Chapter Text
“Atem…”
Atem looked up from his coffee, the steam pleasantly rising into his face, to tilt his head forward and nod at his partner. Yuugi had seemed a bit off lately, and it was clear to him that there was something important he was mulling over, but he knew better than to press for an answer simply because he was curious or concerned. Yuugi would tell him when he was ready, and hopefully now was the time.
“Atem…” Yuugi said again, clearing his throat and taking another sip of his spiced chai latte. He really needed to pluck up the courage and just ask his question, but it was a big question, and he didn’t really know how his other self would respond to it. This was something he had been thinking about ever since everyone had successfully made it home in one piece. Their lives together were linked… but still, he wanted everyone, him and Atem included, to live
their lives to their utmost.
He shifted uneasily in the wooden cafe chair and took another swig of tea, the gulp making an air bubble that slowly, plainfully made its way down his throat.
“Yuugi, my love, my star, please tell me what’s on your mind,” Atem whispered as he stared deeply into the pit of brown and creamy white that was his coffee cup. “You’ve been repeating my name for the past five minutes, and if I have to hear it one more time, I think I might go deaf.”
Atem was right, of course. He couldn’t keep stalling like that. Starting a conversation and then letting it peeter off into nothingness was so unlike either of them, really. After everything they had gone through together, Yuugi felt that he owed his other half more than what he was giving him. So, rather than start in on his attempted conversation for the umpteenth time, he quietly slid the small lovey from the bag at his feet and placed it at the center of their table.
Sitting snuggly between their coffee cups was a snow-white lovey, velvety soft on top and silky-smooth under, with a Blue-Eyes White Dragon plushie curled up into a tender ball of sleep quietly snoozing at the center of the little blanket.
“Kaiba’s gone and had an affair with someone and they’re having a child?”
Yuugi instantly choked on his tea, sputtering and laughing from the sheer indignation that both Kaiba and Jounouchi would have at such a brazen statement. Smacking his fist against his chest, he shook his head no before picking up the little security blanket and checking for any stains. It was still as pure white as the snow that lined the streets and topped every roof in the city.
“No?” Atem chuckled. Of course not… “But you can’t get pregnant, so what is this about, Aibou?”
Atem’s everlasting trust in Yuugi made a warmth surge through his whole body that the chai was unable to replicate. It wasn’t even within the realm of possibility that Yuugi would cheat on Atem in any way, and that thought alone, of boundless trust and love, set Yuugi’s soul aflame.
The cards were dealt. It was time to lay them out.
“Well… Have you ever thought about having kids? Not right now, I mean. But later, maybe? When we’re more established as adults and everything…”
Now it was Atem’s turn to sputter in surprise. This was not a conversation that he was expecting to have only six or so months after having been brought back from the dead. It was a stroke of pure luck that he didn’t happen to have any coffee in his mouth when Yuugi had spoken, or the shining white of the sleeping dragon’s nest would surely have turned splotchy. He cupped his mug tightly, letting the burning heat sear his flesh, and thought back to how he would plunge his hands slowly into sand dunes on hot, sunny days in order to feel the same exact thing.
It was a strangely grounding feeling, he realized.
“I must admit that I have not, apart from when father’s priests and advisors pretty much forced me to look for a suitable match,” he replied, noting the slightly pained look shimmering just at the back of his partner’s eyes. “I’m sorry, I know that’s not a particularly good time to reminisce about.”
Yuugi shook his head and smiled that same, soft smile as always. His partner was so full of understanding and patience that Atem wondered how one person could possibly be so forgiving.
“It’s fine. You made all of that fine, in the end. The mental anguish was all my fault the entire time anyway,” Yuugi grinned, a light blush tinting his cheeks. “Now’s different though. We don’t have any requirements or duties to anyone but ourselves… And despite the fact that we’re both, you know, boys, I can see myself raising a child with you… When the time is right, of course!”
The blush on Yuugi’s face was now a solid red, and Atem couldn’t help but stare at his partner with every fiber of his being in an attempt to burn the sight into his memory for all of time to come. Everything else faded into the background. The snow-lined window giving them a glimpse into the world outside, the idle chatter of the other patrons around them, the warm glow of the Christmas decorations that the coffee master had put up to celebrate… All of it faded into a blurry sense of warmth and belonging in the light of Yuugi’s eternal brightness.
“It’s fine, you don’t have to answer right away,” Yuugi hastily continued on, grabbing the baby’s plaything and quickly hoping down from his chair. “I’ll wait for your answer. Whenever you’re ready. It was just a thought, after all.”
Yuugi packed his belongings up and pointedly ignored the tugging at his soul. Atem’s indecision was clear as day to him, and even though that feeling was tinged with love and admiration, he just didn’t want to feel let down by having asked the question too soon. After all, they weren’t even in their twenties! Normal young adults weren’t contemplating parenthood so early in their lives… but then again, neither of them were normal.
After his partner’s hasty retreat, leaving Atem scrambling to thank their usual coffee shop owner before dashing out, the pair walked home in silence. Even dinner and their usual banter seemed less animated, under the pressure of such a question. Atem wondered if his indecision would be a dealbreaker. Their relationship as an official couple was still so fresh, even if they had loved each other for an eternity of lifetimes.
If only there was a way for me to know what I would be getting into. What is it really like to raise a child, anyway?
Everything he could remember from his childhood was clearly nothing like modern-day children’s upbringing, apart from the love and time spent doing it, of course, and even his time with Yuugi from within the puzzle wasn’t very telling, as by then he was an independent teenager with world and pharaoh-saving ambitions.
The pair fell asleep, snuggled close under their winter duvet, each one wondering whether they had made their relationship awkward, and how Christmas morning would go…