Whoo! It's nice to be back in air conditioning! A massive storm hit last week, knocking out all the power in the city that I'm in. It took all week for the electric company to put back all the power. Not only did the power go out, but the water did too! On the hottest day of the year, there was no water! Can you believe that! So anyway, this chapter is based on my experiances durring that storm.It's all true, except the characters. So enjoy this, and maybe you'll feel my pain. Sorry it's so long, but it's based over a period of three days.
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Six month old Baby Yugi sat in front of the television screen. At six months, he was able to sit up on his own, but he still could not quite crawl yet. He sat in front of a large television screen with a couple of toys around him; a rattle, a stuffed turtle, and a small bottle half-way filled with juice. A children's show was playing on the screen. Yugi squealed and giggled for all he was worth. Though he did not understand anything the people in the picture-box were saying, he just loved hearing all the sounds and the music. The small baby sat with his legs bent and his two tiny hands on the floor, holding himself up. He clapped his hands, easily entertaining himself.
Yugi's mother, Kiara laughed to herself as she watched her son stare at the TV screen. She knew he did not know what was going on, but he loved to hear sounds. A counter separated the living room from the kitchen, so she could easily watch her baby boy as she washed the dishes. Kiara thought it was adorable how Yugi could find such entertainment in just a few simple sounds. She looked up and laughed as Yugi giggled to nothing in particular.
It was a hot July day. It had not rained in a month and a half. Kiara wiped the sweat from her brow. Even though the air conditioner was working, for some reason, it was not cooling off the house like it was supposed to. The thermostat said that inside, it was seventy-nine degrees, when it was only supposed to be seventy-three. Outside, it was one hundred and three degrees. Kiara glanced at her son, who was still captivated by the music on the TV. Yugi was basically a sick child. He was born premature, which was why he was so small. He needed to be in the air conditioning constantly, at least until he was out of infancy. If he was in the heat for too long, he would suffer heat exhaustion, or worse. The small boy wore only a tiny, thin t-shirt and a diaper. It was too hot for him to wear anything else. Kiara wore a spaghetti strap shirt with short shorts. She sat down on her couch and looked out the window. The single mother noticed that very dark rain clouds were coming in from the north … which was pretty unusual. She looked at the TV. Yugi was bouncing up and down in place, giggling. She picked him up and changed the channel.
"Sorry, Sweetheart, but I have to see what the weather is supposed to be like." Yugi whined from the loss of the music. He heard his mother gasp and looked up at her. She was covering her mouth with her hand. Her sparkling purple eyes held fear in them. On the TV, a woman in a pant suit was in front of a map.
"Right now, a stray storm is making its way from the north to the south east. Those of you who are in the path of this storm, you may want to move to shelter immediately. This storm has a history of producing large, golf ball size hail and damaging winds up to fifty miles per hour. Now out in the East Coast …"
Kiara looked down at her son. He was playing with his fingers and babbling incoherently. Yugi was very afraid of storms. Sure, he loved sounds, but loud sounds like thunder scared the poor child to death. Kiara looked out the window and could see that the sky was no longer clear. The dark clouds have moved in. Far off in the distance, she could hear thunder rumbling. Then suddenly, the wind outside started blowing very fiercely. Kiara gasped again and gripped her baby tightly in her arms. Yugi looked at his mother, not sure what was going on. He tried to cheer her up with some cute noises, but she did not even acknowledge them. The mother turned the TV off, grabbed a cordless phone, and went downstairs.
Luckily, her basement was made up. It was like another living room. She had a couch, a TV, a guest bedroom, and a playpen for Yugi down there. She placed her baby in the playpen and went into the other room to make a phone call. Once Kiara was out of the room, Yugi began to miss her. His eyes started to water. Why did Mommy leave him? To make his loneliness apparent, he screamed loudly until Kiara came running out of the next room with her chin holding the phone on her shoulder.
"Shh … Honey, it's okay … shh … everything's going to be okay, shh …" She cradled him in her arms, but Baby Yugi would not stop crying. Something was wrong … and he could sense it. "No Dad, it's just Yugi; he's probably afraid of the storm, I know I am …" Kiara could hear the storm getting worse outside. When the sound of the wind got louder, Yugi's screaming would increase. It was not the thunder that she feared, it was the wind. She could hear it whistling fiercely. Beyond the wind, she could hear the tornado sirens going off. Between the whistling of the wind, the sound of the sirens, the rumbling of the thunder, and Yugi's screaming, Kiara thought she would go crazy!
Then suddenly, all went black. The power had gone out. Yugi screamed even harder. The baby was completely terrified of the dark. Kiara tried to shush him, but he just kept screaming. Hush, Baby, it's okay now … it's okay …" The storm was still raging outside. There were no windows in her basement, so she had no idea what was going on. Going upstairs was going to be a challenge as well, trying to get up the stairs without dropping Yugi.
About an hour later, the storm was over. Yugi was still crying because it was so dark and he could not see his mother. He knew she was there, but he could not see her. Kiara held Yugi in one hand while she felt around with the other. Finally, she reached the stairs. The power was still out, and it was dark outside. A few rolls of thunder crashed every now and then, but other then that, the worst was over. Yugi was still whimpering in her arms, but his cries had decreased. Kiara looked out the window and gasped. It was a wreck! Trees were pulled from their roots and turned over, other trees had their bigger branches broken off, and then there were some that were split right down the middle. A few big branches had hit peoples' cars, roofs, and a few power lines. She figured that was why the power had gone off. It looked like a war zone outside.
That was the least of Yugi's worries. His biggest worry was when he was going to get fed and changed. The storm had scared him so much that he wet his diaper to a point where it was sloshing on him. Kiara laid Yugi down on his back on a blanket she had laid out on the floor while she went to light some candles. Even with a teething ring in his mouth, Yugi was still too scared to be left alone, so once again when Kiara was out of his sight, he cried for mommy again. "I'm coming Yugi! I just went to go get some candles!" The baby's crying stopped when he could see her again. The candle lights helped a bit too, but what Kiara was thinking as how long her sickly child would last without air conditioning?
---
The next day, it was twice as hot outside. Usually when it rains, the temperatures drop, but not this time. This time, it rose even higher. To make matters worse, the power was still out. Kiara paced back and forth with Yugi in her arms, trying to calm him down. He did not like being this hot. She kept sweating. Yugi was only dressed in a diaper. It was far too hot to put him even in a small t-shirt. The mother was at a loss here. No matter what she did, Yugi was not satisfied. A clean diaper would not make him stop crying; neither would his bottles, or his toys. It was obvious that he did not like the heat. She put Yugi in a basinet in the corner, even though he was still crying. Kiara began to sob to herself in frustration. "I know, Baby … I want the power back on too …" Just then, an idea came to mind. She grabbed the phone and dialed the number of her father, Solomon Moto.
"Hello?"
"Dad? It's me …"
"Ki-ki, why do you sound so upset?" She held the phone out in the air, allowing her father to hear Yugi's constant screaming.
"Does that answer your question?"
"Why is he crying so hard?"
"The storm knocked out our power."
"Ah, so you were one of its victims, hmm? Well let me tell you that you're not the only one. Power is out in most of this town and many of the surrounding cities as well, so it may be a few days before it comes back on." Kiara pulled the phone away from her hear and whined to herself.
"Dad, I can't take it that long, Yugi can't either," she sighed, "I may already know the answer to this but … do you have power?" Solomon chuckled.
"I sure do!" The single mother gasped.
"Really? Could Yugi and I come over and stay the night?"
"Of course! I would love to have you and Yugi come over! Get that child out of the heat and into the air conditioning!" Kiara smiled in relief.
"Oh thank you, Daddy! Oh, could you possibly make a bottle of water for Yugi? I know I left some of his bottles at your house so—"
"Wait, you haven't heard, Dear?"
"Heard what?" Solomon groaned in frustration.
"Oh, the storm bust some of the pipes that the city uses for the water."
"Wait, so there's absolutely no water what so ever … on the hottest day of the year!" Kiara was really getting pissed off now. Her baby needed water.
"No, no, no. The water is still on, it's just dirty. They told everyone that we have to boil our water for three minutes." Now it was Kiara who groaned. Like father like daughter, huh? She was relieved that she had not given Yugi any water earlier.
"How could they do that, Yugi needs water!"
"Well I'll tell you what: go to the store and buy as many bottles of water as you can; we don't know how long this will last." Kiara nodded.
"I'll do that; thanks, Dad."
"Any time, Ki-Ki." Kiara rolled her eyes. That was a name her father had called her all her life.
"Dad, please stop calling me that." Solomon chuckled as they both said good-bye. Kiara went over to the basinet and was grateful to see that Yugi was asleep, even if he was whining as he did so. She kissed him on the head and went up to his room to pack a few things he would need for the night. She did the same for herself.
---
The drive was only a few minutes away. It would have been even shorter, had the stop lights been working. Yugi was still asleep. He had cried for so long that he had worn himself out. In the car, Kiara had the air conditioning up all the way, that way her baby would be cooled off as soon as possible. Yugi was a good boy and slept through the whole drive. In about ten more minutes, the two reached Solomon Moto's game shop. Kiara took Yugi's diaper bag from the trunk. When she slammed it down, it woke the sleeping baby up.
"Hi, Sweetie, did you have a good nap?" Yugi smiled at his mother. She took him out of the car seat as he cooed. Solomon came out and helped his daughter.
"Ki-ki, nice to see you again!" Kiara gave her father a kiss as he took the diaper bag.
"Hi, Dad. Thanks for having us over."
"Of course, I love having you over, I wish you'd come over more often." Yugi took this time to sneeze.
"Bchoo!" Solomon could not help but pick his grandson up.
"It's good to see you too, Yugi!" Yugi giggled. He loved his grandfather very much. He was still only wearing a diaper. Yugi clapped his hands, and while doing so, took a patch of Solomon's hair in his tiny fingers.
"Ah, ah, ah, let go Yugi … let go …" Kiara rolled her eyes and helped her father remove his hair from her son's grip. "A mighty grip that boy has." Kiara bounced Yugi in her arms before giving him a teething ring. He was babbling to himself cutely. Solomon chuckled a bit. So, have you heard anything from him yet?" Kiara sighed and kissed Yugi on the head, right above his soft spot.
"No; you'd think he'd want to know how his son is doing. He hasn't contacted us since Yugi was born." Solomon sighed and shook his head. He hated what Yugi's 'father' was doing to his daughter and grandson. Yugi's father had not seen his child since he was born. That was the last time the Motos had heard from him. Since then, Kiara had done everything she could think of to try and keep him updated on Yugi's development, but he never responded. After Yugi's first three months with no response, Kiara stopped trying. "I just wanted him to be a part of Yugi's life … but I guess he didn't …" Solomon took his daughter's hand, trying to comfort her. She raised her head, showing that she had been crying silently.
"Baby, if he wants nothing to do with you or Yugi, then that's his loss. Yugi will grow up to be a great person without him." Kiara smiled with tears still flowing down her face.
"Thank you, Daddy …" Yugi dropped his teething ring, trying to gain attention. The two adults looked at him with confused looks, but the baby just smiled and giggled. Kiara and Solomon both followed his example.
---
Later that night, Kiara opened a bottle of water and filled a baby bottle. The water still had not been cleaned, and her maternal instincts told her not to give the tap water to her baby. Yugi loved water, especially on hot days like that day. He finished the bottle in less then fifteen minutes. A tummy full of water also tended to put him right to sleep. He slept in a fresh diaper and a small, thin blanket. Solomon had taken the liberty of putting Kiara's old crib up in her old bedroom. It was an old crib that rocked. It had a mobile on it with clouds, stars and rainbows. Yugi watched it with his large amethyst eyes, seeming to be hypnotized by the circular motion. That, and the melody, not to mention the full tummy of water, put him right to sleep.
Kiara could not sleep. The conversation about Yugi's father got her thinking. Did she give up too soon? She did not think so. He had not seen Yugi at all since the day of his birth. She could not imagine a day coming home and not having Yugi in her life. She sat in a rocker next to the old crib. A few tears fell down her cheeks. She had a father who loved her dearly and continued to raise her even after her own mother died, but Yugi has not seen his father since he was born. Sure that was only six months ago, and he had a job that required constant attention, but that was no excuse in her mind. Kiara had married Yugi's father three years before he was born, but after those three years, divorced him. He was too much to live with. Once the divorce was final, Kiara had announced that she was pregnant with Yugi. He had helped her along the way, but Yugi's birth was the last time she had ever heard from him. Kiara gazed down at her baby in the crib. The pacifier in Yugi's mouth wiggled a few times. She always laid him down on his back, for fear of SIDS. The young, single mother sighed. She made a promise that she would never leave her child alone when he needed her the most. She leaned over the bars and kissed her child on the cheek. Yugi smiled, his pacifier falling a bit out of his mouth. Kiara laughed and placed it back in.
---
The next morning, Kiara was woken by a loud boom and a flash of light. "Oh no … not again!" She thought. She looked at the clock that said it was ten o'clock AM. She ran into the living room to see her father watching the news. "Dad, what's going on?"
"We're getting hit again! Another storm like last night!" Kiara gasped. Suddenly, the lights flashed and went out completely.
"Oh no …" Then, there was a screaming cry coming from her room. "Yugi!" She ran up the stairs and scooped her crying baby into her arms. "There, there, Pumpkin, it's okay now, shh … Mommy's here …" She cradled him in her arms as he continued to cry. The storm had startled him. Now Solomon's electricity had gone out. "Now what am I going to do?" She took a bottle that was already made up and started to feed Yugi. He had stopped crying, but he was still hiccupping through the bottle. Kiara sighed as she sat down, still holding Yugi in one arm. He continued to eat as she wondered what she was going to do. Solomon cleared his throat, gaining his daughter's attention.
"You know, you could always call … him." Kiara's eyes widened as she shook her head.
"No, Daddy, I'm not calling him!"
"But he may have power. He does live all the way out in the country."
"That's just it; he lives too far away! No wonder he never comes to see Yugi …" She looked down at the baby that was suckling on the bottle, growing sleepy. Outside, the storm was getting just as strong as the last one. Solomon sighed.
"Well, it may be a while before my power comes back on; this storm set the electric company right back where they started. I don't think you have a choice." He reached over for Kiara's cell phone. "Call him." Sighing, she gave in, taking the small phone from her father. She had to dial the area code before putting in the number. A few rings passed, and then the call was dropped.
"That's strange …"
"What?"
"It disconnected me. Let me try again. Here, can you hold Yugi?" Solomon nodded, taking his grandson into his arms. Kiara groaned in frustration. "It keeps disconnecting me!" She got up and grabbed the cordless phone, seeing that it did have a ring. She bit her lip before she dialed the number for a third time.
---
Meanwhile, in a county at least an hour and a half away, a young man was feeding two beautiful horses. "Eat up, Gemstone; you need your strength for the trail." The young man wore no shirt, a pair of old blue jeans, black boots, and a cowboy hat. His name was Atem Darkling. He loved the country life, anything to do with horses, cowboys, and Indians. He worked as a sergeant for the county police, but in his personal time, he did chores around his home. He had a large house surrounded by woods. A stable to keep the horses in, a trail that led through the woods, and all the luxuries one would want in life. He lived alone; divorced, to put it in words. However much he loved the outdoors and the country life, his ex-wife did not. She preferred the city while he preferred the country. Sure, he had a lot of animals, he had two horses, two dogs, and at least fourteen wild cats that ran around the woods, but he did get lonely every once in a while. He sighed and went back into the house.
His house was two stories. It a large living area with a fireplace and a dinning room that was like a balcony, looking over the living area. There was a hall if you went past the dinning area (which he also used as another living area since it was so big) that had two guest bedrooms, an office, two bathrooms, and a master bedroom. On the other side of the dinning room was a small kitchen. There were western decorations everywhere, and a stuffed bull head hanging over the mantle of the fireplace. A piano, speakers, and two guitars were in one corner of the first floor living area. He had a leather loveseat and matching chair. There was a door that led to another part of the house that a Jacuzzi was in.
Anyway, as soon as he had decided to take a shower to rid himself of the horse stench, the phone rang. When he went to see who it was, the name on the caller id confused him. He had to blink a few times to make sure he was not seeing things. It was the name of his former father-in-law. "It's not possible …" With a shaky hand, he cautiously picked up the phone. "H-hello?"
"Atem? Is that you?" Atem's heart stopped. The love of his life that had walked out on him and ended their short marriage … was talking to him after six long months.
"Kiara?" He heard a sigh on the other end of the phone.
"Atem … it's been so long." The young sergeant gulped and sat down.
"Y-yes … it has …"
"Um … by any chance … do you have power?" Atem thought that was a little out of the blue.
"Yes … why?"
"Well, we don't. I'm over at my father's and his just went out a few minutes ago." Oh, now Atem could see where this was going. He smirked as he leaned back in his chair.
"So you just want to be in the air conditioning, is that what you're saying?" He could hear her scoff on the other end.
"It's not just me … your son needs it as well." At that last part, Atem's smirk fell and he became serious. He hadn't seen his son since the day of his birth. He thought of the child everyday and always wanted to contact them.
"… How is he?"
"Not good. He's constantly sick and his doctor says that during this heat wave, he should always be in the air conditioning. Atem, I know I haven't spoken to you in six months, but he's your child too … please … don't punish him …" Atem had to clench his eyes shut to stop the tears from coming out. He would never do something so low to his own child.
"Of course you can come over. I'll be happy to let you stay." She gasped.
"You will?" A smile came to Atem's face.
"Yes, I'm looking forward to seeing Yugi again." He was telling the truth. Though he really did not want to see his ex-wife so early after their divorce, he was dying to see his child.
"Okay, we'll be over later in about two hours or so."
"Alright."
"Thank you."
"No problem." Then, without even so much as a 'good bye', she hung up. Sighing, he followed her example. Atem looked down the hall of his house to one of the spare rooms and sighed. He had missed Yugi like crazy, thinking about him everyday and if the baby even knew (or cared) that he existed. He decided to take his shower and straighten up as much as possible before the two were expected.
Just as Kiara had said, two hours later, she, Yugi, and Solomon had arrived … but to an empty house. "He did say he would be home around this time, didn't he?" Solomon asked. Kiara sighed.
"This is just like him …" But then she spotted something. On the door was a small post-it note. She got out of the car and went to see what it said.
Come on in, I'm out back.
She picked Yugi up out of the back seat and went around to the back. It was dark out, so it was pitch black outside.
"Hello … Atem?" There was no answer. She could hear the sounds of nature from the woods, but no Atem anywhere. "Hello?" Yugi tried to mimic the sound.
"Ehoh!" He said. Kiara laughed and kissed him on the head.
"Let's go see if he's inside—AHH!" When she turned around, she bumped into someone … it was her host.
"You scare so easily." Kiara sighed in frustration.
"Well when you live out here, anything can jump out at you." Atem took offence at that. This was his home and he was kind enough to let this woman stay with him over night.
"Is that why you came out here? To insult my home!" Just then, he heard a small whimpering noise. He hadn't even noticed the baby in his ex-wife's arms. "Is that …" Kiara rolled her eyes.
"No, this is a copy …" Atem looked at the baby in his mother's arms, sucking on a pacifier. He held a small part of his mother's shirt in his tiny, balled up hand.
"Hello there, Little One … I've missed you so much …" Yugi hid his face in his mother's shirt, not wanting this stranger to see him. Kiara scoffed.
"I'm sure you did … after six months of abandonment and no care whatsoever!" Atem's jaw dropped.
"You think I don't care?"
"If you did, you wouldn't have abandoned us!"
"You kicked me out!"
"Hey, don't bring that up! You could have easily picked up the phone and ---"
"Oh don't give me that shit!" Yugi kept exchanging glances at both of his parents as they argued. He did not understand what was going on, but he wanted it to stop. His parents kept arguing, and he knew only one way to stop it … and that was to cry. He screamed loudly, gaining the attention of both parents.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Sweetheart, there, there, it's okay now … shh …"
"Is he alright?" Kiara looked at him for a second and saw true worry in her ex-husband's face.
"Yes, he just hates loud noises." Kiara started to hum a small tune and rock the baby in her arms.
"Kiara, come with me." He walked inside. Kiara followed soon after. They walked down the hallway and came to a closed door. "You think I don't care?" He opened the door. Kiara gasped at what she saw. The room was painted a baby blue with duckling wallpaper across the middle. A large, white crib with a small mattress lay along the wall. A dresser with the picture of Yugi, taken the day he was born, sitting on top of it. There was a toy box filled with baby toys, toys that would make either a boy or a girl happy. A large plush giraffe stuffed animal, with smaller stuffed animals sat in the corner by the white closet doors. There was a mobile on the crib. The carpet was white and a fleece blanket was thrown over the side of the crib. In the corner opposite of the giraffe, an old rocking chair sat, getting older. A white fan, with an airplane hanging from one of the arms, hung from the ceiling. Kiara stepped into the room, not believing what she was seeing. Yugi took a look around the room and was instantly comfortable. He yawned cutely while rubbing his eye and started to fall asleep in his mother's arms. Atem took a few steps into the room, his hands in his pockets. "Things may come up every time I want to call you, but never accuse me of not caring." He stressed on the word 'never'.
"How long have you had it like this?" Atem took a few more steps into the room.
"Since right after Yugi was born. I wanted to spoil him, but every time I tried to call, something always came up. When it got too late, I figured you'd be angry with me, so I stopped trying." He went over to the crib and ran his hand over the railing. "I come in here every night to think about Yugi." At this point, Kiara felt like a real bitch. She had assumed that Atem never cared for either of them … boy was she wrong.
"I'm sorry." Atem shrugged.
"Don't worry about it; just let me hold him." Kiara smiled and nodded. Yugi's sleepiness started to go away when he felt new arms holding him. He groaned a little bit, but became quiet when he felt how loving these arms were. He looked up to see the new stranger holding him. The stranger had a loving smile on his face. Yugi just had to smile back and snuggle into the new warmth. Atem chuckled and kissed his child on the head. "I've missed you so much." He went over to the rocker and started to rock his child to sleep. Kiara was adoring the sight in front of her. Yugi burbled a bit and Atem responded with by mimicking the sound Yugi made, causing the boy to giggle.
"I'm sorry, Atem." Said man looked up.
"For what?"
"For thinking that you didn't care all this time … it's obvious that you do." Atem smiled. He never thought he'd hear those words come out of his ex-wife's mouth.
"Forgiven; I just wish we didn't live so far away."
"You know, what we never did when Yugi was born was figure out a schedule. Since you live all the way out here, and I do think it's some place where he would be properly cared for, you could take him for about two weeks. I'm trying to get him to eat baby food now, so … what do you think?" Atem had to think for a while.
"Wouldn't he be confused? For a little kid, every two weeks would be too much. As much as I love him and want to spend more time with him, let's say one week a month, and every other weekend." Kiara smiled.
"Deal." While they were negotiating, Yugi had fallen asleep in his father's arms. "Well would you look at that … wanna do the honor of putting him to bed?" Atem smiled as he got up and walked to the crib, placing the baby boy inside on his back. He covered him with the fleece blanket and kissed him on his head.
"Sleep tight, my Little One; I love you." Kiara did the same and told him she loved him too.
---
The next morning, Kiara went to wake Yugi up, only to find that he was not in the bed. Instantly, she panicked. Her maternal instincts were going haywire. She ran to Atem's room to tell him that the baby was missing, but she found that he was as well. The frantic mother hurried to the downstairs living room to find her baby and ex-husband playing on the floor together. Yugi sat in Atem's lap, wearing only a diaper and playing with a small plastic duck and some foam blocks. Atem wore only a pair of pajama pants and sat Indian style. Yugi was playing innocently, babbling to himself.
"Ba ba ba ba ba ba …" He would say. Atem chuckled and picked up a red foam block.
"What can you do with this, Yugi?" Yugi squealed and took the block from his father's hand. He knew exactly what to do with it and where it went … straight into his mouth. "Besides drool all over it." The baby banged the block on his daddy's leg, spraying the slobber everywhere and yelling. He loved having a new playmate.
"BA BA BA BA BA!" Atem couldn't help but laugh. Kiara laughed as well, giving away her position. "Oh, I didn't see you there."
"Sorry. I was looking for him this morning and when I didn't find him, I got scared." Atem kissed Yugi on the head.
"He was awake and so was I, so thought I'd let you sleep in. He's been fed and changed." Yugi looked up. When he saw his mother, his big smile widened even more. He lifted his tiny, chubby arms to be picked up, which Kiara gladly complied. She kissed him on his cheek, making him giggle.
"Did you have fun with Daddy?" Seeming to understand the question, Yugi squealed loudly. "Shh … Honey, you'll wake Grandpa." Atem stood up and stretched.
"No he won't." The mother looked at her ex with a raised eye brow. "Solomon woke up early too. He decided to go and see if you have power."
"And do we?" Atem sighed.
"No, not yet; but he does. So you might be going over there tonight, won't you?" Kiara could hear the hint of sadness in Atem's voice. She bit her lip, feeling guilty about leaving Atem all alone. She looked down at Yugi who was holding out his arms for Atem to pick him up.
"What do you think, Yugi?" Upon hearing his name, Yugi looked at his mother. "Should we go to Grandpa's or stay here with Daddy?" Yugi looked over at Atem and raised his arms, flexing his tiny fingers.
"Ehhah!" He whined in Atem's direction. Kiara laughed.
"Well then, I guess it's settled; we're staying here tonight." Atem's face had a bright glow around it as he smiled.
"Did you hear that Yugi? We get to play some more!" He picked Yugi up and held him in the air, spinning around. Yugi squealed and clapped his hands. Father and son were finally reunited. Kiara watched with a smile on her face, relieved to know that Yugi would finally have a father in his life.
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The End