Chapter 65: Zucchini

As soon as Michael ended their call with Joan, Mokuba whipped out his phone and texted Marc. Based on what they'd all heard Laura say just a few moments ago, Marc would need a place to stay tonight, and Mokuba had a spare room to offer. He worried about work tomorrow, if Laura would even show up, if Marc would dare risk running into her at work, or worse, if they both showed up with swords and . . . Mokuba took a deep breath. They would have to handle one thing at a time.

Mokuba looked up from his phone. "I don't think Marc should be alone right now. Would it be OK if we invited him over here?"

Michael shrugged. "As long as he's OK with my cooking. I've got some zucchini that's getting old. Woman is going to kill me if I don't use it."

Mokuba nodded and went back to texting.

Michael ambled to the kitchen and started digging through the refrigerator. He always cooked enough to have leftovers anyway, so one more mouth wouldn't be a problem.

Mokuba finished exchanging logistics with Marc and pulled a dining room chair up to the kitchen. "So . . ."

Michael turned to face Mokuba. "So why did Marc's name make it onto that ring in the first place? Sure Joan loves him, she even told him, but he never said it back, unless there's something I don't know."

"I . . . I didn't know that. Marc is the reason Seto and I met her, so it seemed wrong to leave him out. I mean, what kind of man takes his girlfriend to work if he isn't serious about her?"

"I see." Michael turned back to his cutting board. The steady, almost relaxing rhythm of chopping gave them both freedom to think. While Mokuba's statement didn't reassure Michael much over the dynamic between Marc and Joan, it amplified his faith in the Kaiba brothers. Any man could show off his hot girlfriend at work, but if it meant something special to the Kaibas, perhaps Joan was in good hands with them.

Meanwhile, Mokuba wondered if he'd been too naïve about the entire situation. He'd made an assumption about Marc and Joan's relationship, and that had landed them in this mess. But if he'd guessed wrong, why did the ring actually work? Joan's words about love echoed in his mind: people don't usually admit to it right away. Perhaps Marc had good reason for caution when it came to matters of the heart.

Marc's knock startled Mokuba. Michael let Marc in and dashed back to the kitchen to put the finishing touches on the food. Marc sat at the dining table and stared into space while Mokuba searched fruitlessly for words.

Michael set a plate of steak, seasoned potatoes, and zucchini in front of Marc. "Eat, bro. Hunger will only make it worse."

Marc forced down a bite without really tasting it. Joan wasn't the only woman besides Laura he'd fantasized about getting pregnant, but fantasies typically didn't manifest in reality. "It's going to die anyway, right?" he finally uttered.

"Fuck, bro." Michael laid out plates for himself and Mokuba. "Is that what you want?"

Marc speared a piece of zucchini. "If it was mine alone, I'd push for early termination."

Mokuba recalled more of Joan's words. "You're lying to yourself. You want this just as much as we do."

Marc looked at Mokuba. "And you tried to lie for me."

Mokuba couldn't tell if Marc meant that in a thankful way or a chastising way. "I, uh . . ."

"The truth had to come out eventually," Marc continued. "Actually, I should have faced the truth long ago."

"What do you mean?" Mokuba asked.

"Laura is never going to get pregnant without outside intervention, and she's stubborn about fertility treatments, so it's never going to happen at all."

"Oh." Mokuba's mind raced with the new information. "Am I not paying you enough?"

Marc shook his head. "It's not about the money. It's about evolution. She doesn't think we should perpetuate our genes if we can't do it naturally."

"Oh shit," Michael said. "So she really is on Hera's side."

Marc shrugged. "You could say that."

"And oops babies are forbidden?"

"Right."

Michael stroked his stubbly chin. "Laura has your balls in a vice. That's harsh, to deny you kids like that. I mean, why can't she just cut you some slack and let you plant your seed elsewhere?"

"I may be to blame. It could be my sperm that's the problem, but the thing is I don't want her having kids with someone else either." Realization slapped Marc in the face. "Fuck." Michael and Mokuba waited for Marc to continue. "She's probably fucking Matteo right now."

"Matteo?" Michael asked.

"Her Italian Stallion boyfriend," Mokuba supplied.

"Oh." Michael shuddered as Marc's emotions zapped through his mind. Matteo himself had very little to do with it. It was knowing Laura, her thirst for revenge combined with her thirst for procreation that left him with no doubts about her next course of action. "So what now? You're royally fucked. We are too, but you most of all. Are you just going to sit there and let some has-been goddess destroy what little you have left to live for? Fuck. That."

Marc's lips quirked. "Let's play some video games. I know four with Hera, and I'd like to pound her ass in all of them."

Michael swallowed a mouthful of steak. "Wish I could join you, but the wife's going to murder me if I don't wake up in time for her imaginary volunteer thingy."

"Keep her happy," Marc said.