InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Patchwork Family ❯ Comings, Goings, and Differences in Taste ( Chapter 20 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Allannarose22 
Most of the gang makes it home for the night and Rosalind starts dinner. Sometimes it's those normal, in-between moments of every day life that make things easier.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Supernatural / Romance / Psychological / Drama / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 10.27.2014 | Updated On: 02.14.2015 | Pages: 5 | Words: 3.4K | Visits: 490 | Status: Completed
Most of the gang makes it home for the night and Rosalind starts dinner. Sometimes it's those normal, in-between moments of every day life that make things easier.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Supernatural / Romance / Psychological / Drama / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 10.27.2014 | Updated On: 02.14.2015 | Pages: 5 | Words: 3.4K | Visits: 490 | Status: Completed
A/N: All Inuyasha
characters and references belong to the creator of Inuyasha, Rumiko
Takahashi and published by Shogakukan. Any other characters are
more than likely my own creation. If I borrow directly from another
story I will do my best to make sure I give credit where credit is
due. I will also be pulling some material (ideas and inspirations)
from Burn Notice, Scorpion, Supernatural, and Lockwood &
Co.
*****
Rosalind set down her bags from the health food store next to the stove and Sesshomaru came in behind her to slide the box of jars down next to them. When she moved to follow him back to the truck he shook his head. "Stay. I’ll get the rest."
She looked as if she might argue for a moment, but then shrugged relented. After he left the room, she fished a utility knife from the junk drawer and opened the tape on the box. Nestled carefully in the padded wrapping, she could see a top layer of six small light green colored glass jars, their lids wrapped individually. Reluctantly, she slid the box and bags to the end of the counter to attend to once she got the groceries put away.
Sesshomaru brought in the big bins one at a time, and she marveled a little at the fact that he could carry such a load. Each of the bins was nearly big enough for her to take a bath in, and they were loaded full. The heavy duty plastic the containers were made from strained where he gripped the handles, yet he carried them as if they weighed nothing.
It took some time to put things away and do some organizing in the pantry. Rosalind looked at the clock over the kitchen table when she was finally finished. It was nearly five o’clock now. She eyed her bags of spices and decided that chore would have to wait until later. She picked the fresh herbs out and trimmed the ends, setting them in a dish of water on the counter where they would keep well for several days, and besides, they looked nice. That done, she fished out a few spices to use on the hamburger meat and began to look around for the set of extra-large mixing bowls.
As she was down on the floor, half crawling half into the big corner cupboard, she heard the front door open, close, and the chatter of small voices spilled in from the hall. She retrieved the bowls and just as she pulled out the bag of apples, Rin and Shippo came running into the kitchen, Miroku trailing behind, looking tired, but happy enough.
Rosalind gave them a smile and set the fruit on the counter. Rin tossed her purple back-pack on a kitchen chair and began to rummage through it eagerly. After a second, she pulled out a bright marker drawing on a piece of sky blue construction paper. She ran over and held it up to Rosalind, who took it and pulled the girl into a one armed hug. "This is great Rin! I love it."
The girl beamed and said, "It's Axel and you on the beach."
Rosalind looked back at the drawing and identified a woman with red hair and a red sweater, standing next to a black dog that was almost the same size as she was, with curling lines that she supposed were ocean waves behind them and curved shapes under their feet that looked like sea shells and stones. The picture was actually pretty good for an eight year old kid.
She smiled down at the girl and asked, "do you have a special place for it or should we put it on the fridge for everyone?" Rin nodded and hugged her around the waist. Rosalind laughed and, without detaching the girl, used a big magnet to fix the picture onto the refrigerator door. Shippo came bouncing up too and asked, "Rosie, is there any ninja food?"
Rosalind shook her head. She knew from experience that ninja food meant any salty, sweet, or otherwise greasy processed snack food. "I was just getting out some apple and peanut butter,” she said. “How does that sound for a snack?"
Shippou wrinkled his nose for a second but relented. "That’s good too I guess." Miroku managed to herd the kids to the kitchen table while Rosalind sliced up a big plate of apples and spooned some peanut butter into a bowl. She set the bowl in the middle of the fruit slices and placed the plate in the center of the table. When everyone had something to drink as well she sat down for a few minutes and listened to Rin and Shippo gabble away. She noticed Miroku eyeing the clock from the chair where he held Shiori in his lap. During a pause in the conversation she raised an eyebrow at him. "Got a hot date?"
He shook his head, looking a little worried. "No, just wondering when Sango will get in. I thought she’d beat us home, as early as she had to go in this morning."
Just then the kids paused in their crunching and Shippo's pointy little ears twitched. "Somebody’s in the driveway." Sure enough, a minute later the front door opened and closed, and Sango and her brother Kohaku walked into the kitchen. Rosalind winked at Miroku in good humor. "See? Ask and ye shall receive."
Miroku smiled and got up to wrap one arm around Sango and gross the kids out with a kiss. When Shippo pulled a face Shiori, still in Miroku’s other arm, little arms clinging around his neck, just grinned and giggled. The young woman hugged him back, ruffled Rin's hair and dropped a kiss on the top of each little head in turn. She sat down across the table from Rosalind, and Miroku lowered himself into the chair next to her. Rosalind gave her a sympathetic smile. "You look wiped. I was about to make some tea if you'd like some."
Sango smiled back and nodded gratefully, plucking an apple slice from the platter. "Thanks Rosie, tea would be great. I swear, if this happens again next week, I'm calling someone else come in at the crack of dawn to deal with it."
Miroku let out a skeptical snort. "That's what you said two weeks ago."
Sango laughed wearily and rubbed her eyes before she leaned back. "I know. It'll never happen. No one else but the manager would have even half a clue if something was missing when they signed the freight receipt, and she wouldn't come in at dawn if I begged until her ears bled. Still, I enjoy working with the girls down at the boutique."
Rosalind stood and filled the tea kettle while Sango listened to the kids recounting their daily adventures all over again for their new audience member. While she listened, privately amused at the variations in their story on the second retelling, Rosalind opened one of the logs of ground beef and dumped it into a wide mixing bowl. As she was finely mincing garlic, onion, and a big handful of the fresh parsley, Sesshomaru walked into the kitchen. Rin jumped up, sliding between Sango's and Miroku’s chairs and the wall. He picked her up in his arms and the little girl grinned as he sat with her on his lap in a chair near Miroku’s, against the wall so as to face Rosalind.
Sango dipped a slice of apple in the peanut butter and asked, "how have things been here?"
Sesshomaru rubbed Rin's sweater clad shoulder a little as she leaned back into her dad’s chest. "All is well, quiet,” he answered. “We made a short trip into town for groceries."
Miroku raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Short? Grocery shopping is never short. I believe it’s similar to purgatory that way," he mused.
Sango shot him a sidelong glare and made a 'humph' sound. Sesshomaru smiled a little and replied, "I assure you, we fully restocked the pantry, visited the library, the apothecary, and returned in just a few hours."
Miroku raised his eyebrows and looked at Rosalind. "Seriously? It takes us two hours just to get out of Walmart." Sango narrowed her pink shadowed eyes and tossed the last bite of her apple at him. "I like to know what my options are before I buy something. You knew the job was dangerous when you took it."
Kohaku snorted a little with laughter and took a chair across from Miroku as he said, “just nod and smile dude. You’re gonna get yourself in trouble.”
Miroku caught the piece of fruit and popped it in his mouth, smiling winningly and bowing his head in mock defeat. "Of course Lady Sango. What I meant to say was that it’s always my pleasure to spend an entire day shopping with you."
She tried to continue looking serious but it didn't last long and she laughed. Rosalind dumped her cut up herbs and onion, as well as the spices she’d measured out, over the ground beef, and wiped her hands on a towel. As she pulled a bottle of beer and some barbeque sauce from the fridge, she asked, "has anyone seen Inuyasha and Kagome? What about Gabriel? Can we make a ball-park head count for dinner?"
She dumped most of the bottle of beer into the bowl of hamburger, along with half of the bottle of barbeque sauce, before she crumbled a sleeve of saltine crackers over the whole mess. She sipped a the last of the beer and tossed the bottle before she began to knead the raw meat with her hands, breaking it up and mixing it. Ayame came in the kitchen just then, dressed in gray shorts and a red shirt with white sleeves. She took the chair at the end of the table opposite Miroku and commented, "Inuyasha and Kagome came back a little while ago. I think they're sleeping."
Koga followed Ayame and took the seat next to her. He was still wearing brown pajama pants, his chest bare as he leaned forward, stretching to palm a few slices of apple. Rosalind continued to squish the raw meat back and forth and Koga sniffed appreciatively. "Smells good, whatcha’ makin’ there?"
Rin turned in Sesshomaru's lap and leaned her elbows on the table several seats away to look over at the wolf demon. "Rosie said she’d make us cheeseburgers tonight because it's my favorite."
Koga grinned at the little girl and gave her a salute. "Good choice Little Bit. How was school?"
She smiled back and shrugged. "It was ok. In gym I tried that stretch you showed me and it worked. My teacher gave me an extra point for knowing what muscle it was and my legs didn't hurt after we ran."
Koga raised his brows and said, "score for the home team." He held a clawed hand out on the table and she smacked it in a low five. Sango, Rosalind and Ayame met each other’s eyes and grinned. As loud mouthed and annoying as Koga could be sometimes, the good guy he truly was showed most clearly when he was around the kids. It was mostly Inuyasha he seemed to have an incessant need to needle, and the same was true in reverse sometimes for that matter. Rosalind clarified, "so probably eight or nine people then?"
Koga held up two fingers. "Count me as double. I'm starving." Ayame rolled her eyes and poked him in the gut. "You're always starving."
Rosalind smiled and began to form the ground beef into perfectly round, thick patties, laying them on a platter she’d prepared with wax paper. A faint whistling sound erupted from the boiling kettle and all the demons in the room grimaced as one. Shippo and Rin covered their ears, and Sesshomaru actually let out a low hissing sound in discomfort.
Kohaku jumped up when he saw Rosalind had her hands covered in raw meat and barbeque sauce. He pulled the kettle off the burner and used a hot pad to flip the plastic whistling cap up away from the spout. She gave him a grateful look and cringed a little. "Sorry about that. It’s the one I brought from my apartment. I'll pull the whistle off that thing and throw it in the trash."
Koga was rubbing one ear when Shiori piped up in a small voice. "Mommy, can we go to the beach?" Sango looked at Rosalind, who nodded and told her, "it's going to be about an hour or so yet before dinner’s ready."
Sango looked over at Kohaku. "Do you want to go down with them? I want a shower and then I can relieve you." The teenager nodded and got to his feet. "Sure. Come on short stuff. Let's go see if there are sail boats out there."
Shippo cheered and Rin slid from Sesshomaru's lap to follow them. Axel, who had been curled up by the kitchen door, stood with a snort and trotted out after his charge, tail wagging. As the kids ran down the hallway Sango called out, sounding as if she already knew she’d missed her chance, “not in the water you three!”
Koga got to his feet and said, "I’ll go out with them. Rosie, you want me to drag out the grill? We can set it up and eat down on the beach. The wind’s calmed down."
Ayame smiled and looked enthusiastic. "We should. There won't be as many dirty pans or plates to wash."
Rosalind nodded and thanked him, mentally wondering if there was a container large enough to put the food in. She'd figure something out. "Sure, sounds like a plan. Is it still the big wood grill that was down here before?"
Sesshomaru nodded once in confirmation. "It’s the same. It hasn’t been used much in the interim. It might need cleaning."
Koga waved a hand. "I got it." Ayame stood and followed her mate out the front door. Sango got to her feet, hands resting on the back of her chair for a moment. "Anything I can do to help in here?"
Rosalind shook her head. "No, I got it. Go take a hot bath. The kids are occupied and have three sets of eyes on them, and dinner’s under control."
Sango looked thoughtful. "That sounds like a diabolical plan. I might just do that. It's been forever. But I can come back and make a dessert.” Rosalind shook her head again, her eyes settling on Sesshomaru's for a moment and dancing with amusement. "No need. We have chocolate ice cream… or… actually I picked up a special treat I was going to save for the weekend, but it’s perfect for tonight I think."
Miroku stood and took Sango's hand, pulling her out from behind the table and spinning her into a hug. "Come on, let's go. There's nothing else you have to do right now." Sango blushed a little as he gave her rear an affectionate squeeze and let him lead her away.
Rosalind smiled to herself as she continued to shape hamburgers, pulling a fresh sheet of wax paper over each layer as she stacked them. Silently, she thought to herself that she’d be lucky to find a guy someday that fit in her world the way Sango and Miroku fit with one another. It had taken a while for Miroku to convince Sango to go out with him in the beginning, but they were great together, and it hadn’t been long before they were married and Shiori was on the way. Rosalind mused for a second that it was probably only due to the long hours they tended to work, between their street jobs and their slightly less legal endeavors, that Shiori didn’t already have several brothers or sisters.
Without a word Sesshomaru stood and pulled down a long glass baking dish. She watched curiously as he got out a cutting board and one of the sharp, high quality German steel knives. He rolled back his shirt sleeves, revealing the dark slashes of ruby magenta color marking his wrists. Her eyes automatically flicked up to the matched set of marks that adorned his face, the faint, pale crescent moon that lay high on his forehead, almost hidden beneath his hair.
Without even looking at her, he began to slice tomatoes. That was twice now in 24 hours he had stepped in to help her with the food prep, and she’d almost never seen him cook before. She murmured quietly, "you don't have to do that. I can handle it if you have work you need to do."
Sesshomaru flicked his golden eyes to her for a moment before he lay the neat, even tomato slices in one side of the dish. “My work is finished for the day, until very late tonight anyway.” She watched in fascination as he flicked a claw in a precise, almost surgical movement to remove the outer peel of an onion. 'That's handy,' she thought, smiling a little to herself, and examining her own blunt, short nails for a moment. She’d never been able to grow them out. Her hands were always either in paint or food, so long beautiful nails just weren’t practical. She had working hands, not pretty hands, and it was only in the rarest of moments that the fact ever bothered her.
After a few minutes she stood with her fore arms braced on the sides of the big bowl, working her fingers, opening her hands and closing them again. Sesshomaru looked over and raised an eyebrow as he inquired, "what is it?"
She flashed him a small smile and said, "I'm fine. The beef is just really cold. My fingers need to thaw for a second."
He nodded once in acknowledgment, setting the last of the sliced lettuce onto one of the plate of ingredients. She was confused when he stepped closer and looked into the bowl. Her confusion turned to shock when he reached in, pinched a little of the raw meat between forefinger and thumb, and popped it in his mouth. She looked up at him in surprise and a little disgust. He must have found her expression amusing because he let out a low, smooth laugh and licked his thumb before washing his hands at the sink and commenting, "it's very good."
She looked down at the meat left in the bowl, then at him again. "Seriously?"
His gold eyes seemed to spark as he smiled at her. "Yes. I don’t consume flesh fully rare very often anymore, but I still have some taste for it. Humans over-cook their food." She frowned down at the hamburger thoughtfully. When she didn't say anything, he came back to stand at her side, drying his hands on a towel. "What troubles you?"
Rosalind's lips twisted to the side a little as she thought. "Should I leave some of them half raw, just maybe cooked on the outside?"
He considered this, then nodded. "That would be good, though Inuyasha and Ayame prefer their meat cooked halfway or better, and Gabriel will likely not return until late tonight."
She cringed at the thought of biting into a mostly raw hamburger and shuddered, laughing a little incredulously. "Alright… then that's what we'll do."
*****
Rosalind set down her bags from the health food store next to the stove and Sesshomaru came in behind her to slide the box of jars down next to them. When she moved to follow him back to the truck he shook his head. "Stay. I’ll get the rest."
She looked as if she might argue for a moment, but then shrugged relented. After he left the room, she fished a utility knife from the junk drawer and opened the tape on the box. Nestled carefully in the padded wrapping, she could see a top layer of six small light green colored glass jars, their lids wrapped individually. Reluctantly, she slid the box and bags to the end of the counter to attend to once she got the groceries put away.
Sesshomaru brought in the big bins one at a time, and she marveled a little at the fact that he could carry such a load. Each of the bins was nearly big enough for her to take a bath in, and they were loaded full. The heavy duty plastic the containers were made from strained where he gripped the handles, yet he carried them as if they weighed nothing.
It took some time to put things away and do some organizing in the pantry. Rosalind looked at the clock over the kitchen table when she was finally finished. It was nearly five o’clock now. She eyed her bags of spices and decided that chore would have to wait until later. She picked the fresh herbs out and trimmed the ends, setting them in a dish of water on the counter where they would keep well for several days, and besides, they looked nice. That done, she fished out a few spices to use on the hamburger meat and began to look around for the set of extra-large mixing bowls.
As she was down on the floor, half crawling half into the big corner cupboard, she heard the front door open, close, and the chatter of small voices spilled in from the hall. She retrieved the bowls and just as she pulled out the bag of apples, Rin and Shippo came running into the kitchen, Miroku trailing behind, looking tired, but happy enough.
Rosalind gave them a smile and set the fruit on the counter. Rin tossed her purple back-pack on a kitchen chair and began to rummage through it eagerly. After a second, she pulled out a bright marker drawing on a piece of sky blue construction paper. She ran over and held it up to Rosalind, who took it and pulled the girl into a one armed hug. "This is great Rin! I love it."
The girl beamed and said, "It's Axel and you on the beach."
Rosalind looked back at the drawing and identified a woman with red hair and a red sweater, standing next to a black dog that was almost the same size as she was, with curling lines that she supposed were ocean waves behind them and curved shapes under their feet that looked like sea shells and stones. The picture was actually pretty good for an eight year old kid.
She smiled down at the girl and asked, "do you have a special place for it or should we put it on the fridge for everyone?" Rin nodded and hugged her around the waist. Rosalind laughed and, without detaching the girl, used a big magnet to fix the picture onto the refrigerator door. Shippo came bouncing up too and asked, "Rosie, is there any ninja food?"
Rosalind shook her head. She knew from experience that ninja food meant any salty, sweet, or otherwise greasy processed snack food. "I was just getting out some apple and peanut butter,” she said. “How does that sound for a snack?"
Shippou wrinkled his nose for a second but relented. "That’s good too I guess." Miroku managed to herd the kids to the kitchen table while Rosalind sliced up a big plate of apples and spooned some peanut butter into a bowl. She set the bowl in the middle of the fruit slices and placed the plate in the center of the table. When everyone had something to drink as well she sat down for a few minutes and listened to Rin and Shippo gabble away. She noticed Miroku eyeing the clock from the chair where he held Shiori in his lap. During a pause in the conversation she raised an eyebrow at him. "Got a hot date?"
He shook his head, looking a little worried. "No, just wondering when Sango will get in. I thought she’d beat us home, as early as she had to go in this morning."
Just then the kids paused in their crunching and Shippo's pointy little ears twitched. "Somebody’s in the driveway." Sure enough, a minute later the front door opened and closed, and Sango and her brother Kohaku walked into the kitchen. Rosalind winked at Miroku in good humor. "See? Ask and ye shall receive."
Miroku smiled and got up to wrap one arm around Sango and gross the kids out with a kiss. When Shippo pulled a face Shiori, still in Miroku’s other arm, little arms clinging around his neck, just grinned and giggled. The young woman hugged him back, ruffled Rin's hair and dropped a kiss on the top of each little head in turn. She sat down across the table from Rosalind, and Miroku lowered himself into the chair next to her. Rosalind gave her a sympathetic smile. "You look wiped. I was about to make some tea if you'd like some."
Sango smiled back and nodded gratefully, plucking an apple slice from the platter. "Thanks Rosie, tea would be great. I swear, if this happens again next week, I'm calling someone else come in at the crack of dawn to deal with it."
Miroku let out a skeptical snort. "That's what you said two weeks ago."
Sango laughed wearily and rubbed her eyes before she leaned back. "I know. It'll never happen. No one else but the manager would have even half a clue if something was missing when they signed the freight receipt, and she wouldn't come in at dawn if I begged until her ears bled. Still, I enjoy working with the girls down at the boutique."
Rosalind stood and filled the tea kettle while Sango listened to the kids recounting their daily adventures all over again for their new audience member. While she listened, privately amused at the variations in their story on the second retelling, Rosalind opened one of the logs of ground beef and dumped it into a wide mixing bowl. As she was finely mincing garlic, onion, and a big handful of the fresh parsley, Sesshomaru walked into the kitchen. Rin jumped up, sliding between Sango's and Miroku’s chairs and the wall. He picked her up in his arms and the little girl grinned as he sat with her on his lap in a chair near Miroku’s, against the wall so as to face Rosalind.
Sango dipped a slice of apple in the peanut butter and asked, "how have things been here?"
Sesshomaru rubbed Rin's sweater clad shoulder a little as she leaned back into her dad’s chest. "All is well, quiet,” he answered. “We made a short trip into town for groceries."
Miroku raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Short? Grocery shopping is never short. I believe it’s similar to purgatory that way," he mused.
Sango shot him a sidelong glare and made a 'humph' sound. Sesshomaru smiled a little and replied, "I assure you, we fully restocked the pantry, visited the library, the apothecary, and returned in just a few hours."
Miroku raised his eyebrows and looked at Rosalind. "Seriously? It takes us two hours just to get out of Walmart." Sango narrowed her pink shadowed eyes and tossed the last bite of her apple at him. "I like to know what my options are before I buy something. You knew the job was dangerous when you took it."
Kohaku snorted a little with laughter and took a chair across from Miroku as he said, “just nod and smile dude. You’re gonna get yourself in trouble.”
Miroku caught the piece of fruit and popped it in his mouth, smiling winningly and bowing his head in mock defeat. "Of course Lady Sango. What I meant to say was that it’s always my pleasure to spend an entire day shopping with you."
She tried to continue looking serious but it didn't last long and she laughed. Rosalind dumped her cut up herbs and onion, as well as the spices she’d measured out, over the ground beef, and wiped her hands on a towel. As she pulled a bottle of beer and some barbeque sauce from the fridge, she asked, "has anyone seen Inuyasha and Kagome? What about Gabriel? Can we make a ball-park head count for dinner?"
She dumped most of the bottle of beer into the bowl of hamburger, along with half of the bottle of barbeque sauce, before she crumbled a sleeve of saltine crackers over the whole mess. She sipped a the last of the beer and tossed the bottle before she began to knead the raw meat with her hands, breaking it up and mixing it. Ayame came in the kitchen just then, dressed in gray shorts and a red shirt with white sleeves. She took the chair at the end of the table opposite Miroku and commented, "Inuyasha and Kagome came back a little while ago. I think they're sleeping."
Koga followed Ayame and took the seat next to her. He was still wearing brown pajama pants, his chest bare as he leaned forward, stretching to palm a few slices of apple. Rosalind continued to squish the raw meat back and forth and Koga sniffed appreciatively. "Smells good, whatcha’ makin’ there?"
Rin turned in Sesshomaru's lap and leaned her elbows on the table several seats away to look over at the wolf demon. "Rosie said she’d make us cheeseburgers tonight because it's my favorite."
Koga grinned at the little girl and gave her a salute. "Good choice Little Bit. How was school?"
She smiled back and shrugged. "It was ok. In gym I tried that stretch you showed me and it worked. My teacher gave me an extra point for knowing what muscle it was and my legs didn't hurt after we ran."
Koga raised his brows and said, "score for the home team." He held a clawed hand out on the table and she smacked it in a low five. Sango, Rosalind and Ayame met each other’s eyes and grinned. As loud mouthed and annoying as Koga could be sometimes, the good guy he truly was showed most clearly when he was around the kids. It was mostly Inuyasha he seemed to have an incessant need to needle, and the same was true in reverse sometimes for that matter. Rosalind clarified, "so probably eight or nine people then?"
Koga held up two fingers. "Count me as double. I'm starving." Ayame rolled her eyes and poked him in the gut. "You're always starving."
Rosalind smiled and began to form the ground beef into perfectly round, thick patties, laying them on a platter she’d prepared with wax paper. A faint whistling sound erupted from the boiling kettle and all the demons in the room grimaced as one. Shippo and Rin covered their ears, and Sesshomaru actually let out a low hissing sound in discomfort.
Kohaku jumped up when he saw Rosalind had her hands covered in raw meat and barbeque sauce. He pulled the kettle off the burner and used a hot pad to flip the plastic whistling cap up away from the spout. She gave him a grateful look and cringed a little. "Sorry about that. It’s the one I brought from my apartment. I'll pull the whistle off that thing and throw it in the trash."
Koga was rubbing one ear when Shiori piped up in a small voice. "Mommy, can we go to the beach?" Sango looked at Rosalind, who nodded and told her, "it's going to be about an hour or so yet before dinner’s ready."
Sango looked over at Kohaku. "Do you want to go down with them? I want a shower and then I can relieve you." The teenager nodded and got to his feet. "Sure. Come on short stuff. Let's go see if there are sail boats out there."
Shippo cheered and Rin slid from Sesshomaru's lap to follow them. Axel, who had been curled up by the kitchen door, stood with a snort and trotted out after his charge, tail wagging. As the kids ran down the hallway Sango called out, sounding as if she already knew she’d missed her chance, “not in the water you three!”
Koga got to his feet and said, "I’ll go out with them. Rosie, you want me to drag out the grill? We can set it up and eat down on the beach. The wind’s calmed down."
Ayame smiled and looked enthusiastic. "We should. There won't be as many dirty pans or plates to wash."
Rosalind nodded and thanked him, mentally wondering if there was a container large enough to put the food in. She'd figure something out. "Sure, sounds like a plan. Is it still the big wood grill that was down here before?"
Sesshomaru nodded once in confirmation. "It’s the same. It hasn’t been used much in the interim. It might need cleaning."
Koga waved a hand. "I got it." Ayame stood and followed her mate out the front door. Sango got to her feet, hands resting on the back of her chair for a moment. "Anything I can do to help in here?"
Rosalind shook her head. "No, I got it. Go take a hot bath. The kids are occupied and have three sets of eyes on them, and dinner’s under control."
Sango looked thoughtful. "That sounds like a diabolical plan. I might just do that. It's been forever. But I can come back and make a dessert.” Rosalind shook her head again, her eyes settling on Sesshomaru's for a moment and dancing with amusement. "No need. We have chocolate ice cream… or… actually I picked up a special treat I was going to save for the weekend, but it’s perfect for tonight I think."
Miroku stood and took Sango's hand, pulling her out from behind the table and spinning her into a hug. "Come on, let's go. There's nothing else you have to do right now." Sango blushed a little as he gave her rear an affectionate squeeze and let him lead her away.
Rosalind smiled to herself as she continued to shape hamburgers, pulling a fresh sheet of wax paper over each layer as she stacked them. Silently, she thought to herself that she’d be lucky to find a guy someday that fit in her world the way Sango and Miroku fit with one another. It had taken a while for Miroku to convince Sango to go out with him in the beginning, but they were great together, and it hadn’t been long before they were married and Shiori was on the way. Rosalind mused for a second that it was probably only due to the long hours they tended to work, between their street jobs and their slightly less legal endeavors, that Shiori didn’t already have several brothers or sisters.
Without a word Sesshomaru stood and pulled down a long glass baking dish. She watched curiously as he got out a cutting board and one of the sharp, high quality German steel knives. He rolled back his shirt sleeves, revealing the dark slashes of ruby magenta color marking his wrists. Her eyes automatically flicked up to the matched set of marks that adorned his face, the faint, pale crescent moon that lay high on his forehead, almost hidden beneath his hair.
Without even looking at her, he began to slice tomatoes. That was twice now in 24 hours he had stepped in to help her with the food prep, and she’d almost never seen him cook before. She murmured quietly, "you don't have to do that. I can handle it if you have work you need to do."
Sesshomaru flicked his golden eyes to her for a moment before he lay the neat, even tomato slices in one side of the dish. “My work is finished for the day, until very late tonight anyway.” She watched in fascination as he flicked a claw in a precise, almost surgical movement to remove the outer peel of an onion. 'That's handy,' she thought, smiling a little to herself, and examining her own blunt, short nails for a moment. She’d never been able to grow them out. Her hands were always either in paint or food, so long beautiful nails just weren’t practical. She had working hands, not pretty hands, and it was only in the rarest of moments that the fact ever bothered her.
After a few minutes she stood with her fore arms braced on the sides of the big bowl, working her fingers, opening her hands and closing them again. Sesshomaru looked over and raised an eyebrow as he inquired, "what is it?"
She flashed him a small smile and said, "I'm fine. The beef is just really cold. My fingers need to thaw for a second."
He nodded once in acknowledgment, setting the last of the sliced lettuce onto one of the plate of ingredients. She was confused when he stepped closer and looked into the bowl. Her confusion turned to shock when he reached in, pinched a little of the raw meat between forefinger and thumb, and popped it in his mouth. She looked up at him in surprise and a little disgust. He must have found her expression amusing because he let out a low, smooth laugh and licked his thumb before washing his hands at the sink and commenting, "it's very good."
She looked down at the meat left in the bowl, then at him again. "Seriously?"
His gold eyes seemed to spark as he smiled at her. "Yes. I don’t consume flesh fully rare very often anymore, but I still have some taste for it. Humans over-cook their food." She frowned down at the hamburger thoughtfully. When she didn't say anything, he came back to stand at her side, drying his hands on a towel. "What troubles you?"
Rosalind's lips twisted to the side a little as she thought. "Should I leave some of them half raw, just maybe cooked on the outside?"
He considered this, then nodded. "That would be good, though Inuyasha and Ayame prefer their meat cooked halfway or better, and Gabriel will likely not return until late tonight."
She cringed at the thought of biting into a mostly raw hamburger and shuddered, laughing a little incredulously. "Alright… then that's what we'll do."