Daddy for the Week
By: Xhibit B
Chapter One
.i do not own yu-gi-oh!.
Yūgi sighed as she placed the phone on the receiver, rubbing her index fingers against her temples. She needed to find someone to take the twins for a week while she was away on a business trip. The museum was sending her to Egypt to authenticate several artifacts for them. She'd tried to persuade them just to send them to her and allow her to authenticate them in the comforts of her own office, but they wouldn't budge. Whatever these pieces were, they didn't want them leaving Egypt at all.
She'd tried her grandfather first, hoping that he would be able to keep the twins at the Game Shop with him for a week until she returned. But, he'd unfortunately had to decline due to him leaving the country. He was going to visit an old friend and wouldn't return for several weeks, making it impossible for him to keep the twins while she was gone. She thought to ask Joey to watch after them, but then remembered that she, Seto and Kisara were away on vacation for the summer recess. Her only other option was her current boyfriend of three months, Yami.
Ever since they'd made things official back in April, he and Hikari had spent almost every waking hour with herself and the twins. Hiyori and Yuki loved them both dearly, and she was sure that they wouldn't mind staying with them while their mother was away. Mind made up, she reached into the drawer of her desk and pulled her phone from it's confines, quickly unlocking it and going to her messages. She tapped Yami's name, the conversation history opening immediately after before her fingers were flying across the onscreen keyboard. She hoped that he wouldn't mind taking them in. He'd be doing her a huge favour if he did. The twins might have been seventeen, but she wasn't about to leave them at home, alone, for a whole week while she was in another country.
She sat the phone down after pressing send, her attention returning to the computer screen. She knew he wouldn't answer right away. It always took him an hour or so to reply whenever he was working unless she caught him when he would steal a glance at his phone.
Rika entered the office a moment later, holding several files in her arms. She placed them on Yūgi's desk, offering a small smile. "This is the information on those artifacts they want you to authenticate in Egypt. I'm still not sure why they couldn't just send them to us for you to authenticate here, but…" She shrugged her shoulders. "They also want to know how soon they can expect you to be there."
"I'm still trying to make arrangements for the twins," Yūgi answered as she flipped one of the folders opened to glance at the information. "My grandfather is out of the country and their God-mom is away on vacation with her husband and daughter. So, option one and option two are out."
"What about that boyfriend of yours," Rika inquired, irking a brow.
She'd met Yami several times over the course of the last three months. He'd stopped by the museum a few times to take Yūgi to lunch. She found him to be fairly charming and extremely handsome. He seemed to compliment her boss well enough. And Rika was happy the elder woman had finally found someone to bring joy into her life. She seemed to light up quite a bit more than she previously did. And there was a lot more pep in her personality since she'd entered her new relationship; all positive changes if Rika did say so herself. And she prayed that their relationship only grew stronger and saw longevity. Yūgi deserved it.
"He's option number three," Yūgi laughed flipping a page. "I'm waiting for him to answer my text message. It'll be a while before he does, but I'm sure he won't mind keeping them while I'm gone."
"What exactly is it that he does again," Rika asked as she leaned against the edge of the desk.
"He's the senior Chief Financial Officer of Kaiba Corp," Yūgi answered as her phone buzzed on her desk. She picked it up, reading the text message that had been sent to her from Yami. He'd responded sooner than she expected him to. "And he's just agreed to keeping the twins with him for the week while I'm gone. Can you let them know that I'll be flying out on the next flight there from Domino?"
"Wonderful," Rika said as she moved to leave the office. "I'll pass that information along. I'll have your flight details to you before the end of the day."
"Thank you, Rika," Yūgi called after the dark-haired woman as she left before her attention diverted to her phone.
She quickly shot a text back to Yami, thanking him for doing her such a huge favour. She owed him big time for this.
.daddyfortheweek.
"You look like you've just gotten yourself into something you think you might come to regret," Atem pointed out, glancing up at his brother. "What did you do?"
"Yūgi has to leave the country and fly to Egypt," Yami answered, placing his phone down again. "She asked me to keep the twins with me for the week while she's gone. Of course, I agreed without hesitating. But now I'm wondering how great of an idea that was."
"Why so," Atem asked, irking a brow. "You all spend almost every day together. Hiyori and Yuki have taken quite the shine to you. And they absolutely adore Hikari. I don't see what the problem is."
"I'm worried about messing something up," Yami admitted. "Sure, we're around each other all the time. But Yūgi is always there when we are. Remove her from the equation and it creates a whole other atmosphere. I don't want to overstep any boundaries with them and mess up any progress we've made over the last few months and make them uncomfortable around me."
"I see," Atem said, nodding his head. "I get why you're worried, to an extent. But, I think you're overthinking it. Those kids love you and Kar. I doubt there'd be anything that you could possibly do in a week without their mother present that would suddenly make them hate you. Just calm down and take it a day at a time with them. Hell, you never know what could happen. They may become even more comfortable with you and open up to you about things they can't talk about with their mother."
The more Yami let his elder brother's words sink in, the more he realized the elder Sennen was right. He didn't have to look at this as a potentially negative experience. It could honestly be a great way for him to strengthen his bond with both Yuki and Hiyori. He already loved them as if they were his own. And Hikari was absolutely infatuated with the Mutou twins, "You're right. I don't know why I do that, I guess I'm just scared of what could happen if things had gone bad."
"Continuing to focus on the negative makes any experience negative, Yami," Atem pointed out, his fist coming to rest beneath his chin as he leaned forward. "I get that you're scared you're going to mess something up. But I know you, you're a great father and you love those kids like they're your own already, right?" Yami nodded his head before Atem continued. "Okay then, just treat them the way that you treat Hikari and everything will work out in the end. Stop worrying so much about things you don't need to be worrying about. Everything's going to be fine."
Yami sighed, nodding his head as a slight smile pulled at the edges of his lips. Atem was right, everything was going to be fine. He, Hikari, Yuki and Hiyori would have a blast together. And Yūgi would return home to one big, happy, blended family at the end of her business trip. He just had to maintain a positive attitude and not psych himself out so much about nothing.
"Now, let's finish our meal so that we can get back to our respective offices," Atem said, cutting into his steak. "I have a ton of work to do when I get back before I start my vacation, and I know you've got tons to handle before you leave for the day."
"Uh huh," Yami answered, picking up his steak knife. "I have tons of budget proposals and all kinds of other crap to go over before I leave and start my own vacation. I'm not looking forward to it."
"Join the club," Atem said before popping a piece of his steak into his mouth.
.daddyfortheweek.
Yūgi put the SUV in park as she pulled up into the driveway of Yami's home. Rika had given her, her flight information shortly before she'd left for the day. She'd be flying out to Egypt first thing in the morning and wouldn't return until the following Saturday, two days before Yami's birthday. He'd planned to celebrate his fortieth birthday that day and Yūgi prayed she would be back in time for the party.
"I'm kinda excited about this," Hiyori said as she opened the back-driver's side door and stepped out of her mother's BMW, shutting the door behind her. "Spending the whole week with Yami and Hikari is going to be so much fun."
"I have to agree," Yuki said, grabbing his and Hiyori's duffle bags before closing the back hatch. "I wonder what we're going to do the whole time you're gone, Mom."
"That's something you'll have to ask Yami," Yūgi said as she pressed the lock button on the key fob before making her way to the front door, the twins close in tow. She rang the doorbell before taking a step back. "I'm sure he's got lots of fun stuff planned for you all to do. Just promise me you two won't give him any problems while I'm away."
"We actually like Yami, Mom," Yuki said, shaking his head. "We're not going to do anything to run him away or something if that's what you're thinking."
"Well I would hope you wouldn't do something like that," Yami said as the door was pulled opened. He'd clearly heard their conversation when he came to answer the door. "I like being around you guys. And I don't think Hikari would appreciate you three leaving her."
"Hi Yami," Hiyori said, hugging the man around the waist. "Thanks for letting us stay here with you and Hikari this week."
Yami chuckled, returning the hug full force. "It's my pleasure to have you guys here. And Hikari is just as excited to have the two of you as house guests while your mother is away. Now, c'mon inside, dinner's waiting for you. We're having Kar's favourite tonight, beef and broccoli."
"Yum," Hiyori hummed, releasing the man before rushing into the house, her brother following close behind, half racing to get to the kitchen.
Yami had cooked for them several times during the course of his and their mother's three-month relationship. And both twins quite enjoyed his food. The man could cook, not better than their mother, but he was definitely a close second.
Yūgi laughed as she came to stand beside Yami, arms folded across her chest. "Those kids sure do love your cooking, Yami."
"So I've noticed," Yami chuckled, shutting the door behind her before his arm snaked across her shoulders, pulling her into his side. "They nearly broke their necks to get inside."
"Mhm," Yūgi hummed as she glanced up at him. "Thanks for this. With Grandpa gone and Joey away on vacation, you were my last hope. They might be mature for their age, but there was no way I was leaving two seventeen-year-olds at home, alone, with no adult supervision."
Yami laughed. He understood where Yūgi was coming from. He'd been seventeen once, just as she had. And he knew the kind of trouble he would have gotten into if his parents had left him by himself for a week without any adult supervision. "It's my pleasure to watch after them this week. They're always welcome here, you know that."
"I know, but I hate that I had to throw this on you last minute," Yūgi sighed as she they made their way to the kitchen. "But, because I couldn't persuade Egypt just to send me the artifacts to authenticate here in Domino, I have no choice but to leave, even though I don't want to. I don't want it to be a burden."
"It's no big deal," Yami assured her. "Like I said, I don't mind keeping the twins for a week. And they nor you could ever be a burden to me. Besides, I've always wanted a big family. And your kids are practically my kids at this point."
Yūgi couldn't help the giggle that escaped her grasp as Yami ushered her into the kitchen where the twins and Hikari were already sitting down and eating. In the three months since the start of their relationship, Yami had been more of a father to the twins than their father had ever been. They finally got to see what it was like to have a father, and she appreciated him for that.
chapter one, done. more chapters coming your way soon! if you read the previous incarnation of this story (daddy for the weekend), forget it. i'm doing a total revamp of the story and changing it to fit the current events of can i. let me know what you guys think in a review. i look forward to hearing from y'all. until next time, ciao~!
