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I Know You're Out There Somewhere	By : Firewing Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 3536 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh!, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter 2 Mom and Dad Wheeler

A/N: I find this chapter somewhat boring, but it is necessary to establish some background detail about Joey�s family. I totally revamped Joey�s dad turning him into one of the �good guys�. Also, even though I tried to portray Joey�s mom in a semi-sympathetic light, I do not like the woman, which probably explains why I�m not crazy about this chapter. What kind of mother abandons her kid!?! What kind of mother couldn�t love Joey!?! Sorry, but I am a mom and I don�t get this woman.
Disclaimer: This story is not intended to infringe on any licensed rights, blah, blah, blah�
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Maria Wheeler had a lot on her mind. For starters, she and Serenity had gotten into several heated arguments over her daughter's desire to stay in Domino with her brother and her new friends, and though Serenity had accused her of being selfish and jealous of her brother and father, Maria still believed she was doing the right thing. There was something strange about the crowd Joey ran with, and Serenity was very delicate. Her daughter would thank her later, she knew, but that didn't make the fighting any less exhausting.
Despite Serenity's vehement protests, though, they were on a plane back to the United States within the week. Even now, sitting beside her despondent daughter, Maria could not understand the girl's attachment to Joey. Of course, Joey had gotten the money to save Serenity�s eyesight, but Maria couldn't help but remember the rest of the story behind that blessing. The money had been a gift from Joey's friend, Yugi, and though he seemed nice enough, something about his punk-rock hairdo and penchant for leather had unsettled her from the first moment she had laid eyes on the boy. Then again, perhaps she only disliked the boy because of his friendship with Joseph.
She and Jonathan Wheeler had married for four years when they had decided that it was time to have children. They were very much in love, had a nice home, and maintained a comfortable lifestyle. She enjoyed teaching and Jon was doing well as an assembly supervisor for Toyota. Their lives had been perfect, and a child or two was all they needed to make them complete.
However, after months of trying, the doctor had informed Maria that she would probably never have a child of her own, shattering her beautiful dreams and devastating her totally. She had begun to slip deeper and deeper into depression, and though Jon had been an unfaltering tower of strength for her, she knew that they had been doomed from that point on. Love could not conquer all, regardless of what romance novels had to say on the subject.
It had been Jonathan�s idea to adopt a baby, in the hopes that caring for a child would put some sense of meaning back into his wife's vision of her life. Maria, for her part, was reluctant, afraid that an adopted child would rub salt in the wound of her barrenness or, worse, that she would not be able to accept a child to whom she had not given birth. Still, she had agreed, if only to please her husband.
And pleased he had been; the day that they had brought Joseph home had easily been the happiest day of Jon�s life. He was the proud new father of a beautiful baby boy, and yet for Maria, the baby meant only sacrifice after sacrifice, and she begrudged each one a little more than the one before. First, Jon had wanted to keep the name Joseph's birth parents had chosen in order to honor the unknown people who had given them the precious gift of a child, dashing her thoughts of a less traditional name. Then, Jonathan asked her to become a full-time mother, and she gave up her teaching career. All this she had done without complaint, and in hindsight, perhaps being a little less spineless would have lightened the nightmare that their marriage eventually became.
Months later, little Joey began to walk, opening up a whole new world of trouble for Maria. Around this time, Jonathan came home from work in an excited frenzy; he had received a promotion that paid more than double his current salary, and Toyota would pay to move them--to Japan.
Maria had been completely horrified, locking herself in the bedroom and crying for days. She couldn�t believe how incredibly selfish Jonathan was being in expecting her to leave everything and everyone she had ever known behind, though she eventually gave in to his wishes, as she had always done. It was all she had known up to that point.
For the first few weeks after the move to Domino City, though, Maria was perpetually ill, and an unhappy mother makes for an unhappy toddler. The little fifteen-month-old boy cried nonstop from the time his father left in the morning until Jon came home from work. Once his father was back, little Joey would curl up, finally content, in Jon's lap and fall asleep. Of course, this led to Maria becoming jealous of their bond, as well as their perceived lack of appreciation for all she had given up for the family.
Jon called her illness homesickness, and told her that she needed to make some new friends. He accepted several dinner party invitations on their behalf, and though Maria would get through most of them without any serious trouble, she was sick again as soon as they returned home. Finally, at the end of her proverbial rope, she visited the doctor, only to discover that she was finally pregnant with a child of her own.
There had never been a happier time in her life. All the worry and bitterness bled away; the only thing she could think of was the baby- her baby. After Serenity�s birth, Maria came to love her daughter more with every breath the child took, which translated into less and less time spent on Joey. Unfortunately for the adopted boy, though, Jonathan�s career began to demand more and more of his time, and so Joseph began to lash out at the world, developing his reputation as a bully while still in kindergarten. Though this sudden shift in the normally peaceful child's behaviour worried Jon, Maria had no time to waste on such things. She was much more concerned with her baby girl, with whom she was convinced something was wrong.
Serenity was six when the doctors diagnosed her with a rare degenerative disease that would eventually lead to blindness, insanity, and brain death. There was no definitive cure, and very little the doctors could do for her but ease the pain when the time came. To protect their children, Jon and Maria said only that there was something wrong with Serenity�s eyes, while the overwhelmed parents tried to accept and deal with what fate had handed them.
Fortunately, there was one strand of hope, however slender. A doctor in Tokyo was willing to perform an experimental surgery that had the possibility of saving Serenity, but at an astronomical cost. However distant the goal was, however, the family had something to work toward; Maria searched for any kind of treatment that would buy Serenity time while Jon worked as much overtime as he possibly could, trying to keep up with the medical bills. Meanwhile, the two young siblings bonded, consoling each other as best they could.
Three years later, Maria had found another doctor in the States who thought he could help Serenity, although the Wheelers would have to move back to the U.S. in order for Serenity to be treated. Jonathan, however, was adamant in his refusal to move, and resigned himself to his daughter�s fate rather than subscribe to what he saw as 'false hope'. 'There are excellent doctors in Japan who are doing all they can for her,' he had attempted to reason with his wife. 'I don't want to go back to the States, and start all over again for something that might not work out.'.
Maria had heard him out, and then had done the only thing she could do-she took her daughter and left. Joey probably hated her for it; if not for neglecting him, then for taking his sister away.
�Oh well,� she thought, leaning back in her seat, �either he�ll get over it or he won�t.�
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�Dad, I�m home!� Joey threw his keys on the coffee table and flopped down on the couch, thoroughly miserable.
Jonathan came out of the kitchen, drying his hands with a dish towel. He sat down next to his son without speaking, fully prepared when Jou sank against him slowly and began to sob. His son had just returned from seeing his mother and sister off at the airport, and though Jon would have liked to tell his daughter good-bye as well, he knew Maria would have had a fit. In fact, Jon hadn�t even visited the hospital once during Serenity�s stay out of fear of causing problems. He had seen Serenity once she had gotten out of the hospital, though; she wasn�t about to be separated from her brother for more than a second if she could help it, and Jon had had the privilege of sharing in the time they had spent at the apartment.
Joey had done his best to stay strong and remain cheerful while he told his little sister good-bye, promising her that he would stay in touch and that he�d see her again soon. He had gotten a job working as a valet at a fancy restaurant a few weeks ago, and though his wages weren�t great, the tips were good. It was his father's understanding that he planned to save his money for an airline ticket to New York, and Jou's dedication to his sister despite the rift his mother had tried to open between them was nothing short of admirable.
Unobtrusively, Jonathan put his arm around Jou, drawing him into a gentle embrace. �I�m proud of you, Joey. You have a heart of gold, and the courage to defend what you believe in.�
�Ah, Dad, I ain�t nothing much." Jou's eyes were still full of tears as he glanced up, and he looked away as soon as he realized this, hiding behind his overlong hair.
Jon chuckled softly. �Son, look at me,� he said, brushing the golden curtain from his son's face.
Joey met his dad�s eyes, scrubbing roughly at his own. His father continued soothingly, undaunted by his son's raging emotional state. �You were devastated when your mother separated you from Serenity the first time. You rebelled against everyone and everything." The elder man sighed. "It was a rough time for me, too. I wasn�t there for you like I should have been; your constant fighting, failing grades, the rough boys you hung out with�and I just let you run. We got into quite some screaming matches.�
�Yeah, Dad, I remember.� Jou chuckled through his tears; back then, he had never dreamed of having any kind of relationship with his father that didn't involve constant arguing and animosity.
�I was mostly angry with myself. I felt like such a failure, and my world was spinning out of control, but you kept me grounded, Jou. I wouldn�t have survived those dark days if it hadn�t been for you, because I wouldn�t have had a reason to.�
�Dad�,� Joey sniffed, grabbing a conveniently placed Kleenex box to catch his running nose before it got away.
�No, listen to me, boy. You�re smart, and not just street smart. You�ve got great instincts, and a talent for turning hopeless defeat into great victory. After all, you saved your sister�s sight and her life, something that your mother and I were incapable of doing.�
�Dad, I think you�re talking about Yugi, not me. He was the one who won that money.�
�Yeah, Yugi�s a good guy, but you give the rest of us the courage and the strength to go on." Jon paused, not wanting this conversation to degenerate into a discussion concerning who was responsible for saving Serenity. "Look, Jou, all I�m trying to say is that if anyone can find a way to turn defeat into victory, it�s you. If you don�t want to be separated from your sister, then you will find a way to make it so you don�t have to be.�
Joey smiled, returning his father's hug tenfold. �Thanks, Dad." He glanced at the clock over his father's shoulder, sighing heavily. "I�ve got to get ready for work.�
He started for his room, stopping suddenly to look back at his father, who was still sitting on the couch.
�I love you, Dad.� Joey whispered, continuing into his room without waiting for a reply.
"I love you too, son," Jon said, a tear of his own running over his pale, freckled face as he brushed greying red hair from his eyes.
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I Know You're Out There Somewhere