Author's Note: In this reality, Kaiba Corporation is still huge, but dwarfed by Global Enterprises, Stellar Defense, and the other big boys. While Seto Kaiba still has considerable fame among the dueling world, he is not a universal household name.

Oh, and nobody wanted to name any characters, so I just picked some random ones for the minor ones and did not elaborate on them.

Music Lover's Alert: "True Colors" by Phil Collins… actually, that only works for part of it. If you have any more song suggestions, please let me know!

Chapter 13 Blind Date

Mokuba, Seto, and Serenity sat around the breakfast table together on a sunny Saturday morning. Their chef brought them deliciously prepared eggs, potatoes, and other hearty foods. Serenity gobbled the food down enthusiastically, feeding the tiny life inside her in addition to herself.

"Mokuba, do you have any plans today?" Serenity asked between bites.

"Um… one of my classmates at the university set me up on a blind date, but that's not until this evening. Why do you ask?" Mokuba replied. He ate heartily as well to support his impressive muscles while Seto only picked at his food as he reviewed his to-do list on his handheld electronic device.

"I want to pick out a crib for our daughter, but Seto is busy today. So, I was wondering if you would go shopping with me," Serenity said.

Mokuba shot Seto an odd look, but Seto didn't even look up from his gadget. Since he had no good excuse not to go shopping with his sister-in-law and it seemed like a moderately pleasant way to spend his afternoon, Mokuba said, "Yeah, I'll go with you."

Again, Seto did not look up from his device, nor did he engage in conversation throughout the rest of the meal. When he was done eating, he rose, gave Serenity a quick peck on the lips, and left for work.

As soon as he left, Mokuba said, "I was afraid of this."

"Afraid of what?" Serenity asked.

"He's acting like the typical CEO husband. Once the honeymoon phase is over, CEOs pretty much forget they even have wives."

"But this is an emergency," Serenity defended, "I'm sure things will go back to normal in a week or two."

"I hope so, too. It's just that I've seen the same thing happen in countless CEO families." Mokuba finished off his breakfast and laid his cloth napkin neatly on the table. "Anyway, I'm going to work out now. I'll see you this afternoon."

After Mokuba left, Serenity stared at the dirty dishes on the table while a maid picked them up. Could it be true? Serenity recalled her brief encounter with Mrs. Jones, the wife of Gilbert Jones. She was a large and seemingly cheerful woman, but behind her cordiality lay a deep loneliness. Serenity had seen pain in the woman's eyes. She almost wished she had taken time to befriend and get to know Mrs. Jones better, but the possibility of running into Mr. Jones again made her shudder. She never wanted to attend another corporate gala as long as she lived. She could barely stand to look at him on the TV. Although it had only been a few short years since Gilbert Jones had unleashed his deadly satellite weapons on millions of political dissenters around the world, he looked as if he had aged ten years. The very nature of his business seemed to take a toll on his soul. That couldn't possibly happen to Seto, Serenity reassured herself.

Eager to make the most of her day, Serenity left the dining room and went to her study. It was a beautiful, yet simple room that Seto had created for her. An elegant mahogany desk stood in the center of the room surrounded by matching bookshelves and a cabinet where she liked to keep a few extra medical supplies beyond a simple first-aid kit. The first-aid kits were present in all the restrooms in the mansion plus the kitchen.

Serenity picked up one of the books she had bought about infant care and sat down to read it. She became so engrossed in it that she barely noticed the passage of time until a sudden craving for egg drop soup with peanut butter and watermelon struck her. Serenity closed her book, placed her order with the chef via intercom, and wandered downstairs. Walking was getting more difficult for her every day, but luckily she was still able to make it around the house without any assistance.

Serenity met Mokuba in the dining room where they ate lunch together and headed to Domino Mall. They went straight for The Baby Shop, which sold everything that one could ever need to care for an infant. A middle-aged woman with lots of energy quickly offered them her assistance. "Can I help you find anything?"

"Yes please! I'm looking for things for my little girl's nursery, mainly a crib," Serenity said, patting her swollen belly.

"Is this your first child?" the woman asked.

"Yes," Serenity answered.

The woman turned her attention to Mokuba briefly. "You must be so proud," she said with a broad smile.

Mokuba wasn't sure how to react, so he just nodded and returned her smile.

"So," their assistant said, turning back to Serenity, "How big is your nursery going to be?"

"It's about from this shelf to that counter," Serenity said, pointing to a display that was about ten meters away from them.

The clerk's smile broadened even more. "So, you've got lots of space to fill then?"

Serenity nodded.

"Well, we better get started!" The woman started leading Serenity and Mokuba through the store. "Most people see the crib as the focal point of the nursery, and base the rest of the theme around it. Have you painted it yet?"

"No," Serenity answered.

"Good! Let's choose the crib first and then figure out the rest. Some of our cribs come with matching wallpaper and accessories. Do you have anything in particular in mind?"

Serenity and Mokuba through for a minute, then Mokuba spoke, "Our place is pretty big, so we probably won't be able to hear her from most rooms in the house. Is there some way we could hook an alert system into our intercom if she cries?"

The store clerk beamed. "Absolutely. We can do even better than that, actually." She stood behind a pink crib and rested her hands on it. "This is the Uh-Oh Alert 3000. It has special sensors that tell you exactly what your daughter needs. It is perfect for new parents, and makes it easy for Dad to lend a hand when Mom can't do it." She looked from Mokuba to Serenity, smiling as she spoke.

"That's so cool!" Serenity cried, "I'll take it!"

"What does your husband think?" the woman asked.

Not paying much attention to exactly what the store clerk was implying, Mokuba glanced at the price tag. "It's not cheap, but it's not outrageous, either. It's not a Schroeder item, so it will probably last a while. I don't recognize the corporation that put this together. Where is their factory?"

The woman shrugged, "I have no idea."

Mokuba was hoping to get something that was not constructed by slave labor, but with virtually no regulations on corporations these days, there was no way to be certain. Also, he knew that mentioning it could offend the clerk. "Well, I guess we'll never really know for sure, so we might as well get it," Mokuba said.

"Good! Let's pick out some other things, now," the store clerk said.

Serenity and Mokuba browsed through the rest of the store with the aid of the woman. When they had selected several more items, they took their purchases up to the cash register.

A girl with long, smooth black hair rang up their purchase. Strangely, the guy in front of her looked a lot like the guy in the picture her friend had sent her. He looked even cuter, actually. From the way his muscled bulged under his T-shirt, she decided that he must have an amazing body. His wife is so lucky, she thought to herself. The girl finished ringing up their purchases, and Serenity handed her a debit card. The girl looked down at the name on the card and almost had a heart attack. Serenity Kaiba!? That's… OMG! Mokuba wasn't supposed to have a wife!

"Is something wrong?" Serenity asked the girl behind the counter.

A drop of sweat glistened on the girl's forehead, "Oh, not at all! I'm sorry Mrs. Kaiba." The girl quickly swiped the card through her machine and handed it back to Serenity. "Now, just input your PIN on the keypad please."

Serenity pressed a few buttons on the machine that was facing her, and then waited for her receipt to print. The girl kept glancing at Mokuba and looking away awkwardly. Serenity wondered if she found Mokuba attractive and smiled pleasantly.

The receipt finished printing, and the girl handed it to Serenity. "Have a nice day," she said with the sweetest smile she could muster under the circumstances.

"Thank you," Serenity said kindly.

Mokuba picked up the crib while Serenity carried the other goods they had bought. Although the crib was in its box and not assembled, it was still huge and very heavy. Even so, Mokuba lifted it with ease. The crib came with a free delivery option, but Mokuba figured he could impress girls by carrying it around. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that walking around with a giant crib in a box drew even more attention to the fact that he was walking around with a pregnant woman.

The middle-aged store clerk and the young cash register operator watched them as they left. "Cute couple, don't you think?" The older woman said to the girl.

The girl sighed heavily. "Yeah. It's a shame he's cheating on her."

"What do you mean?" The older woman asked in surprise.

"He was supposed to be my blind date tonight. My best friend's boyfriend Paul set us up."

"No!"

"Yes!" The girl took out her cell-phone and showed the older woman the photo that she had received.

The older woman gasped! "I'm so sorry, Melody! Anyway, I say you forget about that creep and enjoy yourself tonight without him."

…Several Hours Later….

Mokuba got out of the limo a block away from the restaurant where he was supposed to meet his date and walked there. After several failed relationships, he had learned not to reveal too much about his financial status until after he had gotten to know a woman. Women tended to hide their true personalities when the prospect of snagging a rich husband was presented to them. They would cover up their flaws and act all strange.

Serenity was an exception to that rule. She was genuinely sweet to the core and never hid her true colors. Mokuba was not sure why she chose Seto over him, but he had a feeling it had something to do with a spitball he threw at her in junior high. Mokuba deeply regretted giving into that childish impulse, especially now that he was seriously looking for a girlfriend. He simply could not find one as beautiful and kind-hearted as Serenity. Tea seemed like a good person, but she now lived in Tokyo and Mokuba barely knew her in the first place. Furthermore, she was still holding out for her ex-boyfriend Yugi who had married Ishizu as a legal formality to protect the Millennium items from falling into the hands of Bakura. It was all so complicated.

Still, Mokuba was hopeful that tonight he might find true love. Mokuba reached the restaurant and looked around for his date. He did not know what she looked like, but he was told that she had long black hair and would be wearing a green dress. Mokuba found a girl matching that description and introduced himself, but the girl just backed away from him and ran to a guy who gave Mokuba a hostile stare.

After several minutes of looking and waiting, Mokuba pulled out his phone and called his classmate Paul, who had set him up on the date in the first place. "Hey Paul, I can't seem to find her. Could you find out if she's still coming?" Mokuba asked.

"Sure thing. I'll call you back and let you know," the other college student replied.

Mokuba hung his phone and waited for several more minutes. Then, his phone rang and he answered it immediately. "What's the verdict?"

"Look dude, I'm really sorry about this, but I don't think she's coming. When I called her, she was totally drunk. She was like, shouting some pretty nasty stuff at me, too. She wasn't making much sense, either. Sorry, man," Paul said.

"I don't get it. I thought you said she was classy and had a steady job and all that. Why would she drink before a date?"

"I don't know, man. She sounded really upset about something, though. She called me every name she could put her tongue to. She said some pretty shitty stuff about you, too."

"What did she say?" Mokuba inquired.

"It was pretty incoherent, but she kept using the phrase 'rat bastard.' I'm really sorry, man. I thought she was too classy to use that kind of language, but I guess I was wrong."

"So, I came out here for nothing?" Mokuba asked, disappointed.

"Pretty much," Paul replied.

"Mokuba sighed and said, "Fine. I'll see you in class on Tuesday."

"See you then, dude."

Mokuba hung up the phone and stared into the twilight sky. He thanked the heavens that he had found out about the girl's drinking problem before she had found out about his money. He briefly considered eating at the restaurant alone, but the thought of having nobody to keep him company did not sit well with him. At home, he could at least watch TV if Seto and Serenity were not available. He called his driver to come pick him up at the restaurant and went home.

As soon as Mokuba got home, Serenity greeted him with a soft smile. "You're back early. Did everything go OK?"

Mokuba shrugged. "I guess. I got stood up, but it's kind-of a good thing because the girl turned out to be an alcoholic anyway. Is Seto home yet?"

Serenity shook her head. "He sent me a text message saying that he would be late. So, do you want to watch another movie with me or something?"

"That sounds great!" Mokuba agreed.

The two of them settled down on the soft white leather couch in front of the giant flat-screen TV and picked another movie to watch while their chef prepared dinner for them.

Closing Note: So, the lesson here is not to make assumptions, jump to conclusions, or judge people. You never know what is going on with someone until you ask.

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