Title: Wish (Epilogue)

Author: WhosJeebus

Rating: M

Pairing(s): Joey/Seto, scads of others, & even a few surprises

Beta: Jennie B. (Oy, vey! Such a godsend, she is!) & AngryHamster (much obliged for stepping in to provide backup)

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, but if someone wants to give it to
me as a Christmas gift, I certainly won't argue about it...

Summary: Seto won't be home for the holidays, but can Joey's friends
and family manage to show him a holly jolly time, anyway? Sometimes,
Christmas miracleshappen in the most unexpected of ways...

A/N: OMG, it's finally over with. I'm so, SO sorry for being overduewith this, and for being such an unreliable shit about review replies. I have no excuse, and besides,I'm sure you guys have heard it all before.

First off, let me say a big THANK YOU to all those who bothered to leave me feedback about this piece. Every review means a lot, and I don't want ANYONE to think that I'm an ungrateful wretch. Wretched, yes, but not unappreciative. Just very, very busy...

Secondly, it has been brought to my attention that I used the word cum in the previous chapter (and it wasn't LATIN, that's for damned sure), and for that I must also wholeheartedly apologize. Again, I have no excuse, other than the fact that I wrote this story around the hectic holidays, while suffering from a nasty head cold and extended lack of sleep. There are large chunks of this fic that I don't even remember writing, and my beta never called me on the use of that appalling word. I will summarily spank myself, and I assure you that it will never happen again.

Anyway, it's a wrap now, and I hope that most of you are happy with it. Much love and glomping, and a verybelated MERRY CHRISTMAS!

xxxxxxxxxxXXXXXxxxxxxxxxx

Epilogue:
(Christmas Day)

Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, Joey was startled awake when his head fell over to rest in an uncomfortable position. He blinked rapidly, trying to place his surroundings. He smelled the faint scent of woodsmoke, pine sap and... cranberries? Sore, stiff, and thoroughly confused for the space of several heartbeats, he gradually realized that he was lying cushioned against a warm, firm body. Seto shifted in his sleep, bringing his arms up around Joey's chest, and in a flash, the previous day's events came rushing back to him. He smiled to himself in the darkness, and kissed the inside of Seto's wrist, attempting to gently wake him. They couldn't stay here all night long, and Seto could probably still use a decent night's sleep in a real bed. Joey crawled over and flicked on the table lamp, squinting his eyes against the light that flooded the room. Seto grunted and rolled onto his side, tucking himself even further up under the tree, and sullenly tugging a blanket over his face. "Light. Off."

"Get up, or I'm gonna stick you in a box and leave you under there -- airholes optional." He nudged Seto in the ribs with his toes.

The reaction was immediate. "Jesus, Joey! Your feet are freezing!"

"It's not my fault that you're a blanket hog. Now get up off the floor, or I'm just gonna have to look harder for a warm spot to stick my foot." Seto merely attempted to curl up tighter into a ball, making himself as small a target as possible. Joey gazed down at him, exasperated, then suddenly began to laugh -- in lengthy, wheezing guffaws that shook his entire body. Helpless, he collapsed backwards onto the nearest piece of furniture.

As badly as Seto wanted to be left alone to sleep, Joey's laughter was impossible to ignore. What the hell was so funny? He sighed grumpily. "Mind filling me in on the joke, Mutt?"

Joey pointed at Seto's backside and gasped out, "You have --" He covered his mouth, still chuckling. "You have pine needles stuck to your butt!"

Flustered, Seto twisted around to take a look. "Dammit, Joey! They're everywhere! Did you water the Christmas tree while I was gone?"

"Uh... I told Mokuba to do it."

"Well, that explains it." A thought had just occurred to him. "Shit. Please tell me that Mokuba wasn't here last night. We weren't exactly... quiet."

"We didn't exactly even bother to shut the door, either, " Joey teased. "But, no worries. He probably got snowed in at Duke's party or spent the night over at Yug's." Joey stood up and stretched leisurely, glancing at the clock on the mantel. "It's still pretty damn early, so if you wanted to catch some more shut-eye, you should probably go on up to bed. I bet you're jet-lagged all to hell and back after that stunt you pulled yesterday."

Seto nodded again, pulling himself up onto his feet and brushing off stray pine needles. He took a moment to enjoy the sight of Joey, still unabashedly naked, leaning casually against the leather sofa and looking thoroughly debauched. "I like the bed idea, " he murmured as he slunk up behind the blond and took him into his arms. "Are you coming with?"

"As temptin' as that sounds, " he began, leaning back and reaching up to caress the side of Seto's face. "and as temptin' as you are, I have a huge Christmas dinner to prepare, and only little ole me to do it."

Seto looked surprised. "I'd almost forgotten about that. Do you need any help?"

Joey opened his mouth to gratefully inform Seto that he'd love to have an extra set of hands in the kitchen, but then he recalled Mokuba's cautionary tale from earlier in the week. He closed his mouth with a snap and shook his head. "That's OK. I think I've got everything under control. You can come keep me company if you want." His brain had already kicked into overdrive, once again envisioning the infamous flaming turkey incident in full, technicolor glory. As Joey gazed benignly up at his lover, he was forced to bite his tongue to keep from laughing out loud right in Seto's face -- a gesture that would most likely not be appreciated. Sometimes, his overactive imagination was a curse as well as a blessing.

Thinking back to the revelation of this titillating little tale, Joey was reminded of something else that Seto might not necessarily appreciate. Mokuba had no idea that Seto was back in town, and now the teen wouldn't have the opportunity to soften his big brother up before the mysterious boyfriend showed up for dinner. For that matter, would Seto be angry with him for inviting a total stranger over in the first place? It was a rather private family matter, after all... He chewed his bottom lip nervously, unaware of Seto's scrutiny.

Seto watched, fascinated, as Joey's face passed through a wide variety of emotions in the space of several seconds. He'd bounced all over the place there for awhile -- from aroused, to appreciative, then on to cautious, followed by amused, and then reticent. Now, he just looked pained. "Joey, what's wrong? What aren't you telling me here?"

Joey stepped away from Seto's embrace. "Maybe you'd better sit down for this one."

"I'm standing in the middle of my den, stark naked. How is sitting down going to put me more at ease?" Joey continued to waffle, his face becoming even more pinched, and now he'd thrown in a bit of hand-wringing on the side. Sighing, Seto sat down on the couch and crossed his legs, giving Joey his full attention. "Is this better?"

"I guess... Hey, are you sure you wouldn't rather --?"

"Out with it!"

"Mokuba's boyfriend is comin' to dinner!" he shrieked, hopping backwards just in case Seto decided to leap up from the sofa and throttle him.

"That's it?"

"Whaddya mean, 'that's it'? You're not mad at me for invitin' him over without you bein' here?"

"Of course not. I'd been wondering when Mokuba would get around to fessing up. I'm happy that he was able to confide in you."

"You knew?"

Seto shrugged. "He's been acting out of control more often than usual these past few months, and he's improved his sneaking skills considerably. A love interest was simply the most logical assumption."

Joey threw his hands up in the air. "Dammit, no one tells me anything. If you knew about it, then why the hell have you two been fightin' like cats and dogs?"

"I've merely been pushing his buttons a bit harder as of late. I was hoping that he'd eventually blow up at me and just come out with it."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what happened," Joey murmured, sounding vaguely impressed. "The funny thing is, he's been doin' the exact same thing to you. He was bein' all wild and confrontational on purpose, just so you'd call him on it." Joey crossed his arms and turned his nose into the air. "You Kaiba's and your freakin' mind games..."

Seto smirked. "Yes, but he's obviously forgotten who he's dealing with. Compared to me, Mokuba's an amateur."

"I'm a what?"

Joey screeched, leaping several feet into the air as he vaulted over the front of the couch. He snatched up the first blanket he could lay hands on, and wrapped it around himself, turning to confront the newcomer. "Jesus, Mokuba! How long have you been standin' there?"

Mokuba posed casually in the doorway, smiling innocently at him. "I just now got dropped off, but it looks like you two had some fun in here last night." He turned a challenging gaze on Seto, who coolly returned it, seeming remarkably blasé at being caught so off guard. "When did you get back?"

"Merry Christmas, Mokuba. It's good to see you, too."

Not to be deterred, Mokuba prompted, "So, you're really OK with my boyfriend coming for dinner?"

Joey tugged the blanket tighter around his middle. "Hey! You said you just got here!"

Seto stared back at his brother passively, and despite both boys' calm, outward appearances, Joey sensed that he could cut the tension in the air with a knife. "It's fine. In fact, I'm looking forward to meeting him."

Mokuba frowned. "Really?"

"Really."

The frown morphed into a sunny smile as Mokuba finally relented. "It's good to have you back, Seto. I'd come over there and hug you, but you're naked, and that would just be weird." He stifled a yawn behind his fist, and pointed over his shoulder toward the main hall. "I'm beat, so I think I'll just go sleep until it's time to eat. Oh, and Joey? I told the guest of honour to show up at one o' clock; is that OK?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Great. I'll just leave you two to... whatever the hell you freaks were doing before I got here." He turned away, only to twirl back around on one foot and gesture at the slightly askew Christmas tree. "Uh, someone's underwear is hanging from a branch up there. Might want to do something about that before we have visitors."

Joey felt like he'd been frantically cooking for days now. Despite all his meticulous preparations, he hadn't realized the difficulties of making sure everything was finished at the same time, and ready to serve hot. When he'd started this, no one had told him that he'd be required to master time management as well as culinary skills. The clock told him that it was now five until one, and far too late to call in the cavalry. He was completely on his own in this -- Seto having long ago been driven away by Joey's constant obsessing and fretting over the meal. At the moment, he and Mokuba were closeted upstairs, having a little heart to heart talk between brothers, and hashing out some past issues that had driven a rift between them over the years. At least, that's what Joey hoped they were doing. For all he knew, the 'timely discussion' he'd suggested had degenerated into name-calling and wrestling. You could never tell with those two.

In the midst of all the culinary chaos, several sharp raps at the front door caught his attention, and by default, Joey dropped what he was doing and ran to answer it. Outside, Ryou Bakura stood stiffly on the porch, his cheeks tinged pink with the cold, and a bottle of wine clutched in his hands. He shuffled his feet back and forth as Joey stared at him dumbly for several, long, drawn-out seconds.

"Shit. Where are my manners? You must be freezin' out there! Come on in!" He tugged his friend in out of the snow and helped him to remove his heavy winter coat. "So, what brings you over here today, anyway?"

Ryou blinked at him. "Um, Mokuba invited me, " he prompted. "For your big holiday dinner?" Hopefully, he wouldn't be forced to come right out and state the obvious. With Joey, you never quite knew how many pieces of the puzzle he'd require to form the whole picture.

Joey's eyebrows shot upwards and his eyes widened dramatically. "I am such an asshole! I didn't even think to ask if you had any plans for today! Man, Ry; I'm so sorry for not invitin' you myself. I guess I just assumed you were gonna go see your dad or somethin'."

Ryou was beginning to wonder if he ought to have written the punch line across his forehead in neon orange. "Yes, well... if all goes smoothly, I think that Mokuba and I are going to drop by and visit with him later on." He stared into the blond's guileless amber eyes, waiting for the blanks to fill themselves in. After a few more seconds of this, he decided that if he left it up to Joey, he might very well be waiting until the spring thaw. Shrugging it off, Ryou smiled brightly and patted his friend's shoulder. "Besides, I wouldn't have missed your big chef's debut for anything."

"There's plenty of food to go around, so just make yourself at home." Joey turned around and cupped one hand around his mouth, calling up the stairs, "Mokie! Thought you might want to know it was just Ry at the door!" Three stories up, a dark head appeared over the edge of the railing, squinting down at them curiously. Mokuba spied the visitor standing next to Joey, and his face split open in a huge grin that Ryou shyly returned. The anxious teen thundered down the steps two and three at a time as Joey continued to call out to him. "By the way, what time did you say your fella was comin' by? I know the snow's got everyone bogged down and stuff, but the food's ready and I'm not sure how much longer we can --" Mokuba reached the bottom of the stairs, zipping past a bewildered Joey and wrapping his arms tightly around Ryou's waist. He dipped the smaller boy backwards, giving him a very passionate, very wet kiss that seemed to go on forever. " -- wait." Joey looked on, scratching idly at the top of his head. "Have I missed somethin' here?"

Finally yielding long enough to give his boyfriend some air, Mokuba assisted a thoroughly flustered Ryou in getting his feet back under him, and then relieved him of the wine he had brought. Shoving the bottle at Joey's chest, the excited teenager grabbed Ryou's hand and began pulling him down the hallway toward the garage. "C'mon, Ry! You have got to see the motorcycle that Seto gave me for Christmas!" Blushing hotly, the white-haired boy gave Joey a half apologetic smile as he was dragged off. From the look on his face, he wasn't too upset about the dramatic introduction.

Still perplexed, Joey turned in slow semi-circle to find Seto standing in the doorway behind him.

"So... the mystery man was Ryou all along?"

"Apparently so," Joey muttered, only now beginning to recover from his shock.

"And you had no idea?"

"Apparently not." Joey shook his head in disbelief. "No one ever tells me anything." Narrowing his eyes, he whirled on Seto. "Speakin' of which... You bought him a motorcycle? You, the selfsame person who's always bitchin' about his bad drivin' habits and his quote, 'utter lack of common sense and regard for personal safety'?"

Seto shrugged. "It's what he wanted. Besides, I got you one, too." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny key ring, holding it up in front of Joey's stunned face.

The blond immediately flipped. "Ohmigod!" He reached for the key, but Seto dangled it just out of reach.

"Not just yet. Santa needs to make sure you've been a good little boy this year." At Joey's petulant whine, Seto seemed to relent. "Look. I'll make a deal with you. I'll put this somewhere safe for now, and after dinner, you can come and find it, OK?"

"Sure, whatever!" Joey bounced excitedly on the balls of his feet. "Oh wow, Seto! This is just --! I can't believe that you --! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Don't thank me just yet." Seto gave his lover a lazy smile and proceeded to drop the key ring down the front of his pants. He clapped his hands together briskly and smirked. "I'm glad that's all settled. Is it time to eat yet?"

Joey's traditional Christmas dinner was considered a rousing success. All parties in attendance easily conversed amongst themselves as they devoured the meal with gusto, laughing and joking with one another as if this type of thing was a common, everyday occurrence. A warm, friendly atmosphere surrounded the small group as they ate, and it was all Joey could do to remember to keep eating his food along with the rest of them. His most pressing desire was to simply sit back and watch proudly as his happy family made the most of their holiday time together.

Seto and Ryou were getting along famously, much to Joey and Mokuba's delight. The two knew each other mainly through mutual friends, and had never really had the opportunity to sit down and find out how much they had in common. Seto was full of questions about Ryou's medical schooling, and his father's travels as an archaeologist. In turn, Ryou demonstrated an astonishing amount of knowledge about the world of big business. At the first lull in the conversation, Ryou waved his fork around in the air animatedly as he asked, "I'm glad that you're here for Christmas, Seto, but Joey had informed me you had a large software deal at stake, and wouldn't make it back in time. Did everything turn out satisfactory?"

"Not really. The head of the other company was toying with me just for spite, but I finally realized that I had other options besides putting up with his games." Seto looked across the table at Joey and smiled warmly. "For example, I found out that Industrial Illusions had put in the next highest bid for the software, and even though I'm not too keen on the idea, it wouldn't be much of an issue to back out of the deal and make nice with Pegasus instead." He took a sip of his wine. "Or, -- and I'm much more fond of this option -- I could just have Bakura steal the code."

Joey choked, spraying wine across the table. "What?"

As one, they all turned to look at him, confused. Seto reached over and patted Joey's hand reassuringly. "Bakura makes a living through corporate espionage, now. He's actually one of the best in the business, and highly in demand. Didn't you know?"

"No, I didn't!" He threw his napkin down in disgust. "God dammit! No one tells me anything! It's a fuckin' conspiracy!"

At that moment, Ryou's cell phone began to ring loudly, playing a peppy little version of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'. Hurriedly grabbing it from his pocket, the white-haired boy ducked his head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, everyone. I meant to turn the ringer off, but I've been a bit worried about Bakura lately and I thought that he might..." he trailed off, glancing down at the display. "Speak of the devil..." he murmured, pressing the call button and putting the phone to his ear. He scrunched his face in alarm as he listened intently. "Bakura? Wh-- what? Mai, is that you? Slow down; I can't understand what you're say -- Bakura did what!"

Seto, Mokuba and Joey looked on, bemused. They'd rarely seen Ryou this ruffled, and the one-sided conversation had them fairly bursting with curiosity.

"Oh my God... Just hold on, Mai. I'll be right there. No! Whatever you do, don't give in to his demands just yet. Yes, I understand; I'll hurry." He hopped up from the table, closing his phone one-handed. "That was Mai, obviously. It seems that Bakura has abducted three of Santa's 'elves' from the mall, and he's currently holding them at knifepoint." Ryou shook his head incredulously. "Apparently, he's forcing them to dance for Mai's amusement. I think it goes without saying that she's really not all that amused, and Bakura refuses to listen to reason."

Joey was aghast. That's his idea of a 'grand holiday gesture'?"

Defensively, Ryou replied, "It may be a bit uncouth, but at least his heart's in the right place." He glanced down at Seto and Joey. "I'm really very sorry for having to leave abruptly like this, but I did have a wonderful time, and the meal was delicious. I hope that you both have a merry Christmas, and I'd love to do something like this again, with just the four of us."

Seto stood to see their guest out. "We'd like that too, Ryou."

Mokuba jumped up from the table as well, casting pleading eyes toward his brother. "Seto, can I?"

The brunet sat back down, waving him off. "Go." He grinned after them, as they nearly tripped over each other's feet in their hurry to grab their coats and make it out the door.

Joey leaned back and crossed his arms, a smug expression on his face. "I guess Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without a few quirks here and there, huh, Seto?" He seemed inordinately pleased with his observation.

"I couldn't agree more. Wouldn't be any sort of holiday at all, if everything went according to plan."

"Y'know what? I'm actually really glad that you schemed with my friends behind my back, and tried to hide it from me. Some people would probably think that was kinda underhanded."

"And I'm grateful that you decided to cut right to the chase, and simply wish this whole business over with. Some people might find that rather... fruity."

Joey laughed, and raised his wineglass in a toast. "To the quirkiest, most underhanded, and downright fruity Christmas of all," he intoned with mock solemnity.

Seto lifted his own glass and touched it to Joey's. "May it be the first of many more to come."

Racing to see who could down their drink the fastest, Joey claimed victory by slamming his glass down on the table and belching loudly. "I win."

Seto didn't argue this fact, and returned to his meal with a thoughtful little smile playing about his lips. After a few moments, he leaned back and off-handedly stated, "I'm rather fond of the name Hannah Elizabeth. What do you think?"

"Huh?"

"For the first one. I think we should have a girl, don't you?"

Joey choked again. "Can't this discussion wait until after New Year's, at least?"

Seto eyed the blond critically over the rim of his wineglass. "I suppose so, but it's not like you're getting any younger, you know..."

Flushing scarlet, Joey hurled his dinner roll at Seto, striking him in the side of the head. The brunet's eyes widened comically, and he responded by flicking a spoonful of mashed potatoes with gravy onto the other boy's dress shirt. "Oops. Look what I did. I suppose we'd better get that off before it stains..."

Joey had just enough reaction time to begin inching his chair backwards when Seto leapt at him, knocking them both onto the floor in a tumble. He sprawled on his back and stared in a daze up at the chandelier overhead, mustering one, final, coherent thought as his lover began to gnaw ardently at his neck.

This was, without a doubt, the Best. Christmas. Ever.

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the end

Challenge Notes:

Items used in this chapter:

(20) Three dancing elves.

Word Count:

3514 this chapter / 49512 final