From Love Comes Great Joy, Part 16 : A Late Christmas Present

Soft snow fell upon the earth as carolers sang their Christmas songs just as the holiday was about to end. Everyone was content at home, children playing with their new presents and parents just relaxing before they are force to return to work the next day. At the Kaiba Mansion, it was no different.

Joey hummed softly to the songs outside, rubbing her belly as the twins moved gently around inside of her. She wasn’t sure how Seto would take her being a girl, but when she woke up that morning, she was surprised that he was already awake and was touching her affectionately as she slumbered before giving her a kiss good morning. He had never left her side at all today and she was glad for his support as their friends and loved ones came over for a small party. The blond couldn’t get over at how big Kamui and Naswha had gotten, and they were only three months old. Miyoko remained a bit small and cute, and Kamil had a look of mischief that made his father so proud. It made Joey wonder what her little ones would be like.

“It’s getting late,” Seto spoke suddenly as he looked at the clock. Mokuba had already gone to bed, complaining about growth pains and Nikore was staying with Yugi and Yami pretty much all of the time now, coming over on weekends or when she was needed.

“Mn,” Joey replied, trying to get up, but needed her husband’s help to do it.

“Let’s go to bed love,” Seto whispered lovingly, and Joey blushed delicately.

The two went to their room, helping each other in their night clothes, before lying down to sleep. Seto couldn’t help but admire his ‘wife’. Joey was so beautiful, and he wanted more than anything to show her just how much he loved her. However, now was not the time, not when she was so close to her due date, so he just admired her carefully.

Joey didn’t look much different in her female form besides the obvious, only much softer and rounder than her male form. Her lips were fuller and kissably soft, her eyes larger and can melt anyone’s heart. Her figure was slim, despite her pregnancy, and curvy enough for her to be a model, if Seto would ever let her be.

He laid on the bed and watched Joey’s belly, smiling each time as he saw an imprint of a hand or foot as his children moved.

* * * *

Isis smiled as she picked up her nephew, cradling the baby gently to her. It amazed her that Kamil had learned to crawl so quickly and practically had the run of the house.

“There’s my boy,” Marik said as he walked in from work, lifting his son up into his arms, “He didn’t cause you any trouble, did he?”

“None at all,” Isis replied, watching father and son bonding, “Malik will be wanting him back, though.”

“Then let’s go see mommy,” the yami stated and the two went off in search of Malik. With luck, they found him in the bathroom, filling the sink with warm water.

“Marik you’re home,” the platinum blond hikari smiled, giving his husband a kiss, “I was just getting ready to give Kamil a bath.”

“Then it was a good thing I caught him,” Marik laughed, handing Kamil to his mother, “I just got in when I saw him trying to get away with Isis.”

“He would not,” Malik stated, playfully punching his husband in the arm, “My son is a good boy.”

“He won’t be for long,” Marik grinned seductively, “Wait ‘til he’s old enough for me to start teaching him.”

“Teaching him what,” Malik frowned, taking off Kamil’s clothes and setting him in the sink to wash him.

“Why,” Marik replied innocently, as if Malik should know, “about being a tomb robber of course! I gotta pass down what I know to someone, you know.”

Malik sighed, it was the same argument as always, and smiled as Kamil gave off several giggles and splashed the water. “He’s not going to be robbing tombs when he gets older, and that’s final. Kamil can choose to do whatever he wants. He won’t be forced into anything... like I was.”

Marik flinched at the sadness in his husband’s voice and knew his taunting had hit a bad nerve. With a sigh, he walks behind his hikari and hugs him, watching his child over his shoulder.

“Gomen love,” he whispered, “I had forgotten what your childhood was like for you.”

“Forgiven,” Malik smiled softly. He could never stay mad at Marik for long.

They finish Kamil’s bath, dried him off, and had him dressed for the night. Marik watched like a fond witness as Malik fed Kamil one last bottle as he softly hummed a song, the lyrics long forgotten. It made him remember how his mother used to do that for him, before she was killed.

He knew then and there, he would make certain that Kamil will always have his mother and father, no matter what. And, after making that vow, he felt very content with what he had: a family.

* * * *

“And this is a trap card,” Sugoroku said as he showed Kamui the card, “You place this face-down on the field and activate it on your opponent’s turn to cause them much trouble and win the game.”

Kamui looked at the card before grabbing it with his chubby little fingers, then placing it in his mouth.

“Iie Kamui,” the elder cried out, taking the card back from him, “Cards are not for eating! They’re for playing!”

“Grandfather,” Yami sighed as he picked up his son, “He’s only three months old. It’s not like there’s going to be a baby tournament anytime soon. Besides, I highly doubt he can tell the difference between cards and food.”

“Hmph,” Sugoroku pouted, “Here I am, trying to teach my great-grandson how to play so he can become the King of Games when he’s older, and you’re telling me not to.”

“Like’s he’s going to need it right now,” Nikore said as she walked in with Yugi and Naswha in tow.

“Exactly,” the elder stated, “and that is why I am preparing him right now, so when he needs it, he knows what to do.”

Kamui had no idea what the old guy was talking about. He felt his little belly go off, and he began whining to get his message across to his three love ones.

“Nngh,” he called out, a few tears forming in his eyes.

“What’s the matter Kamui,” Yami asked, lifting the tri-color chibi up, “Are you hungry?”

“Ngh!”

“Then let’s get you a bottle,” Yami said as he walked off to the kitchen. Yugi followed along with Nikore, who placed Nashwa down on the couch.

“Well then,” Sugoroku grinned at his great granddaughter and held up a card, “This is a-“

Nashwa cooed as she grabbed the card and stuck it in her mouth, gumming on it.

* * * *

Seto awoke early, like always, and went to get ready for work quietly. He never really like waking up his koi at this hour, especially how grouchy Joey can be when she doesn’t get enough hours of sleep, and he went to the bathroom to get ready for work.

He came out later showered and dressed, combing the last of the tangles from his hair and straightening out his tie. He went to give Joey one last kiss good-bye, but was surprised to see her awake and watching him.

“Morning Seto,” Joey grinned softly, somehow finding a way to wake up at the same time as her husband.

“Morning to you too,” Seto smiled softly, leaning down. Joey lifted her hands and fixed his tie as the brunette gave her a deep kiss, “I gotta go.”

“I know,” the blond replied, then tried to sit up. Joey gave a loud cry as she felt a strong contraction clench on her already tight belly.

“Joey,” Seto called out, reaching for her. The sheet fell off to reveal Joey’s night clothes completely soaked in an unidentifiable fluid.

“Seto,” Joey whimpered, feeling like she was going to collapsed, but the pain kept her conscious.

“Fuck work today,” the CEO grabbed his cell phone, “I’m taking you to the hospital!”

* * * *

“Good morning,” James smiled as his son-in-law came into the kitchen with Miyoko. The baby was fussing a bit and Bakura looked like he got wasted and was dealing with a hangover as he gave a grunt of acknowledgement before searching the refrigerator for a bottle.

“Morning dad,” Ryou came in, chipper as ever, and went to get something to eat. Bakura plopped down in a chair and waited for the bottle to warm up in the microwave, shifting Miyoko in his arms.

“Morning koi,” Ryou smiled at his husband and child.

“Morning,” Bakura groaned, not looking up from Miyoko’s bubbling face.

“What’s the matter Bakura,” James had to ask, “You sound like you were up all night.”

“I feel that way,” the white-haired yami replied as he grabbed the warm bottle, tested it, then placed the nipple into Miyoko’s awaiting mouth, “I got a bad cramp in my neck that wouldn’t go away, no matter how many times I rubbed it. That’s why I can’t move my neck much and it’s hurts like a-“

“Bakura,” Ryou scolded, “Not in front of my angel.”

“Fine,” Bakura sighed, “Well, you get the picture.”

“I can rub it for you if you want,” the hikari offered, getting up to stand behind Bakura.

“That would be nice,” Bakura replied, then moaned as Ryou began kneading the tense muscles underneath the tanned skin. James went back to work at making breakfast, ignoring his small family for the moment, then placed the plates down to answer the phone.

“Hello?”

“Is Ryou home,” Malik asked, sounding like he was in a hurry.

“Just a moment,” the elder Bakura gave the phone to his son and went to eat.

“Hello?”

”Ryou,” Malik said excitedly, “You gotta come to the hospital. Joey’s giving birth!”

“Really,” Ryou exclaimed, “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“See you then,” Malik replied, “Ja.”

“Ja,” the white-haired hikari placed the phone down, “Joey’s in labor right now.”

“Nani,” Bakura asked, “This early in the morning? Kaiba’s gonna miss it while he’s at work.”

“Maybe he’s there and skip work.”

“Kaiba missing work,” Bakura giggled, taking the empty bottle away from Miyoko and patting her back, “Must be the end of the world.”

* * * *

“Joey,” Serenity called as she peeped into the hospital room, looking for her ‘sister’. Seto had called her to inform her that the babies were on their way and she wanted to see it. She also wanted their mother to be there, but ever since she found out that her son was gay, she never wanted to have anything to do with Joey again.

Serenity remembered that day Joey made the announcement to them. She was thrilled that her brother found someone that loved him, but their mother... didn’t take the news well at all. She had told them when they were little that Joey would be a bad influence on them and turn out like his father, the main reason why she left him with the drunk to begin with, and now considered him a freak and started a fight between the two. Mrs. Wheeler wanted to drag her daughter home and forbid her from seeing Joey ever again, but Serenity put her foot down on the situation. Since then neither woman talked about it, and Serenity was now in college, still refusing to talk to her mother.

“Right here,” Joey smiled at her precious sister as she walked in and gave her a hug, “Shouldn’t you be in school?”

“They gave me off when I told them it was a family emergency,” Serenity replied, giggling, “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve been better,” the blond said, giving off a hiss and deep breaths as a contraction hit her.

“Where’s Seto?”

“He went to make a phone call,” Joey panted, trying to sit up, “Somethin’ about his board gettin’ all pissy dat he’s not in work right now.”

“Get off the phone right now Oni-chan,” they turn to hear Nikore saying, “or else, I’m gonna give the board a piece of my mind and chuck the thing right out the window!”

“Just a minute ne-san,” Seto growled out as he walked in, “Did I stutter you twits? The surrogate mother having my kids is in labor right now, so I’m taking an emergency leave for the next few days. Call my sister if you need to, for I won’t have my cell phone on or answering any phones.”

He didn’t get another word in as the blond reploid grabbed the phone with a ‘yoink’ and tossed it out the window like she said she would.

“It’s about time you did that,” Mokuba rolled his eyes, “I can’t believe they don’t care that Joey’s in labor. Don’t they have kids of their own?”

“Beats me,” Nikore snorted.

“And you wonder why I don’t buy a fancy cell phone,” Seto pointed out, then gave a greeting to Serenity before sitting down next to Joey.

“So how is Oni-chan doing,” Serenity asked Nikore.

“The docs said one of her waters broke last night,” the middle Kaiba reported, acknowledging Lyla as she walked in, “They can’t say for sure how long ago, but the good news is that it may not have been that long. They’re gonna ship Joey to the operating room and do an ultra sound, just in case they need to do a C-section on him-er, her.”

“I don’t want a C-section,” Joey almost whimpered, hating the idea that she would be needing outside intervention for this, unlike the others who already had their kids naturally.

“There isn’t much choice in the matter,” Dr. Jarkiwa said as he walked in, “You are considered an at-risk patient right now Joey, and that means we have to take a lot of things into account. For example, because one of the bags of amniotic fluid broke, one of your children is at risk of infection from bacteria living inside the birth canal as each hour passes. Not to mention you are pregnant with twins, which holds a risk of one of them, or both, moving into a position that is unsuited for natural birth, so just consider it a last resort. We’ll do everything we can to make this a safe delivery as possible, but you must keep your options open, okay?”

Joey took a moment to digest this information, then nodded, seeing that the doctors were just taking no chances with the health and safety of his children.

“Now then,” the doctor said as an ultrasound machine was wheeled in, “Let’s see how you are progressing.”

Joey lifted her shirt up so the nurse can coat it with warm gel and Dr. Jarkiwa and move the device around smoothly.

“There’s the head of one twin,” he said as he used his finger to trace it out on the screen, “and there’s the other still in his sac. I can see they’re both head, down and in no danger of locking themselves up when they move. Baby A, over here, is coming down smoothly, so we should move Joey to the operating room now to have ourselves a baby.”

“Doctor,” a nurse said as she walked in, “There are some people downstairs who say they are friends of Joey Kaiba that want to see her.”

“Can my friends see me before I go,” Joey asked.

“Let me do one more check,” Dr. Jarkiwa replied as he placed a pair of gloves. The pregnant teen looked nervous, but relaxed slightly as Seto took her hand into his. The doctor did a check on Joey’s cervix, then nodded for the nurse to bring her friends up.

“We’ll delay bringing you to the operating room for at least a half an hour more,” he said as he got up to leave, “You are almost there Joey. Soon, you’ll be a proud mother.”

A few minutes later, talking can be heard and Yugi, Yami, Tristen, Mai, Bakura, Ryou, Malik, and Marik walked in.

“Ha,” Marik stated suddenly, “Told you he would be here. You owe me twenty bucks Bakura!”

“Urusai,” Bakura snarled. Seto, Joey, Mokuba, Nikore, and Serenity just blinked at the two and Yami sighed.

“They made a bet that Seto would be at work while Joey was here,” the former pharaoh explained as he and yugi walked over to give their wife a kiss.

“I would’ve been if Joey wasn’t awake this morning,” Seto replied with relief, glad that his blond ‘wife’ was awake at that time.

“Even so,” Mokuba stated, his cracking voice sounding like a squeak, “Ni-sama would’ve came hoe right away when we found out.”

Bakura and Marik had the funniest look on their faces after that speech, then they burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

“Your voice,” Bakura blurted between giggles and snorts, then he yelped as he duck from a sudden swipe from Nikore.

“Don’t make fun of my ototo,” she growled, “You went through the same thing too.”

“I can take care of myself Niki,” Mokuba stated, “but thanks anyway.”

“Yeah right,” Marik smirked, then regretted it when the growing kid head-butted him, but since he was smaller, hit him between the legs instead. Marik let out a cry and fell to the ground, voice more high-pitched than before.

“Told you,” Mokuba grinned.

Seto blinked.

Joey bursted out laughing.

Nikore grinned.

Yugi stared.

Yami tried not to cover up his groin.

Bakura laughed and pointed at Marik.

Ryou politely turned away, blushing.

Tristen and Mai said nothing.

Malik knelt down to see if his husband is okay. Marik couldn’t say much without whimpering, so he decides to check for himself.

“What the he-“ the words died in Tristen’s throat as Malik undid Marik’s pants and yanked them down, forgetting that his yami doesn’t like wearing underwear.

The girls in the room screamed.

Serenity hid her face in Seto’s shoulder, Joey in the other.

Most of the boys either turned away or were trying not to look at Marik’s privates that were flashing around.

“Damnit Malik,’ Nikore shouted through Yugi’s chest, which her face was currently buried in, “Couldn’t you have done that in the bathroom?”

“What’s going on here,” a rather buff nurse shouted as she walked in, being called by one of the patients when he heard a scream.

Needless to say, just about everyone was kicked out of the hospital.

* * * *

Joey actually felt better as she was wheeled into the operating room. Her friends always knew how to cheer her up.

Seto came in a short while later, dressed up like a doctor. Their siblings would have to wait outside until it was all over. He frowned at getting dressed up, but the frown was hidden by the mask he wore,and he sat down next to joey as the doctors did one final check before proceeding.

“Okay Joey,” Dr. Jarkiwa instructed, “on the next contraction, I want you to push, just like if you were having a bowel movement.”

Joey did as told, pushing on and off, and biting her lip so as to not scream. Seto held in hand, not wincing as she held it in an iron-grip, and whispered endearments and reassurances into her ear.

“I need you to stop pushing for a moment Joey,” Dr. Jarkiwa said suddenly, and the couple wondered if something was wrong. Looking up, Seto could see that the head of one of his children had slid out and they were cleaning out the nostrils and mouth. His eyes widen as he watch the rest of the infant slide out and begin crying, the doctors announcing it was a boy.

“Oh my god,” Joey cried out in relief as the baby was deposited into her awaiting arms, “Oh my god. My baby.”

Seto thought he was going to cry as he saw his son lying on his ‘wife’s chest, crying his little heart out. Then one of the nurses asked him to cut the cord.

His hand was shaking as he worked the scissors, having to cut twice to cut the umbilical cord off. One of the nurses then took the child over to have him clean and checked while the doctors went to check on Baby B.

“The cervix is back to eight centimeters,” one of the nurses reported, “and the bag of water has not broken yet. Should we do so?”

“Let’s give Joey a minute to rest,” Dr. Jarkiwa replied.

A half hour later, the nurses were wheeling Joey back into her room, holding two healthy babies in her arms.

* * * *

“Look at them,” Nikore squealed as she, Mokuba, and serenity got to see their nephews for the first time, “They’re sooo cute!”

“Their hands are so tiny,” Serenity cooed, “Hi there. I’m Aunt Serenity.”

“And I’m Unkie Mokuba,” Mokuba said proudly.

Seto smiled as his siblings welcome his sons into the world. He took one into his arms and examines him. The baby had a fuzz of blond hair upon his head andhis face was round and chubby. He opened two milky blue eyes at his father and gave a coo.

Joey smiled at her husband and look down at their other son. He had a fuzz of brown hair and brown eyes that were looking all around. The twins were not identical by no means, but fraternal. That would not change things, for they both will still be loved equally.

“So what are their names,” Serenity asked, laughing as the baby in Seto’s arms took her finger into his tiny hand.

“Takuya,” Seto replied, nodding his head to the baby in his arms, then turned towards Joey, “and Apollo.”

TBC

Author’s Notes: I wantd to make it longer, but I ran out of ideas. Epilogue is next and if anyone wants a sequel, email/review to let me know. Ja ne!