved my duel disk, putting it on.
"So what's happening?" Mokuba asked, lacking any details of our activity.
"Jackson has been up at night because he's afraid of the monsters from the game," I informed, still down as I adjusted the duel disk.
"Oof, that's rough," Mokuba commented before taking another sip.
"Mm." I finished adjusting it and stood. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a drive, extending it to him. "I finally had a minute to program the holograms so they would obey any command beyond their designated moves. Hopefully he can tell them to go away and we'll be done with this."
"Good thinking." Mokuba accepted the card. Before he left, he turned and hit my arm. "Now you can get some more 'mommy time,' huh?" Mokuba could occasionally joke with me about these things now that he was older, not that I joked back.
Once he left, I hollered, "Jackson, Artemis."
The two ran right over. I looked at my son. "Do any of these monsters look scary to you?" I asked him, gesturing towards my briefcase. He looked.
"That one," he said with a small voice, pointing to the Sword Stalker.
"Artemis, pick up that card," I directed, keeping her engaged. She promptly picked it up and held it in her two hands, waiting for further directions.
"Are you going to make it real, Daddy?" she asked.
"I can't make it real. It's a hologram, I only make it seem real," I stressed.
I glanced up and Mokuba gave me a thumbs up from the control booth, signaling he was ready.
I knelt again, my duel disk activating as I extended it. "Now put it on here."
Artemis obeyed, and the monster appeared on the field as I stood. Jackson ran straight to me, going behind my leg before pulling my long jacket around him to hide. I grabbed the fabric and pulled it back to expose him, annoyed.
"Jackson, go tell the monster to go away," I ordered.
Jackson kept his eyes shut, clinging to my leg and shaking his head. I turned to my other child. "Artemis, go tell that monster to do something."
She ran right up to it. "Sit down, you!" she ordered. The Sword Stalker sat down like a dog. She threw her head back and laughed, delighted.
Artemis gave a couple more commands and I felt Jackson's hold on me lessen. "Now, Artemis, walk through it to show your brother it's not real." She did this promptly, also finding this delightful as she ran back and forth through the hologram. Jackson watched intently, until suddenly, Jackson ran up. "Roll over!" he cried. The monster complied. Jackson laughed.
I called my wife.
"It's you," she answered pleasantly.
"The problem is fixed. Come get them."
Jemmea
I peeked my head in his office and saw the two, fully occupied. "Ok, time to go."
My children were slightly resistant to come to me. They were having too much fun and actually getting some time with their father, which was far rarer than time with me. A large part of me wanted to leave them so they could see him, but I knew he had work to do.
I compromised. "You have one more minute," I told them, now playing with their cards in Seto's office. I slipped in. I decided that I wanted an extra minute with my husband as well.
"I'm leaving for a meeting soon," he informed from behind his desk, never looking up. I went over to him, and he knew. He moved an arm so I could slip into his lap, turned sideways to see him as always. My arm was again around his neck and I kissed his cheek.
"Were they good?" I asked quietly.
"Mm," he answered. It was a yes. His eyes were fixed to his screen, and stayed fixed as I stared at him. All I could hear were our children's far-off voices and his keystrokes. Just like that, my minute was up. I kissed him again and withdrew.
"Ok, now we're really leaving," I instructed. "Say, 'Bye, love you, Daddy.'"
The two jumped up from the couch. "Bye!" "Love you, Daddy!"
I left the office with a twin in each hand. As we exited, we walked past Mokuba's glass office. He was in there, reclining with his feet on his desk, talking to a short man. His door was open and the two saw him. Without reservation, they cried, "Hi, Uncle Mokie!" They ran to him, then struggled to hug him through his chair.
"Hey, kiddos," he said, patting them on the back awkwardly as he was unable to hug them. "Do you remember Yugi?" Yugi, that's who it was. I realized he must be here for the wedding next weekend, probably taking the opportunity to work here and visit his home city before he returned to San Francisco.
The two shook their heads, suddenly shy now that they noticed him.
"Hey!" Yugi greeted warmly, smiling. "I haven't seen you in a long time, you've gotten big!" My twins just looked at him. "I still can't believe Kaiba has a wife and kids," he said as an aside to Mokuba.
"Nobody can," Mokuba answered.
Yugi turned back to my children. "I have presents for you," he informed. My children seemed to warm up at this. He extracted two action figures and extended them. "Jackson, this is the Dark Magician. Artemis, this is the Dark Magician Girl. They're two of my favorite monsters."
My kids accepted them, turning them over in their hands.
I wanted to leave. I called to them, "Ok, thank Yugi for his sexist gifts and let's go." Yugi glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, now suddenly very uncomfortable.
"Thank you," they said, glancing back at him.
"Time to go, come on," I called. The two ran back to me and we were on our way again.
"Mommy, why do people call Daddy Kaiba? You and Uncle Mokie call him Seto," Artemis asked from the backseat of the car. I wouldn't let a hired driver take them anywhere. I would worry about their safety and Seto had concerns about his enemies, so we only allowed a few trusted people to drive our children.
Jackson was listening as he kicked his car seat rhythmically. Both children held their action figures absent-mindedly.
"Because Seto is Daddy's first name. Some people call him by our last name, which is Kaiba. What's my first name?" I quizzed.
"Mea!" Jackson called, turning his head to join our conversation.
"Nuh-uh, it's Jem," Artemis corrected.
I saw how this could be a potential problem, especially if Seto ever found out his son thought my name was Mea.
"Don't fight, you're both right. My name is Jemmea," I informed, stressing the sounds.
"Now what are we going to do?" Jackson asked with his short attention span.
"I'm taking you to play with Grandpa Avery so I can write," I answered. My brother had hated how much I loved to read, always wanting me to make my own stories. Well, now I did. But they weren't fictional.
After the ordeal with Zero, I took an interest in the field. I obtained my Ph.D. and continued the work, developing a vaccine for the disease. I had named it the "Zero" vaccine. It put a lot of our minds at ease. All of it had been a big deal since we were essentially introducing a new disease to the public at the same time. A group of advisors handled the campaign, only selling it as a disease and not saying anything about vampirism.
This earned some honorary Ph.D.'s for me as well, but unfortunately this required giving speeches and some lectures. I had wanted to refuse, but my husband talked me into it. Just as he said, it wasn't so bad when I was able to discuss the science only and people weren't trying to be my friends. I talked about it, some people asked questions and I discussed it further. I was, however, also notorious for being blatant as sometimes my answer was simply, "That's a stupid question. Next?" I also wouldn't answer questions like, "Why did you name it the Zero vaccine?" for his protection.
I preferred Dr. Kaiba, but sometimes I let Mrs. Kaiba slide because I knew Seto liked the ring of it, seeing as it referred to me as his, and I was still ok with that.
Next Chapter: PR
"I'm going to ask again-" I began.
"I'm sure I want to go," he cut off. I asked him the same question before every event.