Ch 21
life goes on
Mokuba stares out the window, confused and curious. All around the premises crawling up the walls on every side are the offspring of a single plant, one Moonlace planted in the center of the garden. It bore one more small blossom, that allowed its seed to carried off with a breeze and scattered across the estate. It clings to the walls blotting out the bricks, rims the windows and doors in a strange way, as if where guarding the place.
His storm gray eyes focus on one particular spot, the place where he saw her head on a spit, almost a month ago. He sighs as he closes his eyes tiredly, he curiously wonders how his brother is, how Jounouchi is, how the unborn children are doing. At his feet soco lays flat, his slender body feeling sluggish and heavy. The sorrow of this long separation from his master and his mother is almost too much to bear. But its alright he isn't alone in his sorrow, he can feel it pouring off of the boy with hair black as the darkest night. The sorrow, anger and fear wells up in so many of the strange people here, especially the wold woman, she sits in chairs by windows, knitting up blankets. Soco always watches her, he wonders why she does these things, or why the tall one with spiked hair mutters things to the one with white hair so much, what are they saying?
A strange scent wafts in the air, familiar as usual. The smell of curdles milk and rotten flesh, over the wall the bizarre thing paces back and forth. Mokuba watches it look for a weakness is the shield of silver petals. It won't find one, even if it does it will only be met by Bakura once it set its misshapen feet down. Malik and Ishizu stay in the basement, they only told Atem what they where doing, Mokuba hadn't bothered asking. Hundreds of creatures had begun slinking up to the walls, only to have their skin singed when they touched the blossoms. Asuka has grown so accustomed to the bizarreness she has been ignoring it, in favor of keeping her promise. She has begun slowly dismantling the previous children's nursery and carrying its parts down to the basement, where she also ignores the doings of Ishizu and Malik.
Clear across the country in a small house where all the windows are open and the fading sunlight pours in the windows Kaiba sighs contentedly. He love the sensation of lips caressing the side of his neck, hands gliding over his body and knowing this is only for him. He rolls his hips from his place on Jous lap, his mind is fogged with effect of a mild high, he loves doing it like this. They press their lips together, allowing their tongues to meet for a while as they Jou pumps his hips up ward in his effort to assist Kaiba in his desperate need for release. Kaiba moans and huffs with his arms wrapped around Jous shoulders, he throws his head back shouting Jous names he finally feels his whole body being racked the euphoric sensation of his release. His body sags with exhaustion as he leans against Jous body, the way Jou continues thrusting and pummeling his sweet spot seems to only extend the feeling. He loves the way Jou holds him close as he searches for his own climax, the desperate way he grips him is always a giveaway. The way he breathes to heavily in his ear, huffing and grunting until suddenly he pulls Kaiba as close as he can, raining kisses down on him. Then he can feel it burst inside himself, while a strange feeling originally he finds that rather enjoys it, although he would only ever admit in his slightly high mindset.
Kaiba lays on his back, this particular feeling of satisfaction unlike anything he knows. Almost as good as being able to feel Jou sprawled out beside him. With heavy eyelids he finds that sleep is something he can't fight after making love, no matter what time of day it is. Jou smirks to himself as he watches Kaibas eyes fall closed, usually at this hour he's completely wound up and full of energy. Jou rolls onto his side, he reaches over and brushes Kaibas bangs away from his face, enjoying he way his eyelashes fan out. His hand falls lower, setting down softly against the more pronounced curve of Kaibas belly. It should be strange that at three months along his stomach is quite so rounded, but to Jou he can't help but become slightly excited, a sense of pride he can't quite explain.
Jou leans forward and presses his lips against Kaibas stomach, as he always does. He smirks as he watches sleep take away kaibas inhibition, his human face slowly shifts and becomes one Jou has become quite attached to. It always leaves him wondering how his children will look when they're born. Kittens?
In the back of his mind he recalls the fact that they where supposed to go into town and go shopping, not spend majority of the day having gratuitous amounts of sex. Jou flops back onto the bed pulling the blankets over them. As Kaiba curls up on his chest he muses to himself. It can wait.
The following morning Kaiba wakes at an hour he previously referred to as 'fuck o'clock', by this time has become accustomed to allowing the sun to wake him. Feeling the slight weight beside him disappear Jou yawns and begins him morning stretches before finding himself pleasantly distracted by Kaiba roaming about in search of clothes. It is less than an hour later that the pair drives down the familiar unpaved path that leads a single paved road. About an hour of driving down this road leads the pair into a nearby town, small and friendly. Kaiba blinks at his reflection in the windows dark tinting, its been over a month since his last hair cut. He begins to fuss with the ends of his hair that brush over his shoulders, curling just slightly. As he stares at his reflection he finds himself mildly amused.
" whats up love?"
" I need a haircut, badly."
"eh? Why, I think it looks cute."
" cute?"
" yea, you're cute, its why all the guys in town flirt with you."
" no its cause they think I'm a woman."
"a very cute woman."
" oh shut it."
Jou snorts and laughs as they find themselves pulling into the small parking lot of a local shop. Only one story tall with wide windows and hand written signs for the current prices of furniture. Jou hops out tossing his door shut and quickly moves around the car to open Kaibas door just as he finishes unbuckling his seat belt. Always loving the way this gesture seems to fluster Kaiba, Jou smiles and leans forward, softly kissing Kaibas soft pink lips. Shutting the door and taking Kaibas hand in his own as they walk up to the double doors with their many hand written sale notices.
The store is larger inside than it appears on the outside, or perhaps the manager simply manages the limited space very well. As they first walk in they are greeted by new worker with a puffy reddish brown ponytail, she smiles and waves at them.
" ah you're back, I was beginning to wonder when we'd see you again. Do you know what you're looking for or would you like some assistance?"
She says this almost directly to Kaiba, who for some reason finds himself feeling a bit sheepish. Jou chuckles at the strange way way shyness settles on his lover.
" we're getting ready to set up the nursery. All we have is the crib, so we need pretty much every thing right now."
Kaiba gives a slight nod, the woman whose name tag reads 'Osono' gives a great wide smile and claps her hands together.
"alright then, I'll make sure you walk out of here with the foundations of your nursery. Once you get all that set up you come on back for the 'fluff' okay."
"fluff?"
Kaiba arcs an eyebrow at her.
"yea, you know the little nick knacks, toys, wall decorations. The stuff that's nice to have but you can do without."
"ah, I see. The unnecessary frill on a dress."
"yep yep, but a dress is no fun without a little 'frill'."
Jou snorts, stifling a laugh.
" so you have a crib already we'll need to get you a changing table."
"actually we need another crib."
Osono smiles brightly as she pauses midstep down one aisle, she turns on the ball of her foot. Excitement all over her face, just as apparent as her many freckles.
"oh my twins? Oh that's wonderful, how far along are you dear?"
Kaiba feels his face burn with warmth, he's unaccustomed to such behavior at any time.
" three months-"
Her face quickly shifts to one of shock and confusion, she places one hand on her hip, the other on her cheek, as if trying to wipe away the possibly rude expression on her.
"oh, my! Those must be some big babies."
Jou smiles and decides as cute as kaiba is when he blushes he should probably not be having this conversation alone.
"actually they're pretty small, but there's five of 'em in there."
He stands behind Kaiba and places a hand on his swollen belly, he also places a small kiss on Kaibas cheek. The woman's mouth falls open, her eyes as wide as saucers, she quickly claps bother her hands over her mouth trying to wrap her mind around the thought.
"oh, but you're so petite! How will you ever carry that many!?oh my oh, how did that happen?!"
Jou laughs while Kaiba glares out the window, disliking the 'petite' comment entirely. In his mind his broad shoulders and triangular torso are far from from 'petite'. Perhaps she is referring to his exceedingly slender hips.
" no worries, my love will be just fine... and we're just lucky I guess."
Jou laughs off her shock and finds himself smirking at the strange look Kaiba gives him. Osono stares in bewilderment for a moment before reminding herself they need cribs and tables and clothes, as she walks away in a slight hurry now she mutters to herself a laundry list of baby needs.
They walk into an aisle comprised of entirely of slender display cribs and various styles of changing tables. As she stops and looks at a particular crib, dark red wood with one side that drops into a slide lock.
" so you already have a crib? What kind is it?do you know the measurements?"
" its a circular crib, it has about...six of these tiles around..."
He taps at the linoleum tiled floor with the tip of his flat black slip shoe, his hand now lightly gripping onto Jous elbow. Osono walks along the tile, musing in her head for a moment, she pures her lips for a moment looking up from the floor.
" that's a pretty big crib, with that- if you don't mind them sharing you could use only one or two more cribs. That way you wont have a room just flooded with cribs and nothing else."
Jou smiles raising an eyebrow at Kaiba curiously.
" it would depend on the other cribs too I suppose, it is rather large. Almost takes up a whole corner by itself."
" alright this one here is very big, lots of space- its actually the model Akiko Tetsuka purchased when she had twins, she said it still had room to spare in it. And her boys where big ones. Let me see if we have one in stock, that way..."
She begins crouching down and dragging her fingers across the spines of long boxes, beneath the display.
" aha! Here we are, you can see how big it is!"
She grips one side of the box and pulls, with what looks like all her might. She successfully manages to free one corner, as she braces herself for another pull Jou steps in grips the loose corner with one hand and gives it a tug. He begins stepping backward as he holds one end with both hands. Osono jumps out the way, she blinks at Jou in surprise from where she stands, now directly beside Kaiba.
" oh my, isn't he strong."
Kaiba glares sideways at her, expecting to see her 'appreciation' of Jous strength. Instead she just looks pleasantly surprised.
"you weren't kidding, this thing is huge!"
Jou pauses, letting the end of it stay wedged in the shelf, Kaiba walks over examining the image on the box, the list of parts and then lastly the price tag. He then looks at the display model curiously.
" this one is nice... however I would like to see the others you have before I decide."
Jou effortlessly replaces the box, again to Osono's amazement. They continue down the aisle examining display models and plucking out the actual boxes, at the end of the aisle Kaiba huffs mildly disappointed by the variety of sizes.
"well I suppose we should go with that first one hmm."
Jou slings his arm over Kaibas shoulders and presses another kiss on his cheek.
" good, I liked that one best."
"oh is something wrong, you seem a bit disappointed."
Osono wrings her hands as she looks to Kaiba nervously.
" I just wish there more to choose from. I don't really feel like there's much of a choice from that first one for us. The rest are too small to share and too big to want three of."
"oh, well we have a small selection of bassinets, would you like to look at those?"
They walk around the corner to a much smaller variety, immediately kaiba laughs brightly. He walks briskly up to one particular model, egg shaped and colored, accented with a baby blue ribbon and matching sheer canopy. He doesn't seem to notice the others, as he looks up over to jou who peeks into it over his Kaibas shoulder.
"this one! It has to be this one!"
"so tiny..."
"babies are tiny Suya, and I want five of them."
"what about the crib, Mai will be sad if we don't use it..."
" yes, yes- we can use it as a play pen. It has a floor level option."
He waves off Jou's worry as he lifts up the sheer canopy, counting the layers of white versus blue sheer. They spend the next few hours helping Kaiba handpick every little thing that might possibly enter the nursery. Five bassinets, two changing table, five mobiles, a crib bumper for what will become the playpen, innumerable blankets with various designs. Five small stuffy books with chewable corners four animal stuffies with either a squeak or a bell inside, lastly the beginnings to a small hoard of washable diapers.
Kaiba smiles without meaning to as he watches the boxes of unmade bassinets pile up on the opposite side of the register, watches how Osono is careful to keep all multiples together, all the mobiles in one large bag and stacked up on top of the bassinets, both changing tables leaning against the steadily growing tower. As the various supplies fly across her scanner a rather confused looking man steps out from a room somewhere in the back of the store to stand next to Osono, he blinks at the pile and then at the couple across the counter.
" what, are you starting a day care?"
Osono glances over to him, with one hand she reaches out and snaps his hanging ID off from around his neck,she types his badge number under the total cost. It knock a hundred and fifty dollars off the final price, ah, he's the manager.
" Osono!"
She lazily tosses his badge back at him, she prints the receipt before turning to glare at him. She jabs her finger into his chest accusingly.
" don't you 'osono' me! How rude can you be?!-"
She scrunches up her face as she mocks his voice.
"are you starting a day care?!"
Jou and Kaiba watch as the store manager steadily shrinks in his attempt to get away.
"really why is that what you say?and NO they are not starting a day care you ass! She is having five- FIVE babies!-"
They watch his eyes grow three times in size, his mouth falls open- she quickly plants her hand under his chin snapping his mouth shut. He merely blinks at her completely befuddled.
" so I will give them whatever damn discount I bloody well can, you got that- sirrrrr."
She drags out the final letter as she glares the kind of glare that freezes water and keeps boys in line long after they've left home. The manager raises his hands up in surrender, he then hurries out of her line of sight back to the safety of his office neatly tucked away in the back. Her glare stabs through the back of his shirt all the way until his door clicks shut.
Jou tries desperately tries to stifle his amusement, Kaiba smiles at Osono in an approving kind of way, he glances at the receipt before handing her a prepaid credit card under a false name. She swipes it through and waits for Kaiba to type in the pin number. Jou picks up the many bassinets, Osono takes up the bag of mobiles and two others. Kaiba moves to pick the changing table boxes only for Osono to cut in
"oh no you don't you just wait right here, don't you worry none. Your superman here will be right back for those okay."
Kaiba huffs at her now mildly irritated.
" I happen to be pregnant not disabled!"
While Osono attempts to right herself Jou strolls back placing the bassinets over the two flat boxes containing the changing tables, and carries them all out the door. Osono blinks at him in amazement bore hurrying over to open the door for him. Kaiba simply leans against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest and a lame glare aimed through the glass at Jou. He watches Osono pop open the unlocked back seat, then the trunk. Jou carefully lays down their purchase in the trunk, making room for the remainder of the bags. Jou and Osono stroll back in, Jou holding the door open for her. She fidgets when she spots Kaibas still strong glare at Jou, who allows it roll off his back harmlessly.
" your an ass."
"yep."
Kaiba watches as Jou picks up the remainder of the merchandise with ease, the way Jou looks at him with that insinuative smirk. Feeling his face begin to heat, Kaiba simply marches for the door not bothering to hold it open. Jou smiles as he watches Kaiba sit down in the passenger side seat and read over the receipt.
" I hope I didn't cause you any trouble."
Osono walks with Jou up to the door, she holds it open for him as both his arms are full. He laughs warmly, before answering.
"nah, I think its time to eat something. Is there anywhere good around here?"
Kaiba watches as Osono points down the street, she talks with her hands as she directs Jou to a small diner a few blocks away where her sister works. He sighs, damn Jou knowing these things, his hand sits on his belly, slowly moving in wide circles.
A few hours later the pair arrives home, Kaiba being too tired after eating to bother trying to help bring in the bags. As he moves sluggishly up the stairs he blinks at the picture that sits on the floor, he places it back on the wall without bothering to look at it. As he opens the bedroom door,he blinks in surprise at the open window, didn't they shut that before they left? Oh well, he likes the windows open anyway, hes sits down on the edge of the bed kicking off his slippers before laying down right on top of the covers. As his vision fades and blurs he swears he sees some one looking at him from the tree outside. His head rolls to look the other way, he eyes focus for just a moment on the two long feathers that sit on Jou's pillow. Vision dies and the only sound in the room is Kaibas steady breathing and the sound of a breeze whistling through the trees.