Here's the next chapter.
I have one exam on Friday, and I'll be done with college until January. Once I'm done with the exam, I should be able to update more often.
Enjoy!
Chapter 3- Family
~Three Months Later~
It had been three months since Yami had started to work at KaibaCorp, and Yami was a lot happier at this job than he had been at the bar.
Yami worked from seven to five-thirty, and he started off being paid twelve dollars an hour. He also had the weekends off plus holidays.
It was more than he could say for the job he had had at the bar.
Now that he was earning better money, Yami had considered moving out of Yugi's house and finding an apartment for him and Terrance.
The thing was that Yami liked living there with Yugi. It was a good environment, and he and Yugi got along great. Plus, Terrance and Jaden played together all the time, so Yami was hesitant to take that away from his son.
Finally, Yami had decided to talk to Yugi about it, and he had been surprised when Yugi told him that there was no need for him to move out. In fact, Yugi insisted that Yami stay there.
Yami wasn't unhappy about that, but he hated feeling like he was taking complete advantage of Yugi, so he and Yugi had come to an agreement.
Yami would pay half of all the bills that Yugi had, and the two would take turns buying the groceries so that Yami felt like he was contributing something.
Yami walked into the house one evening to find that Yugi was in the kitchen making dinner for them.
Yugi turned to Yami and smiled. "Hey, Yami. How was your day?" Yugi asked.
"It was fine. We have a new game system that we're going to be testing, and there are several games that we have to test that go along with the system. We're going to have our hands full for a while." Yami replied.
Yugi chuckled. "There are a lot of people who would love to have the job you have. All you do is play games all day." Yugi said.
"There's a bit more to it than that. After all, there's all types of paperwork that has to be filled out. Just because I'm playing games doesn't mean that I get out of writing reports on everything that I do." Yami said.
"But you love it." Yugi said.
"Yeah. I do." Yami admitted.
"Jaden and Terrance are in the living room if you want to go in there with them. It might be a bit before dinner is ready." Yugi said.
"Okay." Yami said, heading for the living room.
"And my parents and sister are coming over, so be prepared for them." Yugi said.
"I will." Yami agreed.
It wasn't uncommon for Sharon and Lucas Mutou to come over to the house for dinner along with Mana. In fact, they came over at least once a week for dinner, or they went over there.
At first, Yami had decided not to have dinner with them, but Yugi stopped that fast and said that Yami was welcome to eat with them. Sharon had seconded the motion and even told Yami to come over to their house for dinner when Yugi would come.
Yami was amazed that they had welcomed him so easily, but was glad that they did.
Lucas hadn't been thrilled at first because he had been worried that Yami had planned to take advantage of Yugi, but Yami had assured him that he had no intention of that. He told Lucas that Yugi was just helping him get back on his feet, and Yami also admitted that they were both so comfortable living in the house that Yami just decided to stay.
Yami went into the living room and got in the floor to play with Yugi.
Five minutes later, the front door slammed open.
'And there's Mana.' Yami thought.
"Mana Mutou! You know better than barging onto other people's houses unannounced like that!" Sharon Mutou scolded her daughter.
"But it's Yugi." Mana said.
"That doesn't matter, young lady. You still knock first." Sharon said.
Yami walked out to see Mana, Sharon, and Lucas walking into the house.
"Hi, Mom. Dad. Mana." Yugi said as he stepped out of the kitchen.
Sharon smiled. "Hello, Yugi. Sorry about barging in." Sharon said.
"Don't worry about it, Mom. Mana does that all the time." Yugi said.
"Well, she shouldn't." Sharon said.
"Sorry." Mana mumbled.
Yugi chuckled, as did Yami.
"How are you, Yami?" Sharon asked.
"I'm fine, Mrs. Mutou." Yami said.
Sharon rolled her eyes. "For the last time, Yami, call me Sharon." Sharon said.
Yami grinned. "Sorry." Yami said.
"So, what's for dinner, son?" Lucas asked.
"Lucas!" Sharon scolded.
"What? It's an honest question." Lucas said.
Sharon groaned. "Now I know why Mana is so inconsiderate. She got that from her father." Sharon said.
"Well, Mom two out of three isn't bad." Yugi said.
Sharon looked over at her son.
"After all, Heba and I both are considerate, so two out of three kids listening to what you said when we were kids isn't bad." Yugi said.
"I suppose not." Sharon agreed.
"And in answer to your question, Dad, we're having lasagna with garlic bread and salads." Yugi said.
"Your homemade lasagna?" Lucas asked.
Yugi nodded.
"Excellent! We picked the perfect night to come over for dinner!" Lucas said with a smile. He loved Yugi's lasagna.
Sharon shook her head. "So, where are the kids?" Sharon asked.
"In the living room." Yami said.
Sharon walked into the living room with Mana behind her.
Yugi then headed back to the kitchen, and Yami went with him.
"So, is there anything that I can do to help?" Yami asked.
"Well, if you want to help, you can set the table for me." Yugi said.
Yami nodded. He got out the plates and the silverware before he set them all out on the table for them to eat.
Yugi took the lasagna and the bread out of the oven. He set the lasagna on one of the oven mats on the table, and then he placed the bread in a bowl before he set it on the table as well.
Yami helped Yugi fix the salads, and they set them down on the table at each place.
Yugi then got out the different salad dressings that he had and set them out as well.
"Dinner's ready." Yami called.
Mana, Sharon, and Lucas walked into the kitchen with Jaden and Terrance.
"I just can't believe how fast these two are growing." Sharon said.
After meeting Yami and learning about Terrance, Sharon had immediately taken a liking to Terrance, and she treated him like he was her grandson, too.
"Everyday is a new adventure with them." Yugi said.
Jaden and Terrance were put in their high chairs as they sat down to eat.
"How's school going, Mana?" Yugi asked.
"I'm doing great. I have A's in all my classes, and my drama club is doing a play that I'm in!" Mana said with a smile.
"That's great. What play?" Yugi asked.
"We're doing Romeo and Juliet and I'm Juliet." Mana said.
"That's good." Yugi said.
"Although she is a little unhappy about one thing." Lucas said.
"What's that?" Yugi asked.
"I'm being forced to get a job." Mana said grudgingly.
"Why?" Yami asked.
"I remember this. Mom and Dad wanted us to work so that we could learn responsibility." Yugi said.
"Yes. We think that it's time she started learning." Sharon said.
"I don't see why. I am responsible." Mana grumbled.
"You're getting a job so stop arguing with us." Sharon said.
Yugi laughed. "Mana, Heba and I had to do the same thing. You just have to deal with it." Yugi said.
"But you liked getting a job." Mana pointed out.
"True, but Heba loathed it. He had to suck it up and deal with it, so you're just going to have to do what he did." Yugi said.
Mana nodded.
Yami then looked over at Lucas. "How is your job going?" Yami asked.
"It's going great, actually. Advertising is doing great right now, so we're busy. I don't mind handling the KaibaCorp account because it's such a major account." Lucas said.
"Well, it's one of the biggest corporations in the world, so that's no surprise." Yugi said.
"Yeah, but the man is hard to please." Lucas said.
"That's when you just have to redo it until he's happy." Yami said.
"Right." Lucas said. He looked over at Yami. "Have you had to face that yet since you do work for him?"
"Yes, I have. He wants his reports done a certain way, and the first one I did for him I had to redo five times before it was right." Yami said.
"Seto was always picky, even back in high school." Yugi said.
"Which is why it surprised me that he fell in love with Joey Wheeler. Those two are complete opposites." Sharon said.
"Yeah, but sometimes I think that's why they works so well together." Yugi said.
"It's a conundrum that I don't think anyone will be able to understand." Lucas said.
Later, after Yugi's family had left and Terrance and Jaden were in bed, Yugi and Yami were sitting in the living room relaxing.
"You have a great family, Yugi." Yami said.
"Thanks. I know that they really like you." Yugi said.
"I think that that's a point that I would still debate where your father is concerned." Yami said.
Yugi laughed. "Dad has always been an overprotective father. He's just looking out for me." Yugi said.
"I know he is, but he really intimidates me." Yami said.
"That's because Dad wants you to know that if you ever do anything that hurts me, he is going to hunt you down and kill you." Yugi said.
"I believe that he would." Yami said.
The two sat there in silence for a while watching CSI: New York on TV.
After a few moments, Yugi spoke. "Yami, if you don't mind me asking, why don't you talk with your family?" Yugi asked.
Yami was taken aback by the question mostly because it was one that Yugi hadn't asked.
"You don't have to answer that if you don't want to." Yugi said.
"No. It's okay. You've just never asked before." Yami said.
"I didn't want to pry too much into your life." Yugi said.
Yami smiled. "As much as I have pried into yours, I think I deserve it." Yami said.
"Yami-" Yugi started.
"In any case, I can tell you why. The truth is that the relationship between me and my parents is rather strained." Yami said.
"I remember that it started because of Tea." Yugi said.
"Yeah. Mom and Dad didn't particularly like Tea, although I don't know why. We got into a lot of fights over my dating her. It eventually got to the point that all we ever did was fight." Yami said.
"What happened?" Yugi asked.
Yami sighed. "Eventually, Tea forced me to choose between my family and her because she didn't want to go to a place where she wasn't welcome." Yami said.
"And you chose Tea." Yugi said.
Yami shook his head. "It was a stupid mistake given how she has treated me." Yami said.
"But you still love her." Yugi said.
"Yeah. I do." Yami admitted.
"So, why not talk to them now?" Yugi asked.
Yami sighed. "Because I don't think they want me back. After what I did, I doubt that they would much care about me." Yami said.
"Yami, I don't think that that is true." Yugi said.
"Well, I do." Yami said.
"What about Atemu? Do you still talk to him?" Yugi asked.
"I used to. We didn't keep in touch like you and Heba do, but we would talk to each other. After Heba got pregnant, we really stopped talking altogether. That was before Terrance was born." Yami said.
"Yami, I think that you need to try to talk to your family." Yugi said.
"Why?" Yami asked.
"Because family is very important, and I think that you are selling your parents short. I'm sure that they would love to have you back in their lives." Yugi said.
Yami rubbed his forehead. "I'm not so sure." Yami said.
"Yami, do you have any doubt that your parents love you?" Yugi asked.
Yami looked at Yugi and answered sincerely. "No. I don't. Even when we got into all the arguments, I knew that they still loved me." Yami said.
"And that's your answer, Yami. You know that your parents still love you. There's no doubt about that. I know that you want to talk to them, so go and talk to them one day. You're the one who is going to have to take the first step." Yugi said.
"You think?" Yami asked.
Yugi nodded. "It's possible that you're parents are waiting for you to decide to come to them." Yugi said.
"Maybe." Yami said. He then thought of something else. "But what about Terrance? I mean, how are they going to feel about him?" Yami asked.
"Given the fact that he is their grandson, I'm certain that Terrance is going to be spoiled rotten." Yugi said.
"You think?" Yami asked.
Yugi nodded. "Your parents are not the type of people who would shun Terrance just because they don't like his mother. You don't need to worry about that." Yugi said.
Yami smiled at Yugi. "Thanks, Yugi. For listening and for giving me the advice." Yami said.
"Any time, Yami. I just want you to be happy." Yugi said.
Yami laughed. "Yugi, you've helped me be happier than I have in a long time. I honestly don't know what I would do without you." Yami said.
Yugi smiled. "Well, you've helped me, too. After all, it's been nice to have adult company here a lot." Yugi said.
Yami smiled. "Well, let's just say that we have helped each other." Yami said.
"I agree." Yugi said.
~Two Days Later~
Yami had done a lot of thinking and realized that Yugi was right. He would have to be the one to take the first step toward re-establishing a relationship with his parents if they were still willing to give him a chance.
Yami had waited until the weekend to go over and see them.
Yugi had told Yami that he would watch Terrance for him.
Yami arrived at the Sennen mansion and parked outside. He walked up the steps of the house and rang the doorbell.
The door was opened by the butler, who Yami remembered well. "Come in, Mr. Sennen." the butler said.
Yami walked in.
"I will get your parents." the butler said before he headed upstairs.
Yami walked into the parlor and sat down. He noticed that although there had been some small changes to the room since the last time he had been there, the room still looked relatively the same.
"Yami!"
Yami turned and saw his mother standing in the room.
Amara didn't look too much different from the last time that Yami had seen her.
Yami smiled tentatively at his mother. "Hi, Mom." Yami said.
Amara had crossed the room in two steps to hug her son tightly. "Oh, Yami! I haven't seen you in so long! I'm glad to see you again!" Amara said, starting to cry.
"Come on, Mom. Don't cry." Yami said.
"How can I not? I didn't think that I would ever see you again." Amara said.
Yami was angry at himself for causing his mother this much pain.
Amara then looked at him. "You seem to be doing okay." Amara said.
"Yeah. I am." Yami agreed.
A moment later, Aknankanon walked into the room. "Yami." Aknankanon said.
"Dad." Yami said.
It didn't take long for Aknankanon to hug his son as well. "I'm glad to see you back here, son." Aknankanon said.
"I'm glad, too, Dad." Yami said.
"Well, you seem to be doing all right. From what Atemu told us, you've been working at KaibaCorp." Aknankanon said.
"Atemu? How does he know?" Yami asked, surprised.
"Well, Heba is Yugi's brother, and they do talk a lot." Amara said.
Yami rubbed his head. "Oh. I hadn't even thought of that. I guess it shouldn't surprise me that Yugi told Heba about this." Yami said.
"Indeed." Amara said as they all sat down.
"Heba told Atemu that you've been living with Yugi for the last few months." Aknankanon said.
"Five to be exact." Yami said.
"Why, though?" Amara asked.
"Do you two not know about Tea?" Yami asked.
"What about her?" Amara asked, trying to hide her disdain.
Yami heard it, and now, he couldn't blame her. "I guess Yugi didn't tell Heba that part." Yami said.
"What part?" Aknankanon asked.
Yami sighed. "About eight months ago, Tea was accepted to Julliard in America. Her father paid for everything, so she went to America." Yami said.
"You mean, she just left you like that?" Amara asked, shocked.
Yami nodded. "She just wanted to go to that school. She was rather cold when she told me. She left in less than a week. Things were pretty bad for me since I was living in a rundown apartment with a bad job. Plus, I had Terrance." Yami said.
Aknankanon tried to hide how upset he was that his son had gone through all this.
"Anyway, three months after Tea left, Terrance ended up sick, and I was scared. I took him to a free clinic not far away. Yugi was the doctor that was volunteering there that day, so he saw Terrance. Yugi figured out fast how bad off I was, so he offered me a place to stay that was better. I was grateful because it was better for Terrance and me. About three months ago, Yugi told me about a job opening at KaibaCorp that I could get so I applied and got the job. I've been working there ever since." Yami said.
"Oh, Yami. We had no idea how bad things were for you." Amara said.
"How could you, Mom? I pretty much cut you out of my life." Yami said.
"It wasn't your idea." Aknankanon said.
"No, but I was a fool to do it. I'm really sorry." Yami said.
"Yami, we're just glad that you're back. You have no idea how much we missed you." Amara said.
"I missed you, too." Yami admitted.
"So, where is our grandson?" Aknankanon asked.
"Yugi's watching him for me. I wasn't sure how things would go here's so I thought it was best if I left Terrance at home." Yami said.
"Yami, you didn't need to worry about us. We weren't going to be angry at you. We're just glad that you're back." Amara said.
Yami smiled. "I'm glad to be here." Yami said.
"Now, you're going to have to get our grandson over here so that we can meet him." Aknankanon said.
"I think that that can be arranged, Dad." Yami said.
"Good." Aknankanon said.
However, there was something that Yami had wanted to know for a long time. "Can I ask you two a question before anything else?" Yami asked.
"Of course." Amara said.
"Well, I just wondered why you didn't approve of me dating Tea." Yami said.
Aknankanon sighed. "It had more to do with her father than anything." Aknankanon said.
Yami frowned. "I don't understand." Yami said.
"Well, Martin Gardner went to high school with us. During our high school years, Martin developed a liking for me and did everything that he could to get me to like him, but I never did. He just wasn't my type. I had already fallen for your father, and we ended up dating in our last year of high school. Martin didn't like that and spent the entire year trying to split us up." Amara said.
"He went as far as to try and convince your mother that I had cheated on her several times, but since we knew that it originated from him, it didn't matter much. I finally got sick of it and told him off. He didn't like that at all. He has hated us since then." Aknankanon said.
"That's the only reason?" Yami asked, rather surprised.
"No. We are not shallow, Yami. We feared that Martin would do something to try to do something to turn you against us as revenge. We never expected him to share the same hatred of the relationship." Aknankanon said.
"Plus, it wasn't hard to see Tea for how she was. I feared that she would end up breaking your heart one day. I realized that she cared more about her dancing career than she did you. I suppose I went about the wrong way of trying to make you see that." Amara said.
"Well, you were right. Her father paid for everything." Yami said.
"It wouldn't surprise me if he did that just to get her away from you." Amara said.
"Well, you may be right." Yami said.
"We are sorry, Yami. For everything. We shouldn't have gone at you the way we did over you dating Tea. Perhaps if we had told you all this then, you would have understood better." Aknankanon said.
"I might have, but I probably would have still dated her." Yami admitted.
"Nothing wrong with that. At least you would have known and the rift wouldn't have been caused." Amara said.
"Mom, I caused that because Tea forced me to choose. I did that. Not you, and I'm sorry." Yami said.
"Well, we all need to stop with apologies. It's in the past, and it needs to stay there. I believe that we need to focus on the future now." Aknankanon said.
"I agree." Amara said. She looked at Yami. "And I want to see my grandson." Amara said.
"Okay." Yami said.
"And, if you want, you can move back here, Yami. We wouldn't mind." Aknankanon said.
"I appreciate that, Dad, but the truth is that I am comfortable living with Yugi, and I enjoy living there. Yugi has told me we can stay as long as we want." Yami said.
"But-" Aknankanon started.
"Dad, I'm not living there for free anymore. I help Yugi pay for everything." Yami said.
"All right. We understand if you don't want to move back, but at least come around more." Amara said.
Yami smiled. "I promise that I will, Mom." Yami said. He then called Yugi and asked Yugi to bring Terrance over.
While they waited, Yami and his parents talked.
Yugi arrived with just Terrance.
"Uh, Yugi. Where's Jaden?" Yami asked
"My mom and sister came over. They were actually going to take both boys out today, but when you called, I told them to just take Jaden." Yugi said.
"Your mom and sister?" Amara repeated.
Yugi nodded. "They treat Terrance the way they treat Jaden." Yugi said as he handed Terrance to Yami.
"Thanks, Yugi." Yami said.
"No problem." Yugi said. He started to leave.
"There is no need for you to leave, Yugi. Please stay." Amara said sincerely.
Yugi smiled. "I appreciate that, Mrs. Sennen, but I need to go. Jaden's first birthday is coming up, and I need to plan his party. I can do that better with my mom taking care of him." Yugi said.
"All right." Amara said.
"I'll see you at home, Yami." Yugi said.
"All right." Yami said.
Yugi then left.
Yami turned to find both his parents looking at him oddly. "What?" Yami asked.
"Are you two dating?" Aknankanon asked.
"What? No!" Yami said, shocked.
"Sorry. That "at home" comment took us off guard." Amara said. She then looked at Terrance. "Oh, he's so adorable." Amara said.
"Mom, Dad. This is Terrance. Terrence, this is Grandma and Grandpa." Yami said.
Amara reached out took Terrance from Yami.
Terrance seemed a little uneasy at first.
"Oh, hello, Terrance. I am going to spoil you rotten." Amara said.
Yami sighed. "I was afraid of that." Yami said.
"Well, he is our grandson, so we are going to spoil him." Aknankanon said.
That night, Yugi and Yami were sitting at the kitchen table after Terrance and Jaden had been put to bed drinking some tea.
"Yugi, thank you for pushing me to see my parents. You were right about everything." Yami said.
Yugi smiled. "I told you." Yugi said.
"I think that I'm going to like having them back in my life." Yami said.
"That's good. You need to have a relationship with your parents, and Terrance needs to know his grandparents." Yugi said.
"I know that now. They asked to move in with them." Yami said.
"They did?" Yugi asked.
Yami nodded. "I told them no. They understand that I enjoy living here, so they've accepted it." Yami said.
"You just have to make sure that you see them more." Yugi said.
"I know, and I will." Yami said.
~Three Days Later~
Yugi and Yami were surprised by the knock on the door after they had eaten dinner one night.
Yugi answered it and was surprised to find his brother and brother-in-law on the doorstep. "Heba. Atemu. What are you doing here?" Yugi asked.
"What? I can't come see my brother?" Heba asked.
"Of course." Yugi said, hugging Heba as best he could since Heba was rather big from the pregnancy.
Atemu and Heba then walked into the house.
"Yami." Yugi called.
Yami walked into the foyer and was rather surprised to find his brother there. "Atemu?" Yami asked.
Atemu smiled. "Hey, Yami." Atemu said.
"What are you two doing here?" Yami asked.
"Well, we were in town, so I was going to make sure that we saw you." Atemu said.
Heba rolled his eyes as he rubbed his back. "We haven't even seen our parents yet, Atemu. You wanted to see Yami first thing." Heba said.
Atemu glared at his husband.
"Well, come on in and sit down. I know that your back is killing you, Heba." Yugi said.
"You have no idea." Heba agreed as they walked into the living room.
"So, what are you two doing in town? I didn't think that your doctor would have wanted you to travel given your due date is close." Yugi said.
"He didn't, but Atemu and I decided that we wanted to have the baby here where our families are." Heba said.
"Really?" Yami asked.
Atemu nodded. "We thought that it would be better to have the baby here where our families are." Atemu said.
"Well, I know that our parents will be happy. I'm surprised that they haven't told me." Yugi said.
"They don't know yet. We decided to wait on telling them. We'll let them know now." Heba said.
"That's good." Yugi said.
"Mom and Dad are going to be thrilled." Yami said.
"Yeah. I know." Atemu said. He then turned to look at Yami. "Mom mentioned that you came over and saw them a few days ago." Atemu said.
"Yeah. I did." Yami admitted.
"Any reason why you neglected to mention the fact that you have a kid?" Atemu asked.
"Um, I don't actually have an excuse for that one." Yami admitted.
Atemu sighed. "It would have been nice to know that I'm an uncle." Atemu said.
"Well, you know that you are now, so you can start acting like one." Heba said.
Yugi smiled. He was glad that Yami was able to see his brother again.
Heba and Atemu stayed for a while before they left.
"Well, I think that you've re-established a lot of relationships this week." Yugi said.
"Yeah. I know." Yami said.
Yugi smiled. "You're doing a lot better than you let people think." Yugi said.
Yami turned to him. "It's all thanks to you, Yugi. I don't know what I would do without you." Yami said.
Yugi blushed. "You would have been fine." Yugi said.
"I don't know that I would have been, but I'm grateful for you." Yami said.
Yugi smiled. "Thanks." Yugi said.
The two then headed back into the living room.
Hope you liked it.
Next: A time skip to four years later.
R&R.