The next day after breakfast, Ryo returned to the castle. He walked into the dining room, snuck up behind Mokuba, and kissed his head.
Mokuba chose to read one of the new books Seto and Yami had gotten for him rather than the funnies in the paper. After feeling the kiss on his head, he looked up and smiled brightly. "Big Brother!" he exclaimed, then he got up and hugged Ryo tight.
Ryo gladly accepted the embrace and hugged back just as tight.
Hearing Mokuba call out, everyone looked up and was surprised to see Ryo.
"Ryo, what are you doing here? We weren't expecting you for a few more days." Yami said.
"We were told your parents were in town. I would have thought you'd be spending more time with them." Seto said.
"They are, but I also told them a lot about Mokuba. I promised them that I'd talk to you and Yami and see if it'd be all right if he stayed with us for the weekend. I realize it's his first Christmas and you probably have a lot of plans, but I promised I'd at least ask. If not the whole weekend, maybe just the night." Ryo said.
"What do you think, Seto?" Yami asked.
"If you're asking if I like the idea, then no, I don't."
Ryo sighed. "I understand…"
But before Ryo could say anything else Seto said, "However, Mokuba is your little brother too. You should be allowed time with him as well. We didn't really have any great plans. As much as we have looked forward to Christmas, we never went into a lot of plans. We have things we've been putting off anyway to spend time with him. This will give us a chance to catch up and hopefully get ahead to spend more time with him."
Ryo understood that Seto was thinking of Mokuba's safety. He was very protective of Mokuba.
Mokuba, however, was confused. "W-what's going on?"
Ryo smiled at him. "Seto's saying you can come spend the weekend with me at my place."
Mokuba was shocked. He too knew how overprotective Seto was of him. He walked over to him and asked, "Are y-you sure it's okay, big brother?"
Seto looked at the boy and hugged him. "Of course it's okay." Then he pulled him up. "If you want to go, that is."
Mokuba nodded, but he also wanted Yami's permission, so he looked at him and asked, "C-can I go, big b-brother?"
Yami smiled. "Would you like to?"
Mokuba nodded.
"Come here."
Mokuba walked over to Yami. "You be good and listen to what Ryo tells you. We'll see you when you get home."
Mokuba smiled and hugged him. "T-thank you big brother!'' It was then that Mokuba remembered that they were supposed to spend the day together. "I f-forgot. We w-were suppose to s-spend the day together."
Yami smiled, "It's all right, kiddo. There will be other days. I promise we'll do it another day. You go and have fun with Ryo. There's always next weekend."
"Y-you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
Maura wasn't happy. She didn't know they were going to spend the day together. She wanted to ask why she wasn't invited, but decided that maybe it'd be best if she didn't.
Mokuba hugged Yami again, and then he turned and hugged Seto.
Seto hugged back. Then he patted his back and said, "Run upstairs and pack. Then come back in here."
"Okay big brother!" Mokuba said and ran off to go pack.
After Mokuba was out of ear shot, Seto turned to Ryo and said, "It's not that I don't trust you Ryo, but…"
"But my house isn't that far from his old home. I promise I'll keep a close eye on him."
"Good. Be sure that you do." Seto said. "I want him returned here Monday morning safe and sound!"
Ryo didn't argue. It meant a lot to him that Seto was trusting him to take care of Mokuba, even for the weekend. After everything they'd been through, he was greatly surprised Seto was allowing this. After all, he did take off with the boy for four months. Now Seto was allowing him to keep the boy for the whole weekend, it meant a great deal.
Yami turned to Maura and said, "Maura, I think you should spend more time with your sisters while they're here."
Maura sighed. "Okay big brother."
As much as she loved her sisters, she was scared. Diana had already asked her to come live with her and Mahaado. Maura knew that they would be expecting an answer to the question. She knew what answer they wanted and what it really should be, but she just couldn't make up her mind. She loved her life here. A part of her felt that Mokuba needed her. The other part of her felt that the only thing that her sister really wanted was a babysitter. Not that she didn't want to see her nephew grow up and be a part of his life, but she wanted to be a part of a family. She had serious doubts that she would be. Here she was allowed to be a kid, to laugh and run and play: things her stepmother never allowed. Now, after meeting Mahaado, she was sure she'd be either strictly a babysitter or what she truly believed would happen. Half the time she'd spend being a babysitter, and then the rest of the time she would be forced to learn to be a proper princess. Later, she'd be married off to the first potential prince or king that came along and took a liking to her. She had thought about asking why now did they suddenly want her, but she didn't have the courage for it.
x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x
"When Mokuba gets back we should see about the present we got him and Maura." Yami told Ryo.
"What kind of present, big brother?" Maura asked. She'd seen the saddle and assumed they got him a horse. Now she was wondering if she got one too. She couldn't wait to see! If she did get one she wondered what it'd look like.