Blessed Moments (book 4)

Chapter 3: wake up call

"It's your turn." Yugi grumbles as he nudges me. I keep my eyes shut and pretend not to hear. Perhaps if I stay silent he will think I'm not awake. "Don't you dare pretend to be asleep Yami mutuo." He flicks me on the forehead. "I know when you are sleeping and when you are awake!"
"Are you Santa clause?" I grumble.
"No, but when you're sleeping you tend to curl around your pillow, but you're laying on your back." From the way it sounds I can imagine that he is smirking at me right now. "So get up."
I groan. "You are a real slave driver you know that Mr. Mutuo?"
"Yet you married me anyways." He yawns before his eyes slide shut once more.
"Very gladly." I whisper as I plant a gentle kiss on his nose before rising out of the warmth of my bed. I fight to stifle a groan as the cold air hits my skin. Why did I have to get out of bed again? My brain is so addled by exhaustion that I can't even think straight. That's when the ear piercing shrieks hit my ears.
It would seem that my children are awake. How fortunate for me. I glance at the clock. The red fluorescent numbers glow through the darkness showing me that it is only five in the morning. Why? Why must our children torture is so?
"I'm coming little ones, I'm coming." I yawn as I walk through the deserted hallway. My feet padding across the soft white carpet. The shrieks and bellows continue to grow louder and louder as I draw ever nearer to the bedroom door. "Save your oxygen little ones I'm here."
Heba lies in silence staring up at the ceiling with inquisitive crimson eyes while her brother thrashes and screams at the top of his lungs. Something about this situation doesn't seem right. I stare at Heba as I cradle Atemu in my arms, silver tears streaming down his cherubic cheeks.
"My peaceful boy why are you crying?" I coo to him. He continues to squeal and cry as his fat little fingers reach out for my face. "I'm right here, my little prince." His tan little fingers touch my face and the sleeves of his onesie fall down slightly. My eyes narrow as I take in the small red splotches that are scattered across his tan arms. That explains why Heba is refusing to look at me.
"Hmm..." I carry Atemu over to the corner of the room covered in toys. I lay him down on top of the soft purple blanket. As soon as his back touches the blanket he starts to reach for me, his fingers clenching and unclenching in a desperate attempt to make me come back. "Don't worry little one, I'll be back." I murmur as I hand him a plush of the dark magician which he pulls close to his form. His small lips stretching into a goofy grin as he gurgled and giggled with the toy in his grip. I plant a soft kiss upon his forehead, his short tricolored hair tickling my skin.
"Heba," I say scoldingly as I walk over to the edge of the crib. "Why did you hurt your brother? Pinching is rude." She merely stares up at me impassively, her small place fingers clenching and unclenching around the front of her pajamas. "You know what you did was wrong. I can tell just by looking at you."
"Yami?" I hear a soft yawn from the doorway. I glance over and see a half awake Yugi lingering in the doorway, his eyes half open. "What's going on?"
"Not too much, but I think we may need to separate Heba and Atemu when it comes to bedtime."
"What? Why?" Yugi blinks in confusion. "Where's Atemu?"
"Play corner." I answer softly, my eyes returning to Heba. Her small face remaining blank and impassive as she stares up at me. I can hear Yugi walk softly across the room and kneel down beside our son. Atemu's loud giggles alerting me that Yugi is besides him.
"So what is all of this about separating the twins?" He asks. His fingers dangling above Atemu as he giggles and tries to reach them. "I don't understand the sudden need for wanting to move one of them to a separate bed."
"Have you looked at Atemu's arms yet?"
"His arms?" Yugi murmurs. "What's wrong with his arms?" I look back at Yugi as he pulls back Atemu's small sleeves revealing the several small red marks all over both of his arms. "What happened?" Yugi squeaks.
"That," I respond with a pointed look at our little girl who is lying innocently in her crib. "Would be this ones doing."
"Heba?" Yugi asks incredulously.
"Naughty girl." I scold. "Someone should pinch you and show you how much it hurts."
"Yami," Yugi says warningly as he pulls Atemu into his arms, cradling his head in the palm of his hand. "You'll do no such thing."
"I was just saying Yugi." I mumble with a slight pout. "What concerns me though is that Heba knows exactly what she was doing."
"You can't know that."
"Just look at her face Yugi." I say with a grin. "She's a lot smarter than we give her credit for."
"I don't want to think that she did it on purpose." Yugi says with a small smile. "Let's keep our little innocent angel for a little while longer."
I chuckle. "A little angel that I'll be keeping my eye on." I grin from ear to ear. "Hear that little lady, I'm on to you." Heba smiles up at me and reaches her arms out for me.
"Awww she loves her daddy so much." Yugi smiles as I pull her into my arms, her small form fitting perfectly into the crook of my arm. "Naughty little one," he says as he taps her nose gently. "But she's just like her daddy." He grins as he kisses me gently on the lips.