Okay, let me clear something up here: a lot of people are still having trouble understanding that these stories are in no way related to each other. They're all different. Differnt Yugis, different Atems, different Kiaras, they're all different. It's hard to explain, but none of them are related to each other. They're all little one-shots (although I hate to use that term). So this one may sound like "A Child's Needs", (and a lot of things are the same) but they are not related. They are two different stories; I can't stretch that enough. Okay, after a long wait, here's the next story; not chapter. By the way, I do appologize if these stories are starting to all sound alike, I just think that Baby Yugi is sooooooooo cute! I can't help it!

---

Prince Atem, age twenty-one, looked out at the starry night sky with sorrow in his ruby colored eyes. Atem's father was still the Pharaoh of Egypt. However, even though his son was not king just yet, he was twenty-one; old enough to sire an heir. Atem always said he did not want to settle down just yet. He was too young and just wanted to have fun. However, at the age of sixteen, Isis had taken on a student; Priestess Kiara. Kiara was the understudy of Priestess Isis, the most trusted priestess on the Pharaoh's court. The two fell in love instantly. Now five years later, even without marriage, they wanted to take their relationship to a new level. That one night caused Kiara to become pregnant. However, Kiara had yet to tell her love about her weak heart. Finally, that day had arrived.

It had only been a few hours since, the love of his life, Priestess Kiara, had died from too much stress to her poor heart. The stress was caused from her giving birth to their first, and only, child. Atem did not even get to say good-bye, or that he loved her one final time. A tear rolled down his copper colored cheek. His beloved had sacrificed herself so that she could give birth to his child. She was wiser then any of the priests that stood under the Pharaoh's rule; she knew what she was doing. She knew that she would not survive the birthing process … and she had no regrets. The deceased queen wanted to bring that child into the world. Atem did everything he could to change her mind, but it was impossible. Once her mind was made up, there was no changing it at all. So, both were prepared for Kiara's fateful departure.

However, even though Atem knew it would not be long before the birth of his child and the death of his wife, he still could not fully lift the pain. To add to that pain, the child, a baby boy, had been sick when he was born. Isis and Seto were with the child now, trying to raise his health. That was a dreadful day for Atem. When it was his turn for the throne, he was hoping to have Kiara right beside him. The prince's red eyes turned a brighter tint of red due to his sobbing. Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching him. Atem turned his head to see his father coming to join him out on the balcony.

"I know how much you are hurting, my son." All Atem could do was sigh.

"How could you possibly know?" The Pharaoh glanced at his depressed son.

"Because I lost your mother the same way."

"Perhaps, but I am alive and well; my … son is on the verge of death … and he has not even been alive for an entire day yet …" The Prince dropped his head into his hands. The Pharaoh sighed and placed his hand on his son's shoulder.

"Have faith, Atem." Atem raised his head just in time to see his father walk away. He could think of nothing but his broken family now. He was so excited to become a father, even if it would cost him the love of his life. Finally picking himself back up, he marched himself down to the healers' chambers.

On the way, he kept thinking about how much he wanted just to hold his newborn son in his arms. There was a feeling inside of him that told him that if he were with his son, then he would be able to help the baby become healthier. Once he was standing in front of the giant doors, it took him awhile to knock. When he finally built up the courage to knock, Priest Seto answered the door.

"Atem … to what do we owe the horror?" The priest asked with a small smile on his face. Atem was not at all amused.

"Not now, Seto; I'm here to see my child." Seto shrugged.

"Fine, come on in." Atem found it strange that Seto let him in so easily. As the adult prince walked in, he could hear the sound of small coughing and cooing. Priestess Isis was holding him in her arms, rocking the small child from side to side. Atem swallowed the lump in his throat as he slowly approached the sad priestess.

"Isis?" She looked up.

"Atem, what are you doing here?"

"I … I promised Kiara that I would take care of our child … and I … I want to start that now." At the mention of Kiara's name, Isis' eyes began to fill with tears again; Atem followed her example.

"It just won't be the same without her, will it?" Atem sniffled and shook his head.

"No … it won't …" Both sobbed for awhile. "Isis, can I please ...?" Isis smiled.

"Of course, Your Highness." Atem led out his arms so that the small, coughing baby could be held in his arms. The baby cooed a bit with his eyes closed as he was transferred from Isis to his father. Atem could not take his eyes off of the little bundle in his arms. The baby's eyes were half lidded as he began to coo in a soft, comfortable way. Atem's heart began to melt. He smiled and leaned down to give the infant a kiss on the forehead. Isis left the prince with his newborn son. Atem swayed to and fro, rocking the child in his arms.

"Hello there." He whispered. The newborn rubbed his eyes with his tiny fist. Atem could not help but chuckle. The baby looked at him in the eye, but his eyes were very sleepy. Atem smiled. "Go ahead and sleep if you want, Little One. I'll be here when you wake up." The tiny baby admitted a tiny smile. "Now … what to name you? Your mother did say she wanted me to name you … I know … Yugi!" The baby did not seem to mind. In fact, he smiled at the name. "Then it's settled … Yugi it is." Baby Yugi cooed a bit before he started to have a coughing fit. Atem felt so bad because he could do nothing while his son was sick. The baby looked at him with sad eyes. It was as if the child was asking his father to take the pain away. Atem's eyes held so much sorrow because he could not help his small, sickly son. "I'm very sorry, my son … but there is nothing I can do." Even though the baby was in pain and had the symptoms of a cold, he still smiled at his father, loving the warmth that the arms he laid in gave. Atem smiled and cuddled closer to his son. Suddenly, a thought came to him. "Oh no … how am I going to feed you?" The baby did not seem so worried about his food source. He just snuggled closer to his father. "Without your mother, there is no way to feed you … how am I …?"

"Pardon me, Your Highness …" Startled, Atem looked up at the voice that had called his name.

"Isis!" The quiet priestess stepped closer to the father and his son.

"I could not help but overhear your crisis." Atem blinked, confused as to what she was saying.

"Oh … uh …"

"I believe I have a solution."

"You do?"

"Yes. I can be Prince Yugi's wet nurse." Atem raised a brow.

"Wet nurse?" Isis nodded with a smile on her face.

"Yes; you see, a few weeks ago, I gave birth to a son." Atem gasped. Isis hung her head. It seemed that talking about this subject was still painful in her heart.

"Isis … I did not know about that …"

"No one did, my Prince." Atem looked at her, clearly asking her why. "You see, I had some trouble while in labor and the child did not survive. He took only three breaths before he died." Tears were streaming down the priestess' cheeks. Atem felt very sorry for her.

"Isis … I am so sorry …" After wiping a tear from her eye, Isis smiled.

"Please do not be; I have already shed my tears over my loss … and with that loss came an option."

"An option?"

"Yes. I am still producing milk. I can feed Yugi until he is old enough to eat solid foods. My baby may have been lost, but now I have an opportunity to make up for it." Atem smiled in gratitude as he sighed in relief.

"You have no idea how much this means to me, Isis."

"It is my pleasure, my Prince." Speaking of food, the small baby was starting to fuss. Now he was hungry. Atem raised his head and smiled at Isis, who smiled back as she took the baby into her arms and exited the room. He was very relieved to hear that now his son could have the food that he needed. Atem really was in debt to Isis. Hopefully, she would come through for him again and help Yugi rid of his illness.

---

Two months had passed. It did not take long for Yugi to recover form the cold he was born with. However, he did become sick very frequently. Sure, most of those illnesses were minor, but as a new parent, Atem acted as if every sniffle was a life-threatening situation. He always made sure he had time to spend with Yugi. The baby loved spending time with his father too. Since Atem's father was still Pharaoh, and he himself only prince, he had a lot of time to spend with his baby boy. Above all, Atem loved watching Yugi grow and learn. The smallest things kept the baby amused. What was very amusing was that whenever Priest Seto was in the room, Yugi would scream his lungs out for his father to pick him up. It had to be Atem; if it were anyone else, Yugi would just continue to scream until he felt that he was in his father's arms. Atem thought that was as funny as Hell. Isis continued to feed Yugi whenever he was hungry. At night, she would hear Yugi's cries and come running to help him. However, most of those cries were not for food; they were for attention. So most nights, Atem would be walking around his room, in circles, trying to get the baby back to sleep. But Baby Yugi would always be playing being wide awake while his father was very drowsy. That was why both slept in very late the next morning.

Atem had been up late again with Yugi. It seemed as if the child preferred to be nocturnal then awake during the day. Being a father was not easy. Atem had to adjust his schedule according to his son's. He was grateful that Yugi decided to sleep an hour earlier then usual. However, that did not last long, since Yugi also woke up an hour early. The adult prince could hear his infant son amusing himself by babbling incoherently. Atem's eyes held large bags under them. He could not get back to sleep while his son was squealing to himself. He groaned, never hearing the knock on his door. He was surprised when Priest Seto came into his room. The priest smirked at the babbling baby that caused his cousin so much stress.

"Aww, isn't that cute?" Atem grunted.

"Cute is a sleeping baby; that baby never sleeps at all."

"And it amuses me so, when he drags you out of your bed at night." Atem rolled his eyes and smirked.

"And it amuses me so, when he screams whenever he sees you." Seto just glared at his smirking cousin.

"Very funny …" As Atem stood up, he stretched.

"What is it that you want, Seto?"

"Your father has called a meeting that you are expected to attend." Atem rolled his eyes again.

"Of course … why else would you be here?" The priest shrugged with his arms still folded.

"Sometimes I just like to bitch at you for no reason."

"The feeling is mutual." He glanced down into his son's crib and smiled at him. "Good morning, my little night dweller; did you sleep well?" The baby giggled and kicked his tiny feet while waving his even tinier fists in the air. The Prince picked the child up and rested him so that Yugi was vertically in his arms.

"Bah, bah, bah … bah, bah, Bah, BAH!"

"Oh, 'bah, bah, bah' to you too. What are you 'bah-ing' about?" The baby smiled and bounced in his father's arms. Seto could only roll his eyes.

"Please, can we go now? Breakfast will be served at the meeting." At the sound of Seto's voice, Yugi whimpered and hid his face in his father's neck. Atem chuckled and patted the baby on his back.

---

During the meeting, Atem really had no part, he was just there to observe while the priests and his father chatted about events that were happening in the kingdom. Being bored as usual, Atem watched his child look at everything around him. Yugi made small cooing noises at everything he could find. When he would be too loud, Atem would shush him and the boy would be quiet. Yugi spent most of the time trying to pull Atem's bangs. (I realize I've done this before, but I really like the idea of Baby Yugi trying to pull Atem's bangs while Atem's shooing Yugi's hand away.) Atem kept shooing Yugi's hand away, but the baby would not stop. He wanted to hear the funny sound that Daddy made when he pulled the yellow strings on his head. The small baby kept giggling as he attempted to pull the yellow strings.

"Yugi, stop it …" Atem whispered. Yugi giggled again as he banged the table lightly with his palms, causing a distraction to the rest of everyone in the room. Atem's copper face gained a tint of red as he could see that all eyes were on him.

"Atem, is everything alright?" His father asked.

"Um … yes … sorry for the interruption, Father." Yugi squealed.

"Ahhyeee!" He continued to squeal. The Pharaoh sighed and shook his head in a disappointed manner.

"Atem …" Now it was Atem's turn to sigh.

"Yes, yes … I'm going." Once he and the baby were gone, the rest of the meeting continued.

---

Outside, Atem walked around with Yugi on his shoulder. He was a little embarrassed over the scene that Yugi had caused, but he could not bring himself to be upset because the child was just so adorable. The child fiddled with his fingers and babbling once again. Atem could only chuckle.

"Well, you got us kicked out of that meeting, Little One." Yugi looked up at his father and cocked his head in a confused way. Atem chuckled again and gave his small son a kiss on the forehead. "Thank you very much for that." Yugi smiled again and squealed.

"Ahhyee!" Finally, they came to the gardens. Atem had set up a small place for Yugi to play safely in. Since the child could still not sit up on his own, he sat in Atem's lap; or rather, he was leaning in Atem's lap. Atem's legs kept Yugi secure as the child played with his toys in the flowers and sand. Atem picked up a small toy and played with the baby too. They were having so much fun. This was what Atem lived for; for these moments where he could just watch his son play without any care in the world. It made him feel so happy to see such a little wonder that he and Kiara had created. Thinking of his son's deceased mother still brought a ping of pain in his heart, but he now saw what Kiara had always wanted. He loved Yugi so much and could not imagine his life without him. The Prince watched as his son took a soft 'teething' ball and chewed on it, burbling as he did so. That ball had been one of Atem's own toys when he was a baby. His father had pulled it out of where ever it was that he kept all of Atem's baby things. "Does that taste good, Yugi?" The child only continued to gnaw on the ball out of the corner of his mouth.

"Nah, nah, nah, nah …" Drool ran out of his mouth and onto the ball. Atem thought it was so adorable. For the next few hours, they sat there, playing together until it was time for Isis to feed the baby once again.

---

Later that evening, Atem sat on his father's throne with his head held in his hand, listening to Seto bitch at him about his behavior in the meeting. Yugi was in a small play pen, watching the tall man in blue yack about something he could not understand.

"You're twenty-one years old, Atem! Start acting like it! Or, if that's too hard for you, then stop bringing the baby to the meetings!" Atem rolled his bored eyes.

"And leave the baby unattended for? I don't think so! I have to have someone take care of him."

"The servants would check on him when they clean your room!" Atem sat up, having about enough of Seto telling him how to raise his son.

"That is not enough! He needs to constantly be looked after! What if he becomes sick again?!"

"In two hours? I hardly doubt it." Yugi watched as his father and the man in blue argued again. When Atem started to raise his voice, Yugi screamed, wanting him to stop immediately. Ignoring Seto's last rude comment, he rushed over to Yugi's crib to see what was wrong.

"Oh, Yugi, shh … it's alright, Daddy's here …" Atem did not pick him up, just let Yugi hold his hands while the baby calmed down. Seto had to roll his eyes again.

"He's only two months old and he already has you wrapped around his tiny finger." Atem ignored that comment until he spoke.

"Seto …"

"What?" Now was when Atem picked Yugi up and held him at arm's length. The baby wondered why his father was looking at him like that.

"Is it just me being totally paranoid, or has this child not gained so much as an ounce since he's been born?"

"Mostly, it's just you being paranoid, but let me see." Atem cautiously handed Yugi to Seto, who whimpered and whined when he was in the strange arms. "Oh hush, I'll give you back in a second."

"Don't talk to him like that!" Seto held Yugi the same way that Atem did. The baby just blinked at him with an expression that asked 'what are you going to do with me?'

"Hmm … you're right … he is a bit underweight." Atem began to panic.

"Oh no … what am I going to do? My son is sick again! Do something!"

"Relax, Mrs. Drama Queen," Atem glared at his cousin, "he probably is gaining weight, just at a slower rate then normal; much like how he's still too small."

"So … you're saying that he's fine?"

"Yes, he's---" Suddenly, Seto felt something squirting on him. He looked down to see that Yugi peed on him, still being held in the same position with the same clueless expression. Atem had to cover his mouth in order to hide his laughter. Seto, on the other hand, did not find this amusing one bit. He looked at the baby, who held a look of innocence. "You were just waiting to do that, weren't you?" Yugi giggled and cooed. Atem could not help it. He did let out a small snicker.

"Um … want me to take him? It's time for his bath anyway." Seto disgustingly gave Yugi back to Atem, who wrapped the baby up in a blanket. "Nice work, Son." He whispered.

"I heard that!" Seto replied as he tried to clean his tunic.

---

The next day, Atem was playing with Yugi yet again. He held the baby in mid-air and brought him down to give him kisses as the child giggled and squirmed. Suddenly, Seto came in, telling him that the Pharaoh needed the Prince to accompany him to a crisis out in the middle of the city.

"What? He wants me to go with him now?"

"Yes, so get a move on!"

"Um … alright … um … here, you take care of this!" He said, giving Yugi to Seto as the child whined again.

"Wait, why can't Isis take care of him?"

"She's visiting her mother for a few hours. Don't worry, it's simple! Just let him play with his toys and he'll be happy. Here, he likes this ball." Seto looked at the ball in his hand.

"It's wet." Atem was not listening. He had to put his slippers on and get moving. Yugi made a noise that said 'wait, Daddy!' He held out his chubby arm, trying to get Atem to come back to him. The Prince did so and gave Yugi a big kiss on the forehead.

"I'll be back later, Yugi. You be a good boy for Seto." As that was said, Atem ran out of the room without looking back. Yugi looked at Seto, who slowly shook his head.

"Don't even think about it.

That night, Atem and his father came back. "All that just to find out that it was a market sale gone wrong!"

"Taking care of issues such as that is our duty, Atem." Atem turned to face his father.

"I realize that, Father. But I think it could have been something that the people could figure out for themselves."

"But you did not know that. It could have erupted into a fight." Atem slapped his forehead.

"That's what the guards are for; not only for protecting the palace, but to keep order in the city as well!" The Pharaoh sighed.

"Go to bed, my son. It has been a long day for the both of us."

"Well, my son probably will not let me since he likes to be up at all hours of the night." Suddenly, he heard a scream that sounded like…

"Yugi!" Atem ran to find the source of the scream. He ran all the way up several flights us stairs and down many hallways, turned three sharp turns, that he almost fell over, and finally skidded to a halt outside of his son's room. There, he could see that Yugi was giving Seto a hard time as he was trying to put the baby to bed.

"Come on, it's time for bed!" Yugi scream and struggled, trying to get away. Atem folded his arms and leaned in the doorway with a smirk on his face.

"You're not going to get anywhere like that, Seto." The priest was still trying to keep his grip on the squirming baby as he looked over to his smirking cousin.

"Then how do I get him to go to bed?!" Atem entered the room, still smiling an amused smile. Yugi spotted Atem and squealed loudly, extending an arm for Atem to take him away from this crazy man in blue.

"Give me my kid."

"Gladly." Once Yugi was safe in Atem's arms, or as safe as he felt, he snuggled into Atem's chest and then rested his head on the Prince's shoulder while the father rubbed his son's back.

"Shh … it's alright now, Little One. I'm here; shh …" The baby's cries turned to small hiccups and then downgraded to even smaller whimpers. "Shhh …" Seto was speechless. All night, he could not get the kid to stop screaming and whining. He even went to Isis to see if she could help, but came to no solution. It seemed that the baby just wanted his father to hold him, to protect him. After those few hours taking care of his second-cousin, Seto, at some time, told himself that he never wanted to have children. But seeing the way Atem stood there, swaying from side to side and rubbing the child's back, he could not help but feel a bit of jealousy. "Shhh … it's alright …" Soon, the baby's eyes began to droop. It was almost morning; Yugi's usual time to start settling down. The tantrum that the baby had thrown earlier had nearly wiped him out. It was not long before Yugi was off into Dreamland. Once he knew that his baby was asleep, Atem placed Yugi into his crib and covered him up with a blanket.

"How did you do that? He wouldn't shut up all night!" Atem chuckled.

"It's simple: all you have to do is rub his back. He can not sleep without his back rub. Seto blinked.

"That's all?"

"That's all." Both cousins took one last look at the baby in the crib, who brought his thumb to his mouth and sucked on it.

"Cute, isn't he?"

"I don't even know the meaning of that word, but yes; somewhere along those lines." Atem smirked.

"Oh, admit it! He's cute!"

"Fine, he's … cute." The Priest said, cringing as he did. "However, there's a limit to that cuteness."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because those lungs pack so much power, he could win a war just by throwing a tantrum. Yes, he'll make a very powerful Pharaoh in deed." Seto walked away, leaving Atem with some very interesting thoughts. He turned back to the baby and rubbed his cheek.

"Maybe, but I won't think about that so that I can enjoy these years while you're still young." In his sleep, the small baby smiled.