Chapter Seven: A Day at the Park

Yugi walked wit his dad to his back. It was somewhat chilly outside, but he had a light jacket on. "Dad?" Yugi said. "Why are we here?" Yami smiled at his son.

"It's Saturday Yugi." He said. "I thought we'd spend the day doing something instead of being locking up in the house." Yugi just blinked at him as they continued walking.

After a few minutes Yugi said "Ms. Seigyoku is meeting us here…isn't se?" Yami looked down at Yugi, who was looking at the ground sadly. Yami stopped walking, which made Yugi stop, and kneeled down to Yugi's level. He put his hands on Yugi's shoulders.

"Yugi please, just try to spend a little time with her. Who knows…you might like her." Yugi said nothing. Yami sighed, hugged Yugi, gave him a kiss, and then picked him up. Yami walked the rest of the way. They saw Seigyoku sitting on a bench. Yami stopped to look at her. She seemed to be in deep thought. The wind blew softly, moving her ebony hair. She was wearing a bright, long-sleeve shirt that matched the autumn leaves, simple blue jeans and a blue overcoat to pull it all together. Again Yami knew she looked like a teenager. After gazing at her beauty for a few seconds, he walked over to her. She turned when she heard footsteps and smiled when she saw Yami.

"Hey," she said. She smiled at Yugi. "You're so adorable!" Yugi raised an eyebrow at her. "Here." She said as she handed Yugi a brown paper bag. "It's bread," she explained. "To feed the ducks." Yugi said nothing at first. Yami started to put him down.

"Thanks." He said. Yami smiled at him.

"You can go Yugi." Yugi hesitated, but ended up walking over to the small pond in the center of the park. Yami and Seigyoku were left to talk alone. Yami sat on the bench and Seigyoku followed him.

"Think this was a good idea?" she asked. Yami shrugged.

"I don't know…" he sighed. She looked at him. She turned toward him and asked

"Is there something wrong?" Yami hesitated to answer. Then he said

"I think we might be…going too fast…with out relationship I mean." Seigyoku sat there, listening to him. When she didn't say anything, Yami awkwardly continued. "Yugi…sort of…freaked out last night."

"Oh," Seigyoku said. "So you wanna slow down so Yugi can get used to me?" Yami smiled.

"Yes," he said, putting his arm around her shoulders. She scooted closer to him.

Yugi found a nice flat rock to sit on as he fed the ducks. The ducks started to crowd around after he threw two or three pieces of bread. As he was throwing pieces, he thought about random things. Absentmindedly, he forgot to throw a piece and kept twirling it in his fingers. A quack bought him back to reality. He looked down and saw that a duckling had walked right up to him for the piece of bread he was playing with. Yugi smiled. "What up?" he asked the small animal. The duckling blinked. Yugi handed him the piece. They duckling snapped it out of his hand. Yugi smiled. "Hungry?" he broke off a smaller piece. The ducking immediately ate it. The duckling then went back into the lake and swam over to a larger duck. "Bet he doesn't have to worry about step parents…" Yugi thought. He brushed his hands off when he was finished.

Yami and Seigyoku sat there watching Yugi. "Think I should go talk to him?" Seigyoku asked.

"About what?" Yami asked. Seigyoku shrugged.

"Just to go talk." Yami smiled and said

"Go for it." Seigyoku sat up, gave Yami kiss, then walked over to Yugi. He seemed to be finished feeling the ducks since he was brushing his hands off. Just as Yugi was turning around, Seigyoku was behind him.

"Hi Yugi." She said. Yugi started at her wide-eyed. He took a step back, but lost his balance on the very rock he had sat on. "Yugi!" he heard Seigyoku shout as he fell back into the icy waters of the shallow lake.

Yami watched Seigyoku walk away. Yami sighed at her beauty. "Think she's pretty?" a voice asked.

"Yes," Yami said. "Very." The voice chuckled. Yami turned and saw Joey giving him a smile. "

What up, buddy?" the blonde asked.

"Trying to get Yugi to spend time with Sei." Joey nodded.

"He doesn't like her, huh?" Yami blinked at him.

"How did you know?" Joey smiled.

"Cause I grew up without a mom." Yami smiled sympathetically. Joey just smiled back.

"Yugi!" they heard Seigyoku shout, followed by a loud splash. Yami and Joey quickly ran to them. Yugi was on all fours in the shallow lake, soaking wet and shaking violently. Yami reached for him. Yugi tried to stand but his legs hurt too much from the cold. Once Yami did get a hold of Yugi, Joey offered his overcoat and wrapped Yugi in it.

"Its okay, Yugi." Yami said.

"Oh Yugi," Seigyoku said. "I didn't mean to scare you." She reached to move Yugi's hair out of his face.

"No!" Yugi said as he turned away from her. He jumped down from Yami's hold and ran to the car. Yami took a step to go after him, but Joey offered.

"I'll get him." He said. Yami nodded, then Joey ran off. Yami turned and looked at Seigyoku. She had her head bowed.

"Sei…" he said, taking a step towards her. She slightly looked up.

"I'm sorry…" she said.

"No," Yami stepped towards her and hugging her. "Yugi knows that…" he said comfortingly.

"You really think so?" she asked hugging him. Yami nodded. She smiled. "Oh!" she said. "Before I forget; my mother wants you over for Thanksgiving." Yami smiled.

"I'll put it on the calendar." He said smiling. Yami kissed her lightly. Seigyoku smiled. Once they couldn't stand the cold any loner, they said good-bye and went separate ways. Yami walked quickly to his car. When he got there he saw Joey leaning on it cradling Yugi in his arms. Yugi was still wrapped up in the overcoat. "Hey son," Yami said warmly. Yugi turned to him, tears in his eyes. Yami smiled at Yugi as he kissed him on the forehead. Yami then looked at Joey. "You wanna come over for a few minutes?" Joey smiled.

"Sure," Joey said. "But I walked here." Yami offered to drive and they got in. Joey let Yugi sit in his lap and Yami insisted that the overcoat stayed on him until they got home. Yami started up the car and turned on the heater. Once they did get to the house, Yami took Yugi upstairs and fixed him a warm bath. Once the bath was ready, Yami helped Yugi undress and told him to relax in the water for a while. After that, Yami went downstairs and saw Joey making coffee in the kitchen. "Want some?" Joey asked. Yami smiled and said

"Please." Joey smiled. They talked as the coffee was brewing.

"So," Joey started. "What are you gonna do?" Yami shrugged.

"I haven't got a clue." They were silent for a few seconds.

"You think Seto could help?" Joey asked. Yami looked at him.

"Why would Seto know anything about raising children?"

"He raised Mokuba!" Joey countered. Yami gave him and look and said

"Mokuba is his little brother, not his son." He hesitated, then said "Also, Mokuba was twelve when Seto took custody of him." Joey shrugged. The coffee pot went off and Joey poured each of them a cup. Yami took a sip of his coffee. He sighed.

"There's gotta be something Yugi and Sei have in common." Joey said. Yami shrugged.

"If there is," he said. "I have no idea what it could be." They heard Yugi's soft footsteps as he started to come downstairs. They both smiled.

"Daddy?" Yugi said as he entered the kitchen.

"Hey," Yami greeted, but his smiled faded when he saw what Yugi was wearing. It was a navy, long-sleeved shirt with purple strips and gold stars on it. Anzu had given it to him the Christmas before she died. Yugi blinked at his father, wondering why he seemed so sad. Joey noticed this and decided to brighten the mood.

"Hey, Yugi!" he said, making the toddler turn around. "Don't I get a hug!" Joey said smiling. Yugi giggled as he ran to Joey. Joey picked him up and hugged him. Yami smiled slightly.

"Hello?" a voice called from the living room. They turned and saw Seto walking into the kitchen.

"There's a new invention called the doorbell," Joey said. "Have you heard of it?" Seto glared at him. Yugi giggled at Joey's smile. Seto smiled at Yugi.

"Hey you!" Seto said. Yugi held out his arms to Seto, meaning he wanted a hug. Seto smiled again and took Yugi from Joey hugged him firmly. "I guess you missed me, huh?" Seto asked when the hug was over. Yugi nodded.

"So," Joey said "What brings you here?" Kaiba smiled.

"Mokuba is coming to visit for Christmas." Yami chuckled.

"I wondered if we were ever gonna see him again." Joey laughed at that.

"Just like his bro," Joey said. "Dedicated to his studies." Mokuba, now seventeen, had gone to college and called often. It had been over a year since any of them had actually seen the younger Kaiba. Seto could only smile at the thought that he would see his younger brother soon.