Chapter 20

Almost as soon as Taylor had spotted them, he'd thrown his arms around Drake in delight. For a moment or two Lus just stood there watching them awkwardly; he'd never felt like a third wheel before and he couldn't exactly say it was a comfortable sensation.

'So…' he half shifted his gaze away, 'you met SK's new mail-girl yet?'

Taylor shot him a strange look for a moment. Then his face took on an expression of immense understanding and he gave a nod.

'She around?'

'Wait, what new mail-girl?' Drake frowned.

'The one who delivered all our mail yesterday,' Lus couldn't help but smirk, 'I met her when she was doing mine. She's a little… unusual. But then I only met her for about five seconds, so what would I know?'

His eyes glanced towards Taylor, who appeared to be evaluating him carefully.

'So… what is she like?'

'Tay still can't talk Lus,' Drake shook his head, as he curled himself into his boyfriend, 'so asking him that isn't going to get you an answer.'

'It might,' he allowed his voice to edge with almost subtle tones, 'I mean, he has other ways of getting things across, doesn't he?'

'We didn't come here so you could check out SK's new assistant. We came here to see Tay.'

'Of course we did,' he averted his gaze a little more fully this time, 'but I see no harm in at least inquiring about her. I mean, she might have been a little… odd, but she was kind of cute.'

'Don't tell me that's the real reason you brought me here,' Drake looked almost annoyed, 'it's not fair to prey on my feelings like that.'

'I wasn't preying on your feelings. I just figured as no one else was offering to get you up here, I might as well. Just because I had my own reasons for wanting to see Tay, doesn't mean I didn't care about you in all this.'

'Hmm…'

'Okay,' he held his hands up, 'I admit I was being a little selfish here, but can you blame me? I mean, I have been through just as much as the rest of you or do you think I enjoy having to wear clothes two sizes too big for me?'

'So just because you've been ill you have the right to check out any girl that crosses your path?'

'Hey, this isn't just any girl we're talking about here. This girl is probably going to end up having a huge influence over our lives; that has to deserve a little interest, don't you think?'

'I think…'

Before Drake could get any further, Taylor placed a hand in front of him in order to silence him. He then met Lus's gaze and gave him a strangely knowing look and indicated that they both should follow him. He led them down along the corridors towards SK's office and almost as soon as they entered the old Mistresses' Helper lifted his gaze towards them.

'Lus, Drake, what are you doing here?'

'Well I thought we were just visiting Tay,' Drake pouted slightly, 'but Lus just wanted to use me as a cover so he could check out your new mail-girl.'

'Mail-girl,' SK frowned, before licking his lips, 'you mean Kisara? I just sent her off to deliver Tay's mail. She's due back any minute now though.'

'Who's due back any minute now?' Kisara's voice sounded from behind Lus, making him automatically spin round. 'Oh gee,' she blinked at him for a moment, before smiling brightly. 'Hi, you're Lus, right. Nice to see you again.'

'Ditto,' Lus grinned, 'do you have time to hang out with us now or…' his eyes shot back towards SK.

'She was going to need to get to know you guys eventually,' SK rolled his eyes, 'so now is as good a time as any. Just remember to introduce her to Ara whilst you're at it; just because he's currently agoraphobic doesn't mean he should be left out of these things.'

'Right,' Lus nodded, 'I'll take her down to meet him when Drake and Tay decide they need some alone time.'

'Drake?' Kisara sounded alarmed. 'Oh gee, there's an Ashmar here?'

'You have something against Ashmars?' Drake frowned at her.

'Um…' she averted her gaze, 'no, not exactly.'

'Then what is it?'

'It's complicated,' her face appeared to force a smile, 'but I guess I have to get used to this, right?'

'Get used to what?'

'Having to associate with Ashmars.'

'You act as if you couldn't imagine a worse kind of torture,' it was clear from Drake's voice he was upset.

'I'm sure that's not it,' Lus tried to make it all as casual as possible, 'she probably just feels overwhelmed at the thought of having to deal with Silkoneon royalty.'

Drake looked ready to protest, but Taylor placed reassuring hand on his shoulder, stopping him from saying anything at all. For a few moments the four of them stood in silence.

'This is an office, not a make-out point you know,' SK rolled his eyes again as his tongue made another pass over his lips. 'So why don't you guys go hang out somewhere else; I've got work to get on with.'

Taking a deep breath, Yugi placed a hand on the handle of his front door. Then, after a moment of hesitation, let himself in. He'd barely been home in days and he knew Téa was probably going out of her mind by now, but he couldn't help it. After becoming the Face of Friendship everything had overwhelmed him. He'd just needed to get away. To sort his head out. And now that it was, he saw no reason not to come back home and smooth things over with his probably frantic wife.

He found her sat in a strange kind of calm at the kitchen table. She had the family laptop set up in front of her and appeared to be almost blissfully reading something. For a few moments he couldn't help but wonder what had gone so terribly wrong with this picture. It wasn't that he'd wanted to upset his wife by leaving, but the pair of them had always been drawn together by their neurotic sense of guilt complexes. The fact she was so calm stung him more than slightly.

'I'm sorry I was gone so long,' his apology had a dry kind of muteness to it.

'It's alright,' her gaze remained focused on the screen, 'Lus explained things to me last night; I know this has been hard on you.'

'Did you miss me?' Yugi took a step towards her and was almost glad to feel the strange wash of un-calm emotions which flowed out of her.

'Of course I did,' her voice remained level, 'I'm sorry I was making things so hard for you to be around here.'

'Is that why you're pretending to be so calm?'

'It's not all pretence.'

'What do you mean?' Yugi couldn't help but frown. 'I can feel that you're not as calm as you're trying to make out you are.'

'But can you feel why?'

For a few moments he concentrated on the emotions he was sensing from her. It was true she was far from calm, but she wasn't anxious or worried. She was excited.

'Téa…'

'I was thinking Amy.'

'What?'

'It's going to be a girl this time, I'm sure. And I think she should be called Amy.'

'Téa…?'

'We probably should think about moving to a bigger flat though. I don't somehow see Lus wanting to share his room after all this time and certainly not with a girl.'

'Are… are you…?'

'I guess we should break this to Lus as soon as he's back,' she continued, in an almost strange kind of daze. 'I'm not quite sure where he's gone, but hopefully he should be back soon.'

'Téa,' he gripped her shoulders and forced her to meet his gaze, 'are you pregnant.'

'Yes,' she nodded as her face pulled into a huge smile, 'and I feel great.'