Chapter 8 – Tidings He Brings
8/6/08
Disclaimer: I most definitely do not own Yu-gi-oh. If I did, Seiji and Laura would not be OCs.
Notes: I'd love to thank the reviewers (loveroffics, KasumiCho, Setorocksmysocks, Joker's Anarchist Follower, Anime Captain of the Gotei13, susie25). Whether you believe it or not, your comments mean a lot to me. They help me improve this story by every chapter and help me focus on what works and what doesn't.
I realize that in the original version that Kaiba is only 5 years older, but in this story he is 6 years older. When I wrote the Chapter 6, I had gotten some mixed information from Wikipedia. What done is done, so I won't change it now. If I make any other mistakes, let me know.
KasumiCho requested a playlist of songs that I related to Foreigner. I put up a link to a website with the playlist and its links on my profile if anyone is interested. If you have any other suggestions, let me know in a review.
Angry tears surrounded her blue eyes as Laura drove. A sudden fervor of energy took over her weak body; it was as if her emotions had become a fuel of sorts as she drove. Having no tissue to properly wipe her tears, Laura rubbed her eyes with a left palm while holding onto the steering wheel with her right hand. The words that Bandit Keith had said stuck to her like a spiked arrow to a deer's flesh.
"If Brian broke something when he was drunk, I'll pay."
The blond-haired teenager rudely laughed. He turned a hand to his pocket on his vest to open a pack of cigarettes. Removing a single cigarette, he placed one in his mouth. Holding a lighter with his left hand near his mouth, he was about to light it.
"Excuse me, but I'm eight-and-a-half months pregnant. Don't smoke."
"Hmm," Bandit stated as he aimlessly flicked the cigarette onto the porch. "You're a real bitch, aren't ya? You gotta hot face, but seriously, what a piece of work."
"Get to the point." Laura already disliked the obnoxious blond-haired youth. How dare he parade around as if he owned the place?
She quickly swirled to the right lane. A car honked from behind, but she paid it no heed to it or the angry curses that followed. Her brown hair, already messy from her long nap, looked further tousled than before. Quickly, she cut through a small street and speeded until she approached a small white home. Hastily parking the car, Laura did not bother to check if the car had been properly locked as she rushed onto the concrete pathway that led to the small white home. Rapidly, she hurried onto the small pair of steps that led to the door in the front of the house.
"Tell me you're lying!" Laura cried. Her face had turned pale. She pulled his vest closer to her, grabbing it tightly. "You're just lying!"
"Lady, get the hell off me! I'm just a messenger! I only told you what my old man told me to tell you. Ain't got nothing else to do with this." Trying to pry her fingers off his jacket, he tried to pull away softly, but Laura would not loosen her grip. "Listen, I don't wanna hurt you as you're pregnant and all, but get the hell offa me!"
As she approached the door at the end of the steps, she furiously rang the doorbell frantically. After several minutes of pounding, the door opened to a shirtless, tall brown-haired man simply wearing a pair of dark pants.
Yawning deeply, Brian covered his mouth with his right hand as he stretched with the other. "What the hell Laura? I've been sleeping the whole time, and you come ringing like some crazy woman? I had a busy night last night. This hot blond—"
"I'm not here to talk about some slut! I'm here to talk about you." She desperately cried, cutting him off as his blue eyes searched her confusedly. "Just tell me it isn't true! Tell me that everything he said was a lie!"
"What the hell are you—"
"Tell me you weren't the reason that our apartment got trashed three years ago."
There was absolute silence as Brian silently stared past her.
"Why aren't you speaking?" Frantically, she grabbed his arms tightly; her hands gripped him as she started demanding louder. "Why aren't you telling me that they're lies? They're lies, right?"
Brian looked away from her, avoiding any eye contact. "Laura, I—"
"Look at me when you speak." She pushed his face in her direction as he eyed her nervously. She slowly repeated, "Now tell me that Bandit Keith was lying."
"I told a bunch of guys at Keith's bar a few days before that a Japanese guy was annoying me. I might have told them where you lived and talked them into trashing your place."
"No! No! NO!" Laura started to sob fiercely. "How could you? You're my brother! My big brother!" Brian looked down pathetically as she continued to cry. "I've always been there for you! When Mom and Dad put you down, I always defended you. When you needed money, I gave it to you. By the thousands! I never asked for anything back. Even when Seiji said it was stupid, I helped. No matter how wrong you were! You betrayed me like this?"
"Seiji," Brian viciously cried; his face contorted into an expression of rage. "It's Seiji! Always Seiji!" He yelled as he pulled away from her grip. "Ever since he's been around, it's always been Seiji this or Seiji that! Our relationship has changed. Everything. Now it's that guy or your son. I'm not even important anymore."
"Brian—"
"No, you listen!" he screamed furiously. "Do you think Mom and Dad approve of the relationship? They just don't say anything anymore to you, but don't think they love Seiji. Yeah, they're happy that they have a grandchild, but whose dream is some half-Jap kid in the family? You marry some monkey guy and you expect us to accept—"
Laura slapped Brian. For a moment there was nothing more than dead silence. As he looked at her with the red mark on his face, his sister turned paler than before. "I-I don't want to see you again. Not like before. We'll deal with each other when we have to, but that's it."
"Laura, listen. Please—"
"No, that's it!" Laura cried shakily, pushing his hands away from him. She turned to the door. "Don't come near my house. Don't come near my family. Don't come near me. Our relationship is through."
Brian pulled her towards him, desperately gripping her. She struggled to pull away, but he was too strong. Quickly grabbing the door, she pushed it towards the front. As Laura finally pulled from the grip, she tripped on the ground, falling on her stomach at the steps of the door.
...
Seiji ran through the halls of the hospital. When he got the phone call of Laura's admittance to the hospital, Seiji grew to absolute panic. Leaving work as soon as he could, he picked Seto from his summer enrichment program and dropped him to a family friend's home, not informing him of these events. Why had Laura been driving when she was so tired anyway? Bumping into a patient, he quickly ran, not bothering to apologize as he usually would. Ignoring the nasty looks and screams, he ran until he saw a shaking Brian who sat on a seat at the waiting room. For the first time in his life, Seiji was relieved to see his brother-in-law.
"Brian, where is she?"
"Seiji, I-I—"
"Is there a doctor somewhere?" Seiji asked, leaving Brian to speak incoherently. "Stop stuttering, and tell me what's going on!"
"Excuse me, but are you Mr. Nakamura?" Seiji turned around to face a middle-aged man with glasses.
"Yes," Seiji replied hurriedly. "Where's my wife? What's wrong? Please. You have to tell me." He cried, grasping the doctor's shoulder tightly.
"Sir, you need to calm down." Seiji immediately let go off the doctor. "Your wife's condition is very serious. She has fallen on concrete steps. Her brother, who brought her here, says she fell on the stairs as she was walking down. Though he informs me that she drove to his house. She shouldn't have been driving in her condition in the first place."
"Doctor, I don't know why she was driving. We had an agreement that I would drive till she gave birth."
"Well, we can't discuss the past. Get ready because you're about to be a father soon. Your wife's dilated four inches."
Seiji's eyes widened. "Please. Which room?"
"Room 573." The doctor turned away.
Seiji rushed to reach the room and opened the door. She saw an extremely pale and tear-stricken face of Laura.
"Seiji, I-I'm, uh," she cried through breathless gasps, "so stupid—"
"Honey, it's okay," Seiji stated comfortingly as he gave a gentle squeeze to her hand. "Tell me later. Just push that baby for me and be okay."
Laura started to sob further. Her face suddenly contorted into expressions of pain as she screamed even louder.
"She's lost a lot of blood!" A nurse cried.
"This is going to be a complicated birth," the doctor stated. "Sir, you need to move." Seiji stepped back as the doctor put on a pair of gloves. The doctor went near her legs as Laura continued to scream. "Now push."
"AAAAGGHH!"
"The cervix is ruptured. I suspect that the water bag might have broken as well," the doctor told a nurse nearby. Turning to the woman, he spoke soothingly. "Mrs. Nakamura, push harder."
Laura screamed even further. Seiji, turning to her, held his hand onto her arm, allowed her to squeeze his hands till tears came out of his eyes, but he said nothing. Occasionally, he wiped the sweat and tears that ran on her face and spoke soothing words as she continued to yell in anguish for several minutes.
"It's a boy!" the doctor cried, holding to a bloody baby. "Nurse, clean him." As the doctor cut the placenta, the dark-haired baby gasped and cried for air. The nurse wrapped the crying baby in cloth.
Laura started to breath heavily, gasping roughly. The nurse returned and handed a cleaned infant wrapped in cloth to Seiji. Staring in wonder at the dark-haired baby with golden skin, who continued cry, Seiji beamed as he looked at his wife. "Laura, here's our son."
Laura smiled weakly. Both of her hands slowly rose upwards, reaching towards the baby as if to ask to hold him. As Seiji moved closer to her to hand her their son, her hands dropped.
Pushing him away the doctor and nurses surrounded his still wife as Seiji helplessly watched and held onto his wailing son.
4 inches is 10 cm
To loveroffics, kids always have weird and funny explanations of why babies get born. Seto's a genius, so he'd have a more realistic one but he still has to be wrong. I also figured that someone taught Kaiba chess. He didn't learn it from nowhere. I also thought it would be more interesting to have a small sort of rivalry between the grandparents. A foreshadowing of sorts.
To KasumiCho, never had a veggie dog, but will be on my to-do list. Hope you enjoy the playlist as well. I must say that I am definitely downloading a lot of songs from your playlist. Needed new songs anyway. Haven't gone through all the songs because you have a lot, but I liked a lot of them. When I first saw the request, I was like ? I never thought of Foreigner in terms of music. However, it was surprising how perfect some of the songs that I knew were for this story.
To Setorocksmysocks, I must say I love your name. Good rhyming. I'm glad you enjoyed my story. I will maintain whatever current writing I've been doing because there's nothing more annoying to read on this website than a badly written fic.
To Joker's Anarchist Follower, I will continue to do so. I wanted to relate the story to the show in a realistic way, but I didn't want it come across as contrived either. The retarded part was originally a joke, and I had no plan to include it. But I couldn't let that idea go. Some people have thought some of the most brilliant men were idiots before, so I figured that I could go for it realistically.
To Anime Captain of the Gotei13, thank you for your comments. They really helped me a lot. I will definitely think of ways to better incorporate those elements in the story. Continue enjoying my story. You mean a sequel with Gozaburo's adoption of Seto Kaiba? Right now, there's no plan for a sequel. I won't completely dismiss the possibility, but this story isn't popular enough for me to be making a sequel for this.
To susie25, thanks for enjoying my story. I am aware that Kaiba is five years older, but for the sake of this story, we'll ignore that. Another reviewer told me that I made an age difference, and I was like holy crap! I blame 4Kids for playing with Kaiba's age too much because it gets confusing.