Music Lover's Alert: If you enjoy listening to music while you read, I recommend "Promises" by Savage Garden.
Chapter 26 First Words
One fine Saturday morning, the whole Kaiba family sat around the dining table for breakfast. Janet squirmed in a highchair while Serenity spooned goop into her mouth. Seto had his laptop open, keeping one eye on Pattel's stock prices and the other eye on his breakfast. Mokuba sat on the other side of Janet, making sure that she didn't make too much of a mess when Serenity's spoon missed her daughter's mouth.
"Ga-ga-ga-ba-ba-da-da-da-do-do-doo…" Janet babbled as food slpooshed out of her mouth and onto her bib. It almost dripped into her lap, but Mokuba caught it just in time.
"Now Janet, you're making this very difficult for your mom and Uncle Mokuba. The more you try to talk while you eat, the more Mokuba has to clean up after you," Mokuba said in a kind, friendly voice.
"Mokuba!" Janet declared loudly.
Seto's chopsticks clattered onto the table. Everyone looked at Janet and froze.
Janet reached out to Mokuba and tugged on his long black hair. "Mokuba," she said again with a big smile.
Mokuba and Serenity gulped while Seto looked at them with penetrating electric blue eyes. A smile slowly spread across Seto's mouth. "That was her first word, wasn't it?" the CEO mused.
Serenity and Mokuba nodded.
"And I was actually here to hear it. Wow!" Seto jumped out of his seat and gave everyone hugs - first Mokuba, then Serenity, then Janet.
Janet was so unaccustomed to having her father approach her so rapidly that she squealed, "Moko! Moko!" in distress.
"Aw! She's so cute. Let's get her to say my name next," Seto said in excitement.
Janet let out a big, loud cry.
"Seto, let go of her. You're scaring her," Serenity pleaded.
Grudgingly, Seto backed away from Janet and let Serenity soothe her. Seto sat down beside Mokuba with his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand. "Why does she like you better than me?" he said dejectedly.
"I don't know. I just spend more time with her, I guess," Mokuba replied.
Once Serenity had calmed Janet down, she said, "You did such a good job! That's Uncle Mokuba."
"Unk- Unk Mokuba," Janet repeated happily.
"Now, let's learn your daddy's name. That's Daddy Seto," she said as she pointed to her husband.
Janet babbled some nonsense and grabbed the fabric of Serenity's pink shirt.
"Daddy Seto," Serenity said again more firmly.
"Mokuba."
Serenity pointed to Mokuba, and then to Seto to clarify. "Uncle Mokuba, Daddy Seto."
"Mokuba Unk Daddy"
Seto was obviously starting to grow impatient. "I'm Daddy Seto!" he nearly growled.
"Seto, calm down. These things take time," Mokuba assured his older brother. He then addressed Janet while pointing at Seto. "Daddy Seto," he said clearly.
"Daddy Seto," Janet repeated.
"Yes!" Seto hollered triumphantly. He jumped up again, grabbed Serenity, and twirled around the room with her. Then, he kissed her sever times while saying, "We have the most… wonderful… smartest… beautiful… daughter ever! Let's… make… another one!"
"What if it turns out to be a boy next time?" Serenity said with a giggle.
"Doesn't matter. Either way, I love you!" Seto proclaimed.
"I love you, too," Serenity said.
Just then, Seto's phone rang. He dropped everything and went to answer it. "Kaiba. This better be important," he barked to the person on the other end of the line. After listening for about a minute, he said, "Fine. I'll be right over," and shut the phone.
"What is it?" Serenity asked, sensing that something was wrong.
"Pattel Corporation is back in the game. This time, Bakura is lending them a helping hand. I need to go defend my territory. Politics." Seto gave Serenity a quick peck on the lips, and then turned to Mokuba. "It looks like you're the man of the house again. Take good care of my girls for me."
"I will," Mokuba promised.
Seto then alerted his limo driver to get ready and picked up his laptop. Serenity and Mokuba watched him leave.
As soon as he was gone, Serenity drifted into Mokuba's arms. "I guess it's just us again," she said softly.
"Do you think he really meant what he said in every sense of the word?" Mokuba wondered. He kissed Serenity on the forehead and stroked her hair.
"Uncle Mokuba!" Janet exclaimed, waving her arms to get his attention.
Mokuba smiled and said, "Yes, Janet. I'm Uncle Mokuba."
Serenity let go of Mokuba and turned towards her daughter. "Come on, Janet. We have a big day ahead of us"
"Jant" Janet said happily.
"Yes, that's you, Janet. You're picking up new words fast. Let's go to the park today and learn some more," Serenity said.
The Kaibas finished their breakfast together. Then, Serenity loaded Janet into a stroller and left the house with Mokuba. They went to Domino's central park and strolled along a pond filled with ducks.
Suddenly, a familiar voice called from across the park, "Serenity, hun! Fancy meeting you here!"
Serenity looked in the direction of the voice to see a buxom blonde with bright violet eyes waving madly at her. Standing right beside her no taller than her knee was a little boy with hair that matched his mother's.
"Hi Mai! It's great to see you," Serenity replied cheerfully.
Mai placed a hand on her son's head. "Hermos, this is Aunt Serenity, Cousin Janet, and Uncle Mokuba. Say hi to them."
"Hi," the boy replied dutifully.
"Hi!" Janet squealed with excitement.
"I see you have her talking. Does she walk yet?" Mai asked.
"No, She just started talking today, actually," Serenity admitted.
Just then, Joey came running up to the group with a couple of hot dogs and handed one to Mai. "Hey sis, hey Mokuba. If I knew that you were here I would have grabbed you some grub, too."
"It's OK. We're still full from breakfast," said Mokuba.
Serenity gave Joey a hug and Janet burst out with, "Daddy Seto!"
Joey looked around in confusion. "Hey, where is old moneybags, anyway?"
"He's at work. He had an emergency of some sort, so he told Mokuba to hang out with us today," Serenity explained.
Joey looked at Mokuba with a mixture of admiration and concern in his soft brown eyes. "Wow man! I really appreciate you keeping my sister company when you could have been out on a date or something, but you could have called me, you know. I'll hang out with my sis any day!"
Mokuba blushed a little. "I don't mind, really. I like hanging out with Serenity."
Joey slung an arm around Mokuba's broad shoulders and pulled him aside while the ladies fawned over each other's offspring. "Dude, let me lay this out for you: You've got to go out and meet some chicks."
"OK… I can meet women while I'm out with Serenity, right?" Mokuba said innocently.
"Wrong. You look too much like a couple when you're together. Chicks will get the wrong impression. They'll think you're her husband rather than her brother-in-law."
"You really think so?" Mokuba asked curiously.
"Yeah, and it will drive all the other chicks away. You don't want that, do you?"
Mokuba hesitated. "I guess not."
"Look, I'll take care of Serenity for the rest of the day. You go pick up a girl."
Mokuba opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came. He thought about telling Joey about his relationship with Serenity, but somehow it did not seem right to spill the beans without her permission.
"No, don't thank me. This is the kind of thing bros do for each other. If I was single, you'd do the same for me. Now get out there!" Joey slapped Mokuba on the back and pushed him away from Serenity, Mai, and the children.
Mokuba turned to look back at Serenity, but she was too busy chatting with Hermos to catch his gaze. "OK, Joey. I'll see you later then," he said awkwardly.
"That's the spirit!" Joey gave Mokuba a big grin and two thumbs up as he departed.
Mokuba left the park and wandered aimlessly through Domino. Just as Joey had predicted, several young ladies made eye contact with him. Mokuba smiled back at them, but he simply was not in the mood to take things any further. He felt so fake trying to flirt with women he did now know. What was the point? He had dated enough women to know that most of them were shallow and just not very interesting. Serenity, on the other hand, had won his heart long before he kissed her. If he was going to fall in love with another woman, he wanted it to happen slowly, naturally.
Mokuba strolled by the place where Solomon Moto's game shop once stood. It had been bought by a candy company called Bestle a few months ago when Yugi's grandfather retired. Yugi himself now lived in Egypt with his wife Ishizu. Yugi sent letters to Joey from time to time, but for the most part he led an isolated existence digging up artifacts. Mokuba sometimes wondered why the King of Games had decided to leave his friends behind. Maybe Yugi just got sick of all the publicity and wanted to settle down. At least Yugi kept in touch even if his life was boring.
Come to think of it, Yugi's absence was not nearly as strange as Tristan or Duke's disappearance. Mokuba had not heard a word from either of them in years even though both of them had once expressed interest in Serenity. Despite Mokuba's curiosity, he also knew it was none of his business. He could easily hack into government files to locate them, but they were Yugi and Joey's friends, not his.