Chapter 28: Belt

Joan and Seto woke to Mokuba bouncing on the bed. "How are you two still asleep? Roland was worried about you but didn't want to disturb you."

Seto groaned and sat up, rubbing his head. He pointed to a pile of spent condoms with his other hand. "I'd like to see you pull that off and try waking up at a reasonable hour."

"Mmmmokuba!" Joan sat up and flung her arms around Mokuba. She pulled him down to the bed with her, snuggled into his chest, and attempted to fall back asleep.

"Come on Joan, what about that hike you wanted?" Mokuba persisted.

"Coffee," Joan mumbled.

Seto grumbled, got up, and stumbled to the kitchenette while Joan continued to restrain Mokuba. Seto returned a few minutes later with a cup of shitty hotel coffee and even shittier condiments.

Joan thanked Seto and sat up. She held the ceramic mug between two hands as it cooled and adjusted to the fact that morning had come too quickly. She'd been having an intense lucid dream about two brothers . . . and they were still here. Joan poked Mokuba to make sure he was real.

"What?" Mokuba asked.

She contacted a solid object, but that in and of itself wasn't enough evidence. She slid her hand around his bicep and palpated it before releasing a satisfied sigh.

"What!" Mokuba repeated.

"I've never woken up to brothers before."

Seto and Mokuba exchanged glances. They hadn't planned on falling in love with the same woman, but neither saw reason to deny the other happiness.

"Get used to it," Seto said, as much to himself as to the other two. He left to take a quick rinse in the shower and Joan followed suit while Mokuba ordered breakfast.

Joan dressed in her hiking boots, cargo pants, and a red T-shirt printed with "I'm with them" and two hands pointing fingers to each side. It had been a gift from her husband when they had a joint Valentine's Day dinner two years ago with her boyfriend at the time. Joan had taken it along as a backup in case something happened to her other clothes, but it turned out to come in handier than she initially anticipated.

Seto rummaged through the wardrobe and picked out the most casual clothes he could find. Mokuba had already borrowed his Kaiba Corp T-shirt and hadn't bothered to return it yet, so he settled on a plain white button-down shirt.

Seto finished buttoning his shirt and looked up at Joan. "Something's missing. Where's that belt we gave you?"

Joan blushed. "Sorry. I forgot to bring that back."

"Sorry?" Seto grabbed another belt out of his suitcase, pulled her close, and slipped the belt through the loops of her cargo pants while staring into her eyes. He secured the buckle. His hands lingered on her hips. "Now you own two. Don't wear pants in public without one."

Joan sensed that the KC belt was his way of stamping ownership on her, both for himself and for Mokuba: an inclusive form of ownership rather than an exclusive one. She allowed him to claim her mouth as well, her surrender genuine this time, responding to his probing tongue with equal curiosity.

Mokuba cleared his throat. "Breakfast is here."

Joan drew away from Seto and kissed Mokuba on her way to the dining table. She found Roland, Tamara, and Mokuba's bodyguard there, going over the day's itinerary. "Good morning, Mrs. Kaiba," Roland greeted. Warmth filled his voice, so different from the detached, professional demeanor he'd previously addressed her with.

"Good morning," Joan replied. She took a seat at the table and the brothers joined her. They ate while Roland outlined some basic safety protocols for hiking and informed them which supplies would be in which bodyguard's backpack. Joan offered to carry a backpack as well, but neither Roland nor the Kaiba brothers would hear of it.

After breakfast, everyone piled into the limo for an hour-long ride to Big Basin Redwoods State Park. Joan settled comfortably between Seto and Mokuba while the bodyguards watched and listened from the opposite side.

"So I talked to Michael," Mokuba began.

Seto tensed. "What did the wage monkey say?"

"OK, that's not cool," Mokuba said, "You seriously need to start calling him by his name."

"Since he doesn't care if I fuck his wife, why should he care what I call him?"

"Maybe you'll have to test that theory," Joan challenged.

"Why, so he can fling feces at me?"

Joan rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, princess."

Mokuba sighed. "If we're really in this for the long haul, we'll need to be civil to him at the very least. Can you at least use his last name as a sign of respect?"

"Depends on what it is," Seto replied.

"Wurzel," Joan said.

"Sounds like weasel. No wonder you rejected it."

"I actually like it. It means root in German. Ancient healers used a lot of roots, so we suspect his ancestors were healers."

"Whatever."

Joan decided to taunt Seto. "Maybe I'll hyphenate after the wedding. Wurzel-Kaiba-Aurelio."

"Do that and I'll sue you for every penny I've paid you thus far."

"Good luck with that. I already know Mokuba is going to take my side in the case."

Seto's glare shifted from Joan to Mokuba.

"She's right. Give it a rest, Seto. She has every right to go by whatever name she wants, with or without a wedding."

Seto's hand snaked around Joan's waist and clutched it. "Not when I'm paying her."

"True," Joan rubbed Seto's knee, "and you can always call me your whore. You'll never have to call me Wurzel, but I might hyphenate on paper. I'll have to think about it."

"Fine," Seto growled. "Mokuba, what did Wurzel say?"

"He said first of all that if an heir means that much to you, you could just buy some of Joan's eggs, use in vitro fertilization, and hire a surrogate to carry it to term," Mokuba said.

Seto blinked. Part of him felt stupid for not considering it earlier, but another part of him needed to see Joan swell with his child. It had to be inside her. "It wouldn't be the same."

"That's what I explained to Michael," Mokuba continued, "and he feels the same way. He also told me . . ."

Seto's jaw clenched and his head spun. He didn't catch Mokuba's next words but heard a soft. "Oh," from Joan.

"He wasn't quite sure how to approach you about it," Mokuba said.

Seto leaned his head back and rubbed his temples as he tried to catch back up to the conversation. Something was off. Joan's attitude had shifted dramatically.

"I don't blame him," Joan said. "It's hard to figure out how to break the ice on these things, but hearing it from you makes it not even seem real."

"Yeah, you two definitely need to talk on Monday," Mokuba agreed.

Seto's world dropped from under him. Joan's hand retracted from his knee and wrapped around Mokuba's body. "I just didn't see it coming," she said.

Seto leaned over Joan, blanketing her back with his body. He couldn't let her go, not so soon after finding her. Not ever.

Author's Note: I lost the side job that was funding my illustration budget, so I am dropping it for now. I have a few commissions I already paid for that should still be coming in, and I'll do what I can to get the other chapters illustrated, but no guarantees.

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