Day Two: Decorations and fights.

Kaiba groaned a bit as he rolled onto his back. He felt Serenity's arm fall off his chest onto his stomach and he looked at the girl as she slept on her side on the small bed. He slowly sat up and reached over her, doing so slowly so he didn't wake her, and grabbed his phone. He checked a couple of messages and then tried to get out of the bed without waking her.

Back home that would have been easier, for as he tried to move over her he ended up waking her up. She groaned a little and slapped at him lightly. "What are you doing?" She asked, not liking the disruption. Usually they had several more feet of bed to maneuver around in; when he would get out of bed he would rarely disturb her. Kaiba didn't answer her and instead stumbled onto the ground.

He made sure not to disrupt Mokuba and then stretched. His body ached. He didn't mind sleeping so closely to Serenity, but he was annoyed that he didn't get to stretch out as he usually did. The next few nights would not be his favorite. Serenity rolled onto her side and tugged the blanket around her a little tighter around her shoulders. Kaiba smirked and leaned back over her quickly, giving her a swift kiss. "Morning to you too dear." He said with a smirk.

Serenity rolled her eyes and scooted over further on the bed, she wasn't much of a morning person. However, she suddenly grabbed her stomach and groaned a little. Kaiba suddenly turned to her again, concern written across his face. "Serenity, what is it?" He asked as he gently sat on the edge of the bed and put his hand on her shoulder.

Serenity rolled onto her back, trying to breathe calmly. "I'm fine…" She said slowly, slowly blinking and looking up at him. She smiled a little and opened her mouth to speak, but then she suddenly clasped her mouth over it and her eyes widened. She sat up quickly and slapped at him to make him get out of the way. When he did she bolted out of the room, stepping on Mokuba as she went.

The young man sat up quickly and groaned, clutching where Serenity had hit him. "What the hell?" He asked loudly looking up at Kaiba.

"I think she's still sick…" He muttered lowly, a frown across his features as he slowly moved to follow her out the room.

"Still? It's been two months." Mokuba commented. Kaiba just shrugged and walked out of the room to the bathroom. He walked down the hall, barely lit from the light starting to peek over the horizon, and slipped into the bathroom, where he heard Serenity throwing up. He sighed and closed his eyes a bit.

He slowly walked towards her and knelt by her, gently pulling her hair back for her. "Will you please see one of my doctors Serenity?" He whispered to her as his other hand rubbed her back. "Surely you see something's wrong." He said as Serenity seemed to be done for a moment.

She shook her head, keeping her eyes trained on the porcelain bowl in front of her. "I'm fine…It'll go away soon." She said softly, suddenly gagging and throwing up again.

Kaiba frowned and continued gently stroking her back. Suddenly the door opened again and Joey walked in. He suddenly stopped when he saw Serenity throwing up though. "What's wrong?" He asked, quickly going towards them.

Kaiba looked at him swiftly, with a challenging glare. "We've got it handled…" He muttered coldly and then looked back at Serenity. Joey glared back but didn't back down and walked to Serenity's other side.

"Sis…are you ok?" He asked, and Serenity gave a weak nod. She slowly leaned back and sighed a bit. Kaiba quickly grabbed a cloth and got it wet, then handed it to her. She gently took it and wiped at her mouth with a sigh and blush. She looked down, embarrassed and then sighed.

"Sorry…" She whispered, glancing to Kaiba, who shrugged. She then looked at Joey and gave a little smile. "I'm fine Joey. I've just had a virus for a couple weeks. I'm sure it'll pass soon." She said softly as she finished wiping her mouth and slowly went to stand. Both boys quickly went to help her, and she gladly took assistance from both of them. "Thanks." She said, and then turned to walk out of the bathroom.

Kaiba and Joey looked at each other for a moment and then Kaiba turned, without saying anything to the concerned older brother. Joey frowned as he watched Kaiba walk away and then shook his head a bit. "Poor Serenity…" He muttered to himself as he walked out of the bathroom himself. He ran his hands through his hair and then slipped back into his and Mai's room.

He walked quietly, for their children were still asleep. Mai, however, sat up on their bed, running a brush through her thick blonde hair. "Hey." She whispered. Joey nodded in return and gently closed the door behind him. He sat next to Mai and gently kissed her cheek.

"Serenity's still sick." He said softly, still frowning. Mai looked concerned and paused in her brushing.

"Still?" She asked concerned. She shook her head slowly. "She still hasn't seen the doctor has she?" She asked almost accusingly. Joey shook his head, and bent to scoop up one of their children as she began crying. Mai frowned a bit and then looked to Joey. "You know what I think it is?" She asked lightly, raising one of her perfectly trimmed eyebrows.

Joey looked to her apprehensively, only making soothing noises to their daughter however. "I think she's pregnant." She whispered. Joey almost dropped their daughter and coughed violently.

"You're joking. That's ridiculous. Serenity would never let that happen." He said firmly. "You know they're going to break up at any time." He added, completely serious.

Mai rolled her eyes. "Joey, I know you still hold some grudges against Kaiba, but they've been dating four years. And Serenity tells me she's quite happy living with him." Mai said giving him a long look. She grabbed the brush and started running it through her hair again.

"She can't be happy with that creep…" Joey muttered, but the conversation came to a close as the rest of their kids started waking up.

Most of the day went by uneventfully. The family got along well enough, and Serenity even managed to convince Kaiba and Joey to play a game together, and not fight. Things got tense of course, but she managed to calm them down, and prevent Kaiba from gloating when he won. It took a hard kick on his leg, but he kept his mouth shut.

Currently the adults were in the middle of a poker game while Joey's kids played in the living room. Mokuba was ahead at the moment. And Serenity was just learning how to play, but still having fun. She would frequently lean towards Kaiba, show her hand and ask him what she had. "Serenity you've had this one before…" Kaiba said, lightly annoyed that Serenity couldn't seem to grasp the game. Granted card games never really were her thing.

"Oh. Umm…Well…these three are the same." She said, putting some Kings into a row. Kaiba nodded in approval, and waited for her to continue. Serenity gazed over the cards and then smiled. "Oh, and these two too." She said, moving same Aces next to each other. Kaiba nodded again.

"And what is that called?" Kaiba asked, trying to retain his calm, every one was waiting on her. Serenity looked at him and helplessly shook her head.

"Just…do I want to bet or not?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. Kaiba nodded and then sat back in his seat and looked at his own hand. He watched Serenity put out a few chips. He frowned at his own hand, and knew Serenity would beat him. But he only knew what she had because she helped him. He sighed, and closed his eyes, then matched her bet. He wouldn't cheat.

The game continued that way until Mokuba basically won every one out. Apparently the college student played every weekend, and was quite skilled. It was a good thing the game ended though, because Joey's son came up demanding that they decorate the tree. "Oh that's a good idea!" Serenity said brightly. "I love decorating Christmas trees!" She said with a giggle. She pushed back from the table and then grabbed her nephew's hand, the rest of the family followed; Kaiba did so begrudgingly.

"I thought you guys had some big snazzy Christmas tree in your mansion." Joey grumbled, causing Kaiba to smirk a little.

"We do. But Serenity didn't get to decorate it. It was for a Christmas Party and we hired a decorator who took care of it." Kaiba explained as he looked down at Joey proudly.

"Wait. What Christmas party? Why didn't I get invited? Serenity!" Joey called out and looked at his sister quickly the red head rolled her eyes a little. Kaiba chuckled and sat on the couch, content to watch the others take care of the tree.

"It was a Kaiba Corp thing Joey. You wouldn't have even had fun. They only talked about business." Serenity said, though she was pushing the truth a little. The party had been fun, and little business happened, but she didn't want him feeling left out. Kaiba opened his mouth to say what had really happened, but Serenity cast him a glance and he didn't say anything.

Kaiba rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest placidly. He watched as Serenity bent and started taking strands of lights out of a box. He smiled, glad to see her so happy. She looked at him for a second, and then blushed, embarrassed to see him staring at her. She looked back at the kids and then focused on the tree again. Still, Kaiba smiled as he noticed she glanced towards him every few minutes.

Suddenly Kaiba felt someone plop on the couch next to him and turned to face Serenity's mother. He immediately frowned and turned back to watching Serenity who was enlisting Mokuba's help by getting him to wrap around some more lights. "Things are serious with you and my daughter then?"

"We've been living together for two years." Kaiba responded, keeping his eyes on Serenity, he needed to do something to calm himself down; her mother had a magical way to frazzle him. He finally understood where Joey got it from.

"Which is a long time. I haven't seen your relationship progress any. Say…a proposal." She continued, looking over at him with a frown of her own. She was anything but intimidated by Kaiba. Sure, she knew of the power he held, but this was her daughter.

"You don't want me to marry her." Kaiba pointed out, surprised she would even bring it up. He slowly looked away from Serenity and back to the older woman. "You don't want us to be together at all." He added, locking eyes with the woman.

"People like you weren't exactly what I had in mind for my Serenity." She said in a spiteful whisper. She didn't want to make a scene in front of the rest of the family, but there wouldn't be another chance to let Kaiba know just how she felt about their relationship.

"People like me. I see…" Kaiba said with a nod. "And what makes people like me not good enough for Serenity?" He asked with an eyebrow. He didn't really think he was good enough for Serenity either, but his reasons were different than Kammi's.

"All you care about is money and work." She said coldly, looking towards the group as they trimmed the nearby tree.

Kaiba suddenly felt a rage inside of him. Anyone insinuating he didn't care about Serenity, or only cared about money and work, was a quick way to piss him off. He felt icy hate course through him and he glared at Kammi. "How dare you…" He muttered coldly. "Serenity's happiness is on the top of my priorities." Kaiba retorted honestly, with clear anger.

"Oh of course. And I'm sure you're able to give her so much attention while you're focusing on you company." Kammi said with a huff.

"Excuse me, but are you saying I'm not worthy of Serenity because I'm successful? Do you know how many mothers would beg for me to date their daughters?" Kaiba asked loudly. Suddenly the room got quiet as they others focused in on the argument.

"That's just what you want isn't it? Women flocking towards you. All of you public figures are all the same." Kammi said with a loud scoff. She looked to Serenity and pointed powerfully. "You just watch missy. He's going to have a sex scandal." She said. Suddenly Mai and Joey tried to cover their children's ears, and Mokuba covered the last one for them.

"Mom!" Joey shouted and motioned to his kids but then uncovered their ears, thinking it to be over.

Kammi rolled her eyes a little and looked back to Serenity. "I'm right you know. Give it a month; he's going to be screwing the next girl he comes across." She added, this time louder. All the hands went around the kid's ears and this time Joey and Serenity looked to Kammi.

"Mom!" They shouted together. Serenity rolled her eyes and walked over the boxes of ornaments and strings of lights to stand by Kaiba. "Why would you say something like that?" Serenity shouted. "Seto isn't like that! You have always been so judgmental of him and you don't even know him!" She said a she glared at her mother.

"I don't need to know him. All people like him are the same! Don't you see what a mistake you're making Serenity! You shouldn't have spent the last four years with him! But now you can move on and find a good boy. Like Joey's old friend. You know…the one with…the hair." She said, moving her hands around her head.

"Yugi?" Mokuba tried to supply. Kammi looked at him and nodded.

"Yes. He was such a sweet boy."

"He's married mom." Serenity said as she crossed her arms over her chest. She shook her head and sighed. "Besides, I don't want to be with Yugi. I want to be with Seto." She added with a sure nod.

"Only because you don't know any better Sweetie. He isn't right for you. He doesn't care about you." Kammi continued, as if Kaiba wasn't even in the room.

However, the man was about to make himself known again. "Of course I care about Serenity. I love her!" Kaiba suddenly shouted as he stood and rounded on Kammi. "I would do anything for Serenity! And you know what; I have nothing to prove to you. You may be her mother but I don't give a damn what you think." He said and shook his head. His brown hair flipped around a bit, and then he huffed and closed his eyes.

He suddenly looked over at Mai and Joey, who were still covering their children's eyes. "Sorry for cursing in front of them." He muttered, somewhat genuinely. He then spun around and went out the back door. Serenity looked at her mother, shook her head disapprovingly and then grabbed her and Kaiba's coat and followed after him.

"Seto!" She called out as she walked into the backyard herself. The air was cold and she shivered. She turned a bit and saw him a little ways off by a tree. She walked over to him and then held out his jacket for him. Kaiba looked at her, and his visage softened immediately. He took his jacket, but helped her put hers on before he donned his. "I'm sorry." Serenity said softly.

Kaiba shook his head and leaned against the trunk of the tree as he slipped his hands in his pockets. "Don't apologize for her." Kaiba said as he looked up at the sky. The two were quiet for a moment and then he felt Serenity link arms with him and lean her head on his shoulder. He smiled a bit, and looked down at her.

"You said it." Serenity pointed out lightly. Kaiba looked confused and looked at her with the question written over his face. "You said you loved me." She explained for him. Kaiba hadn't realized he said it, but now, looking back, he remembered. He nodded and then kissed the top of her head.

"You know I do." He pointed out, more hoping that she knew. It was hard for him to say things like that. He was a little disappointed though. He didn't want the first time for him to say he loved her to be during a tirade to her mother. Serenity nodded a little and looked up to smile at him.

"I know." She said gently. She stood up on the tips of her toes and kissed his cheek. "But it's nice to finally hear it." She said with a blush as she stood flat again.

"I do love you Serenity. More than any one, or anything." Kaiba said as he turned to face her. Then he kissed her gently and smiled as he felt her kiss him back. He ran his hands down her side and then let them rest on her hips. Kaiba suddenly felt the temptation to give her the ring now. However, he didn't want to after the fight he had with her mother.

Serenity broke the kiss after a moment and then took a hold of his hand. He thought she was going to take him back inside, but they stood out there for another half hour. "It's nice to have a moment of quiet." Serenity said with a little nod. They had to go back inside when the sun finally sunk into the horizon and it got too cold.

When they walked back inside they went towards the living room where they saw Joey put the finishing touch on the tree. The star. Kaiba suddenly saw the light switch and turned it off, plunging the room into darkness. In a few seconds they heard the tree jiggle, and then a low thump. "D'aww…Kaiba!" Joey cried out, and Kaiba chuckled as Serenity softly elbowed his stomach. He turned the light back on and then smirked as he saw Joey flat on his back, luckily, the star stayed on the top of the tree.

Mai plugged in the lights of the tree and then motioned for Kaiba to turn off the light again. He did so, and then smiled as he heard Serenity gasp. "Oh it's so pretty…" She said. He had to admit, every one had done a good job. The pure white lights glistened off red, blue, and green ornaments. Serenity leaned back against him and he gently wrapped his arms around her stomach and held her close. He gently kissed the top of her head and leaned his head to one side to whisper in her ear.

He whispered something he could definitely get used to saying.

"I love you Serenity Wheeler."

((A/N: Ok so I know you guys probably thought I forgot about this. But I didn't. I figured that since it was based around Christmas it should be posted during Christmas time. ^.^ So now, expect regular updates. I plan to have Christmas Eve up on Christmas Eve, and Christmas day on Christmas day. So on and so on. You guys get the point.))