Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or 'At The Sign Of The Sugared Plum'

Chapter 16

Surprise

Jaden opened the door to the bakery with the sleeping child secure in his arms. She was surprisingly heavy for being so tiny, but she was perfectly formed, as adorable as the first time Jaden saw her despite having been locked up in a house of death.

Aster came out from the back room of the shop, already asking how Jesse was doing, but stopped short when he saw the bundle in Jaden's arms.

"Jaden, what the hell is that?" he asked.

"Aster, listen."

"What's going on?"

"Just listen" the brunette begged, his cousin nodding and indicating that he was to present his case. "Aster, Jesse's … he's dying!"

Tears formed in the corners of the brunette's eyes, but he blinked furiously to stop them from falling.

"The baby's just fine, perfectly healthy, but she'll die if she's left in that house on her own and …"

"Jaden Yuki" Aster whispered. "You didn't take a child from a house of plague?"

"Her name is Vicky" Jaden whispered.

He moved the jacket out of the way so that Aster could see the features of the sleeping baby. He hissed and turned away from his cousin, who held the baby tightly.

"Take her back."

"No."

"Jaden, so help me …"

"It's already done, Aster!" Jaden snapped.

"She could be carrying the plague!" Aster insisted.

"Then I'll have already caught it from carrying her here!" the brunette argued. "We have to take care of her, Aster."

Jaden had a fair point. If he was going to get plague from the baby, it had already happened. The germs, if they were on the baby's skin, would already have got into Jaden's system. But Aster wasn't quitting there.

"Take care of her for how long, Jaden?" he asked in an annoyed, scared voice. "You're not adopting a kid, no way!"

"I …"

Jaden didn't know what to say to his cousin. Just what did he intend to do with the baby?

He wasn't going to be able to look after her himself, and besides, if she was going to be cared for by another family it had to be a rich and titled one. She was a Truesdale child, a wealthy and titled family's offspring.

Damn it, he hadn't thought this through!

But it was all he could do for the bluenette. Vicky had to survive, because her survival was all he could do for Jesse.

"I'll think of something" he whispered, more to himself than his cousin.

Aster growled and turned around, made his hand into a fist and ferociously hit the wall, making a loud noise as the wall crumbled a little. The baby started wailing, and Jaden immediately set about calming her, as he'd seen Jesse do. It worked after a few minutes and Aster turned around.

"Okay. I obviously can't make you listen to reason, and I can't turn you away" Aster said in an angry voice. "But this is your responsibility, Jaden!"

"I know."

"Okay then."

Aster wasn't happy about it. But what could he do, really? He wasn't going to turn away his cousin and a defenceless orphan.

"To think I had the best surprise for you and everything" Aster muttered.

Jaden looked at his cousin, puzzled. A surprise?

"What's up, Aster?" the brunette asked.

"Jaden, it's taken weeks, but we've finally got them. I've done it!" Aster grinned proudly. "I got us both Certificates Of Health. We can get out of London!"

Jaden was frozen for a few moments. Get out of the corpse infested city?

"What about the baby?" the brunette asked eventually.

"Well, didn't you say that her mother was originally planning to say she was newborn and take her out that way?"

"Yeah" Jaden nodded, remembering Jesse telling him that.

"We'll say the same" Aster said thoughtfully. "We'll say that she's only a week old, and her mother died of childbed fever two days after the birth. We can say it was my wife that died."

"We're going to pass her off as your baby?" Jaden asked, shocked.

"Of course we are" Aster nodded, starting to pack things in a bag. "She has to be the child of one of us or the guards won't buy it. And you don't look old enough to have your own."

Jaden nodded, slightly irritated by that last comment.

"When are we going?" the brunette asked.

"As soon as possible" Aster said. "As soon as we're packed. Today."

The brunette's heart skipped a beat.

They were leaving that day?

What about Jesse?

He couldn't leave the bluenette. And yet, if he didn't, he might be condemning the baby to a terrible fate, and that was the last thing Jesse would want.

Jaden let himself cry a little then.

What was he going to do?

Please R&R