Chapter Twenty Six
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Bakura asked as he and Kaiba waited at the ranch for the Makenzies to arrive. "Shouldn't we wait for the therapist to arrive first?"
"I want them to settle in for the first few days before the therapist starts the treatment. We're simply just playing the part of host and nothing more." Kaiba smiled to reassure Bakura that he didn't intend on revealing anything about their connections to his father in case it started another seizure like before. He leaned to kiss his lover whilst the limo was only just visible on the horizon as once it's passengers arrived they would only be seen as nothing more than friends for the following couple of days. Neither of them liked the idea much but knew it was for the best until they got to know the Makenzies better.
The two of them pulled away from each other before the limo came closer into view, each of them still wanting the other and not looking forward to pretending that they weren't a couple after being so close over the past few days. Bakura mouthed the words 'I love you' to Kaiba one last time which was returned with a smile which he knew meant Kaiba felt the same even though he hadn't yet heard those words pass through his lips.
Just a few feet in front of them is where the limo stopped. The driver got out and opened the doors to allow his passengers to alight. "What are you doing here?" Suki asked Bakura in surprise as she was the first to emerge
"I err, thought you could do with a friendly face since his still isn't up to much." Bakura said quickly indicating towards Kaiba whose face still showed signs of bruising and healed cuts. He'd made Suki laugh at the remark; Kaiba however was not so amused and sent a cold look Bakura's way.
Ken got out of the limo next and helped Keiko after him. He turned his attention to his surroundings which seemed familiar to him. "I've been here before."
"Really?" asked Keiko cuddling her pony plushie as she stared up at her father with interest.
"I think, I used to live here." Ken added uncertainly.
Kaiba was pleased at the fact that his father could remember such a detail and knew that in a matter of days he would know so much more. "You did indeed." He said unable to stop himself from confirming the fact and received a scolding look from Bakura for doing so.
"How do you know?" Ken asked suspiciously.
"You use to work for my father's company." Kaiba continued the lie which he had started weeks before when he had first met his father. "It was on the company's files and since the previous owners were selling up I thought it should be returned to its rightful owner." He pulled out a set of keys from his pocket and ignoring another scolding look from Bakura, handed them over to Ken. "These are yours."
"No way!" both of the sisters cried together in unison. "I'd much rather live here that our apartment." Suki added.
"Thanks." Said Ken still sounding uncertain as he took the keys from Kaiba. "Mind if I look around?"
"Go ahead." Replied Kaiba. "The guesthouse hotel is currently empty and locked as I planned on us all staying in the main house, so we'll meet you there once you're done."
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Several hours later Ken still hadn't rejoined them at the house. The two girls were bored and getting restless so Kaiba suggested that Bakura show them around the ranch whilst he went in search of Ken.
"Horses!" Keiko shouted happily as they approached the stables.
"Sorry, there are no horses here I'm afraid." Bakura told the little girl only to disappoint her. "But Seto thought that you may like this little girl." He led them into the stable where the lone miniature horse was kept.
"Wow!" gasped Keiko as she saw the small horse with a green and pink bow tied around its bridal. "Is she really for me?"
"Yep, she's all yours." Bakura smiled. "So you'd better pick a name for her."
"Minty!" The little girl squealed excitedly. "I'll call her Minty."
Bakura smiled and laughed to himself as Keiko had behaved just as Kaiba had predicted. He glanced across to Suki who was shaking her head in an amused way at her pony obsessed sister.
"Can we take her for a walk?" Keiko asked as she stood beside Minty petting her.
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Kaiba spotted Ken stood at the edge of the lake watching the sky turn orange as it set behind the hills on the other side. He scanned the area for any geese that may be nearby and saw several waddling along the waterside away from them. With the coast clear he approached from behind and stopped underneath the tree where he and Bakura had watched the clouds on their first visit there. "It's a beautiful view isn't it?"
Ken turned to see that Kaiba was sitting down beneath the shade of the tree and nodded in response. "Reminds me of the times I used to watch the sun set with my wife. My first wife that is." He smiled sadly and looked back out across the lake's surface. "Would you believe all the time we must have spent together and I can't even remember her name? Pathetic eh?"
"Not at all." Kaiba said as he leaned back onto his hands. He knew the feeling all to well. "It was thirteen years ago she died." He saw his father spin back round to face him and knew he'd said too much. Good thing Bakura wasn't there to scold him for it.
"How do you know that?" Ken asked as he moved away from the water's edge and closer to Kaiba. The flapping of wings could be heard as the geese took to the air.
"Company records." Kaiba lied, watching the birds leave his view.
"There's other things you know too isn't there?" Ken said as he sat down beside Kaiba hoping that more would be revealed to him. "Why are you so keen to help me?"
The temptation to tell his father everything was strong but Kaiba knew that he couldn't reveal anymore until the therapy treatment was underway, he'd said too mush already as it was. "I can't tell you." He said taking in a deep breath. "But I will do all I can to help you remember."
For a moment Ken thought about what Kaiba could possibly have to gain from helping him? Perhaps he had gotten the boy wrong all along and he truly did just want to help an ex-employee as a gesture of good will? He felt ashamed for jumping to conclusions about him and felt the need to apologise for what he had done. "I'm sorry for striking you like that."
"Can't blame you for being protective of your daughters." Kaiba replied at hearing the apology. He'd have done something similar himself if it had been Bakura he was protecting.
There was a gaggling murmur coming from behind Kaiba and before he had the chance to check it out he felt a beak clasp at his fingers on the ground. Ow! He winced at the pain which shot through his fingers and quickly tried to scramble away from the goose as it took another dive down and got him again. Kaiba swung his arm to knock the bird away only to cause it to rear up with its wings flapping and made a hissing noise that terrified him.
Ken watched as Kaiba tried to fend off the goose only to anger it more. There was a look in the CEO's eyes which resembled the same look that he had seen staring up at him from his apartment floor days before. Big blue, fearful eyes that he knew he had seen somewhere else before.
# Ken was setting up the BBQ when he heard his name called and looked up to see his wife come running over to him.
She ran softly with her dark hair draping over her shoulders. "Can you watch him for a moment whilst I go and get the food?" she asked and indicated towards their son who stood near the lake feeding the ducks with bits of stale bread.
"Sure." He kissed his wife and placed his hand on the bump at her front. "Don't over do it though honey, you don't want to go upsetting the baby." She flashed him a smile and her blue eyes sparkled before she headed back up to the house.
He glanced over towards his son who was happily throwing bread out to the ducks floating on the lake and then continued to try and get the charcoal to light. It took several attempts to get the black substance to catch fire but he finally did it and then heard his son cry out over a loud mixture of honking and hissing sounds.
"Daddy!" the boy cried as he tried to shield himself from the beaks of a group of geese as they surrounded and pecked at him trying to get the bread he held in his hand. A beak snapped on the boy's fingers and he let go of the bread which tumbled to the ground but still several of them continued to attack him. "Daddy, help!"
Like a flash, he was by his son's side knocking away the geese until they had all retreated. He looked down towards his son who was crying, his eyes big blue and full of fear from the attacking birds. Bending down he hugged his son. "Its okay Seto, they're gone." #
The goose took flight as the older man came charging towards it and honked loudly before moving away to join the others in the sky, leaving the father and son alone. "Are you alright?" Ken asked with his back to Kaiba.
"Fine." Kaiba answered as he rubbed his stinging fingers. "It's not like they have teeth." He tried to joke about it to hide the fact that he was shaken up from the goose's attack. What must he have looked like to Ken? A grown man afraid of a dumb bird. How pathetic.
Ken stood frozen as he played back the memory. It was the first time in years that he remembered any kind of memory of his sons as he'd pushed them so far back in his mind. Could be possible that Kaiba was actually his son and that was why he was concerned about his memory regain? He turned around, looked down at Kaiba and paid great attention to the details on the young man's face. Beneath the fading bruises and healing cuts which he had caused, Ken recognised an older version of the son he had once known, and if there had been any other doubts there were of course those deep sapphire blue eyes that had been inherited from his wife.
But Ken's last memory told him that it couldn't be true. He struggled to make sense of things and his voice shook as he spoke. "I thought that I had killed you both in the car accident, if I had known otherwise I would have come looking for you all those years ago."
Kaiba's eyes widened at what was said. The goose must have triggered some kind of memory in Ken's mind and now he finally knew who he was. A faint smile wobbled on his lips as he cleared the lump in his throat. "We were lied to about you too."
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Keiko ran across the open land holding tightly to the reins of her horse that trotted along beside her, further back Suki and Bakura walked side by side as they followed her. They had been out for a walk on the edge of the forest and where now returning back towards the house.
For the past few minutes Suki had been collecting her thoughts about Bakura. She'd been fond of him since the first moment they meet and was extremely happy that he was here on the ranch too as she'd been very upset when he had left the hospital before she had the chance to ask if she could see him again. Not wanting to take the chance of losing him again she made her move and took hold of Bakura's hand after 'accidentally' brushing hers against his several times.
Bakura looked down at the soft gentle fingers that had wrapped around his own. "What are you doing?" he asked puzzled by Suki's move.
"I like you, silly." She giggled still holding onto Bakura's hand which wasn't holding back nor pulling away. "You not the hand holding type?"
"I'm seeing someone." Bakura simply answered.
"Oh!" Suki immediately let go of Bakura's hand and knew she'd just made a fool of herself. Stupid girl! Did you honestly expect a guy that cute to be single? "Just my luck eh?" she laughed nervously and blushed. "They always say the cute ones are either taken or gay."
"And I happen to be both." Bakura found Suki's comment amusing.
Suki started laughing sheepishly. "See what I mean about my luck?" she continued and wished that the ground would just swallow her up.
Together they laughed about the situation for a while. "I hope your other half knows how lucky he is to have someone like you." Suki smiled feeling more relaxed about the foolish act.
"He does." Bakura smiled back and longed to be in Kaiba's arms but knew that wouldn't be possible for the next couple of days. His smile faded and he wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep up the act. Until now he had had Kaiba all to himself and now he had to share him. Was he jealous that it would no longer be like that from now on?
"I found daddy and mister Kaiba." Keiko said as she and Minty came running back to the two stragglers and pointed towards the lake.
"They're hugging?" Suki's brow was wrinkled with confusion as she viewed the two men stood beneath the tree.
Seto you idiot! Was Bakura's first thought as he had told him time after time not to rush or reveal things too soon but didn't seem to be listening. Then he sighed. It may have been the case that Ken had remembered things on his own and surely it was a good sign that they were hugging and not fighting.
"They were crying a moment again." Keiko added.
"What!" Suki exclaimed and started to stride over to them.
"Leave them!" Bakura cried as he reached out and stopped Suki. He couldn't let her interfere with things. "Just leave them for a while, it will all be okay. Trust me"
Suki stared one last time at the two of them hugging before she, Bakura and Keiko headed back to the stables and house.