Sadistic-neko: Hey everybody. I'm still not completely over Quincy's death, but I figured that it's time to move on. My grandparents are getting a new dog next month when they finish their travels. I'll always remember him and I know that I won't ever be as close with another dog since you can't grow up with a dog again, but I know I'll love the new puppy.

Seto: The only thing that you can do is remember the good times and look forward to all the new experiences you will have.

Sadistic-neko: Yeah, thanks. Well, (turns to readers) I don't Yu-Gi-Oh and I hope that you guys this new chap! It's been too long after all.

"So, Seto," my mate began. We both were lying in bed to sleep for the night. "If I'm going to have pups shouldn't I have a doctor to take care of the…" he took a moment to try and remember what it was called, "Prenatal care?"

"Yeah," I replied pulling him closer to me, my hand resting on his stomach were our pups were growing. "Unfortunately the random medical studies Gozaboro made me go through didn't include that field."

We were both silent for a moment. This was quite the problem. It wasn't safe for him or the developing pups to go without such care, but we couldn't just go to a doctor, not even my own.

"What will we do then? I don't want our babies to get hurt."

"I know puppy." I pulled him closer and thought. What could we do? It wasn't like one of our friends was a prenatal nurse or that I could be registered as one with sufficient training within the next few weeks.

...

Wait.

"Puppy?" He looked up to me curiously. "Are you sure that none of our friends is a registered nurse?"

"Yeah."

"We'll be proved wrong soon."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because that's how it always works with us." He was quiet for a moment.

"You're right. No matter how bad things are, something always happens that we don't expect to make it better." He relaxed a little against my chest. "Twenty bucks on some random Egyptian showing up and helping us. Ten more if they have a connection to your ancient past."

"Fifty on it being one of Malik's siblings," I responded. Now, I normally didn't condone gambling if it didn't relate to children's card games tournaments, but honestly. Our life was just one gamble after another.

"That would still count under mine."

"So?"

"I worry about you sometimes." He sighed dramatically. Neither of us was very serious about the bet. If anything it was just something that we were doing to distract us from our worry. This was our first litter after all and we had no idea what to expect. Hell, this was the first time that a male had ever gotten Pregnant to begin with!

Everything was silent for a while. There wasn't really much to say. We had both already come to terms with the fact that we were going to be parents and we had covered our main worry. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he sat up with a beaming smile on his face.

"I can't wait to tell Shizuka! She's going to be so excited!" I chuckled and pulled him back down with me.

"Of course she'll be. She is going to be an aunt." Again we just lay there. There was no doubt that we were tired as hell, but our minds wouldn't slow down. Finally, though, both of our eyes began to droop.

"Ne, Seto?" he asked as he drowsily nuzzled further into the blankets and my chest.

"Yes puppy?"

"What do you think we'll have?"

"Not sure. I'm sure that they'll be beautiful either way, though. They have you for a Kaa-san after all."

"What do you want to have?"

"I don't know. As much as I would love a boy to wrestle around with, I can't help but imagine having a gorgeous little princess to pamper. Either way, as long as the both of you get out of this healthy, I'll be the happiest man to live." I began lightly rubbing his back. He was quickly fading and I wanted to help him relax. He was pregnant and, therefore, his body was going through a lot of stress. The more rest he got, in my opinion, the better off he was.

"You're" — he yawned — "such a dotting papa alpha."

Before I knew it, my mate was peacefully sleeping, lightly gripping my shirt. I tightened my hold on him a little and followed him in sleep.

^_^….^_^….^_^

The next morning I woke with my puppy still in my arms. After a moment of silently admiring the beauty I knew I was blessed to have as mine, I got up. Every movement I made was slow and deliberate. The last thing I wanted was to wake Katsuya up when he was sleeping so soundly. After all, when the pups where born there was no telling when he would have an opportunity to relax like that.

I leisurely made my way to the kitchen, already fully aware of the fact that I wasn't the first up. As I entered the room, the strong scent of coffee filled my nose and beckoned me to the pot that was calling out to me so tenderly. I grabbed a mug of the heaven made liquid and sat at the table with Tou-san.

"Can I ask you a question yet, or should I wait until you finish that?" he asked, gesturing to the steaming cup I was sipping from.

"Amazingly enough, I'm awake, so ask ahead." I must have been so much on cloud nine from the knowledge that my puppy was carrying my pups that it overrode my typical morning fog.

"Where were you planning on having the nursery?" I thought for a moment. There were so many rooms to choose from that I almost didn't know where to begin. I wanted to be sure that my mate and I would be able to get to the child (or children I mentally corrected myself knowing full well that wolves typically had more than one pup so that was a distinct possibility) whenever we needed to quickly. The thing was, though, that I didn't want any noise coming through the room as it was being prepared to disturb Katsuya if he were taking a nap or something. At last I made my decision.

"The guest room two doors down and across the hall from our room. Why?" He nodded, arms crossed over his chest and eyes closed in a contemplative manner. After a moment he looked up to me, a broad grin proudly worn.

"I was just wondering where it would be so I could get to work on it, of course. That is, if you don't mind letting me take care of it." I smiled back and set my mug down before holding my hand out to him.

"That would make me very happy. Just make sure that it's the best damn nursery a babe could ever hope for." He took my hand in his firm grip and we shook.

"Of course! Nothing but the best for my grandbabies!" We both looked up as the kitchen door opened. In walked my mate, rubbing his eyes and yawning widely. He looked at us, hands still clasped and raised a brow. He switched his gaze between us for a few moments before putting his hands on his hips seriously.

"Now, Seto," he began, "What have I told you about making deals with my relatives in exchange for their souls?"

All was silent for a moment before tou-san burst out laughing. I sent my puppy a mock pout and let go of the grip that was becoming too tight around mine.

"He was the one that asked. It's not my fault if he thought his wish was worth giving up his soul." We all laughed/chuckled, enjoying the tranquil morning.

"In all seriousness, though," he wiped a few tears from his eyes, "What were you two really doing?"

"I just got your mate to agree to let me build the baby's nursery." Katsuya's eyes lit up and he hugged the elder blonde tight.

"Really?" We both nodded. Before he could start jumping around the kitchen in joy, though, Marik and Malik burst through the door.

"Hey, Kaiba, Jou! You won't believe this!" The blonde hikari exclaimed as he threw the door back, smacking his mate square in the nose with it. We just stared as the yami grumbled and let himself in, the smaller of the two bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement. He was clearly waiting for one of us to ask.

"What won't we believe?" Katsuya asked since it looked like neither tou-san nor I would. Malik's smile widened to Cheshire cat proportions as he ran up to him and, carefully, hugged him.

"Ishizu just got her doctoral degree and was accepted as a midwife at Domino General Hospital! I told her about what's happening and she said that she would be honored to help you guys!" We just stared for a moment before my mate burst out into insane giggles. I sighed went over to him to make sure he didn't collapse as the others looked at him confusion.

"Well I'll be damned," he said once he composed himself enough to. There were the occasional giggles here and there, but he was understandable.

"What the hell was that?" Marik asked, clearly questioning Katsuya's sanity. Fluffy, wheat colored hair flew about as the, possibly, insane man shook his head.

"Nothing." He leaned against me, letting me pull him closer and putting my hand over our growing children. "It's just that Seto and I were talking about what we should do about medical attention for the baby and he bet that one of Malik's siblings would show up and help."

"That is weird." I motioned for every one to it and pulled the coffee pot away from Malik as he grabbed for it. My house did not know what decaf was and I knew better than to let any of the hikaris have caffeine. I was still paying for the damages in the living room from when we had a birthday party for Noah (I had finally found his papers).

"So," I began, taking a sip of my drink and adjusted the blonde in my lap to make him more comfortable, "when can your sister come in and take a look at Katsuya?"

"She's in town right now. The hospital is giving her some equipment to use for private practice for those that want to avoid the hospital. She was hoping that, as soon as she picked it up, that she could give Jou a check-up. If you guys aren't busy, that is. She can come in whenever."

"As soon as she can. We work from home and don't have anything planned anyway, so go for it. The sooner he's looked at, the better." The violet eyed hikari nodded and stepped out of the room to call his sister and I looked to his mate. "Call the others. I'm sure they're dying to know how the baby is and I would like to talk to you all about something."

With a nod, he stepped out too and I stood with my puppy in my arms. He wrapped his arms around my neck as I left the kitchen and, as smoothly as I could to avoid awakening his nausea, walked to our room. I chuckled when he pouted at me when I gently put him on our bed and pulled the covers over hi legs.

"Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I'm an invalid, Seto."

"I know, but I don't want to take any chances with you until we get Ishizu's verdict. Why don't you let me make you breakfast in bed and check the stocks or something on the laptop until she get's here?" I chuckled again when he crossed his arms and stuck his lip out more in his adorable pout.

"Fine!" he huffed. "If you think it's that big of a deal."

With a small smile, I kissed his forehead, ran a tender hand through his hair and handed him the laptop before leaving the room to make him something that would, hopefully, stay down.

I should probably make something light and use bread. That's usually good for and upset stomach, I thought as I made my way to the kitchen. After a moment of riffling through the cabinets to see what my options were. Hmm, bread, eggs and orange juice. Egg sandwiches it is.

^_^….^_^….^_^

Jou POV

I had been sitting in bed for hours and was starting to get antsy. All of the numbers and words from the various company documents, reports and stock info began blurring together. There wasn't anyone to talk to either since Seto left after giving me the delicious, yet simple, breakfast he made me to clear room in the medical room for Ishizu to work. I couldn't even allow myself to let my head to fall against the lap desk or headboard. My health was so important now that there were another, possibly more, life depending on me to give them all that they needed.

"Jou!" I heard exclaimed from the doorway. I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face as I looked to see the hikaris rush into the room (they stopped next to the bed instead of jumping me) with their partners, and mine, slowly following them.

"Hey guy!" I exclaimed, happy as hell that my boredom was finally at its end.

"How are you feeling?" Ryou asked as the three lights climbed on the bed with me. I could tell that they were gearing up for a full out gush attack.

"Great. Seto made me breakfast in bed and I was able to hold it all down." I was silently hoping that something would distract them. Despite my boredom and love for the adorable little doubles, I didn't think that I was up for their energy. That and I was afraid that one of us might accidentally do something that would hurt my baby. Until the expert told me what was okay, I knew that I would be a nervous wreck.

"Before we get too much into anything, I would like to talk to everyone." I would have kissed Seto had he not have been too far away. He was my hero. Everyone looked to him, suddenly serious from the tone he used. "The tests I did yesterday leads me to believe that it is perfectly possible for the hikaris to get pregnant too. I think it would be for the best to make plans to avoid any unplanned pups from now on."

"What would you suggest?" Yami asked as he and the other darker halves climbed up with their mates, wrapping their arms around the smaller men. Seto squeezed himself between the headboard and me and did the same.

"Katsuya and the hikaris uteruses are not like those of human women. Because they are like other mammals, they go into heat." Everyone stared at him for a minute. He was joking, right? I thought for a moment. Had I gone into heat?

"Wait, what?" Bakura asked, clearly flabbergasted.

"I'm certain that he conceived the night of graduation. I had noticed there were some things that were strange regarding him. His scent and behavior had been unusual before we mated. Since then, neither of us have felt such a strong desire to mate like that." As I thought about it, I realized that he was right. Go figure that the comment that I had made about acting like a bitch in heat was true. I didn't feel so bad any more. "If you notice any spike in your mates' scent or odd behavior, you should send them here unless you are ready for pups."

"What about you when Jou is in heat after he has the cubs?" his cousin asked.

"One of you can hold him up, preferably you. It wouldn't drive me too insane I guess." Yugi's face lit up.

"That's great! I would be happy to! So would Ji-chan!" Before anyone could say anything else the Mokie practically tore the door down.

"Nii-san! Ishizu is here! Noah took her to the medical room!"