Tima and Atem

By: Tima, Yami's wife

I don't own YuGiOh. I just own the new characters.

Based on an idea from Ygosmstp.

Chapter 35: Losing a child…to a friend

The day had arrived. Tima's baby was born not two minutes ago. Everyone was there to witness the occasion. But, at that moment, everyone was outside the door because she and Atem wanted to be alone. It took at least two hours but now Magnolia was introduced to the world.

Atem was excited to see and hold his kid for the first time. Tima was just glad it was over. She just lying back in her bed listening to her little girl cry as the nurses cleaned and dressed her child. She was panting but had on the biggest smile. Finally she got to hold her daughter. Atem looked over shoulder and noticed, "She's got my eye color."

Tima looked and, sure enough, she had red eyes, which was unusual for a newborn. She said, "You're right. And she's got a combination of our hairs."

Atem laughed. Magnolia had brown hair like Tima but had red bangs like Atem's tips. They were admiring their new daughter when the nurse came to them and said, "We need to get her measurements."

Tima nodded and handed the nurse Magnolia. She put her in the baby bed and wheeled her out the room. When they were done, Atem smiled and said, "You did it."

Tima just nodded. "That went much easier than last time."

Atem raised his eyebrow. "Why?"

Tima gave him a sarcastic look. "Ai, back then they didn't have medicine to dull the pain of child birth. Last time, I did it with no help at all! And besides, last time, I gave birth to twins!"

Atem cringed. "And here I thought this looked painful. That sounds horrible."

Tima sighed. "You don't own the half of it."

A nurse who happened to be hanging around, writing down a few things, and listening said, "You had twins before? Where are they now? Are they excited about having a baby sister?"

Atem had to pause to think of how to respond to that. He knew he couldn't say that they had them in a past life. The nurse would think he was nuts. But Tima spoke up. "We had them when we were still dating in Egypt. We gave them up for adoption because we still had school to deal with. We don't know where they are now."

Atem looked at her with his eyebrow raised and she motioned for him to answer. Getting the message, he said, "Yeah, I was really surprised I heard that she was pregnant. We were in college and wouldn't be able to care for them." The nurse nodded and left. Getting an idea to make it sound better and not seeing that she was gone, Atem rubbed his temple and murmured, "I tell ya; one party and we went overboard."

Tima heard this and smacked his head. Holding his head, Atem hissed, "What did you do that for?"

Tima crossed her arms and said, "Saying that went too far. Besides, she's gone."

Atem would have said something if everyone had been let in and came charging in. Everyone went up to see them and started chatting up a storm. Tima was glad to see all of them but noticed someone was missing. "Guys, where's Marik?"

Kaiba said, "He's not coming. When we told him where we going and why, he stormed off."

Tima knew why he did that and so did Atem. He quietly asked everyone, "Can Tima and I talk alone?"

Everyone nodded and left quite quickly. Atem turned to Tima and asked, "Why did you invite him?"

Tima looked outside her window. "He's my friend."

"He also loves you."

"I know that. He wouldn't do anything, though. He's not like that."

---

She was wrong, though. So was everyone else. Marik was in the hospital as well but he wasn't anywhere near her room. He was watching at the maternity window. He kept looking around, trying to find Tima's baby. Finally she rolled in front and center. Marik smiled and, seeing the nurse looking at him, pointed at Magnolia.

The nurse smiled and brought Magnolia out. "Hello. Are you the father?"

Marik was too busy looking at Magnolia to answer. The nurse asked, "Sir? Are you all right?"

Mari snapped back to reality and said, "Sorry. No, I'm not the father. I'm the mother's brother. Can I hold her?"

The nurse, who was a rookie and very naïve, said, "Sure!" and gave her to him. Marik smiled at Magnolia's hair and eyes. Just then, the nurse was called in and left them out in the hall alone. As he was looking at the baby, something snapped in Marik's mind. Without even thinking, he started to walk down the hall toward the exit.

---

Back in her room, Tima was chatting with Serenity and Mai when two nurses came in, including the nurse that left Marik with Magnolia. Seeing them, Yugi asked, "Oh, can we see Magnolia?"

The new nurse stiffened as the experienced nurse said, "We have a problem."

Atem asked, "What type of problem?"

Tima was starting to freak. "Where's my baby?"

The newbie looked ready to cry as she murmured, "She's gone."

Tiki said, "Gone? What do you mean, gone?"

The head nurse said, "She's been kidnapped."

Everyone yelled, "WHAT?"

The young nurse started saying over and over again, "It's my fault."

The head nurse said, "That's right. You're fired." The new nurse ran out of the room while Tima was trying to go after her. She would have gotten to her, too, if Atem and Kaiba hadn't been holding her back. The head nurse continued, "Ma'am, keep calm."

Tima glared at her. "Keep calm? My daughter is gone and you're telling me to "keep calm"? I'm not going to keep calm! Not until my daughter is back in my arms!"

Kaiba kept holding her back as Atem went to the nurse. "Who kidnapped Magnolia?"

The head nurse said, "The new nurse said that he was a tan man with sandy hair. He said that he was the mother's brother."

Everyone froze when they heard the description. They immediately knew who it was. Atem said through growls, "Tima's an only child."

Tima, who was stunned when she realized who kidnapped her daughter, looked ready to faint. Finally she did. Atem and Yugi revived her and she burst into tears and kept repeating, "Why, Marik?"

---

A few hours later, Tima and Atem were back home with a police officer. They had already given him Marik's description and he said, "Sir, ma'am, we have to contact the Egyptian police and they'll look for him and your daughter and—"

Just then, the phone rang. Atem answered it. "Hello. …You! You have some nerve to call here! …No you will NOT talk to her! …But—fine."

He tossed the phone to Tima. Looking confused, she put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hello, Tima," said a familiar voice.

Tima gasped at the sound of Marik's voice. "Why are you calling?"

"To apologize."

"Nothing you say can make up for what you did."

"I know that."

"Then give her back."

"I can't." With that, he hung up.

Tima hesitated and then handed the phone to Atem. "He hung up."

Atem sighed. "Listen, you need to contact the Egyptian police as soon as you can."

The police officer nodded and left. Atem was fuming when he noticed Tima looking very dejected. "Tima, are you alright?"

Tima shook her head. Atem sat down next to her, took her hand, and said, "We'll get Magnolia back. I promise you."

Tima sighed. "It's not just that. Why did Marik kidnapped our child? He's not like that."

Atem hugged her as she started to cry again. "Apparently he is."

---

Three months later, the police gave up. They could not find Marik or Magnolia. Tima fell into a deep depression during those months. Finally she came out of it and got pregnant again after Atem gave her a comfort session. But this time she didn't tell Marik. She didn't want to give him another chance at taking her child again.

---

Back in Egypt, Marik was busy taking care of his "daughter." He didn't even have to worry about getting caught either. He was living back in the Pharaoh's tomb which was somehow rebuilt. Surprisingly, there were still a few supplies from when he was a baby. He didn't get use to all the responsibilities for some time but his guilt and his sister kept him going.

---

Everyone thought the worse was over. It wasn't. Something even worse was going to happen, where an old enemy would returns and Atem's life would hang on a balance.

What's "the worse" that I'm talking about? Find out next time!