InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 4: Justification ❯ Healing ( Chapter 92 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Gin wrinkled her nose as Cain breezed into the room with a glass of milk and a peanut butter sandwich.  Whining softly as her nostrils burned and cracked from the prolonged exposure to the oxygen line, she shot Cain a longsuffering glance and sighed when he slowly shook his head.  "You don't have to eat the entire sandwich," he informed her as he carefully set the milk on the nightstand, "but you do have to drink all the milk."

"Milk's for pups," she grumbled, eyeing the glass disdainfully.

"Milk's good for you," he countered.  "Anyway, Dr. Wing-Ding said you need it."

"Don't call Kichiro-nii-chan a—If he's a wing-ding, then you can't trust him about the milk."

Cain chuckled as he broke off a bite of the sandwich and held it out to her.  "Nice try, baby girl.  You're going to drink your milk."

Gin chewed the small bite and swallowed.  "I don't want it . . . What if it makes me throw up?  Then you'd feel bad, wouldn't you?  I'm going to be your mate . . . You can't force me to drink yucky things . . ."

"It's just milk, and it's good for you.  You're not going to throw it up, Bellaniece, now stop fussing or you won't get dessert . . ."

"I'm not fussing . . . Dessert?"

He nodded as he fed her another bite.  "Yes, dessert, and if you drink your milk, maybe your brother could be convinced to take off the oxygen tube."

"Where is everyone?  It's been really quiet," Gin commented.

Cain handed her the sandwich and nudged the straw between her lips, and with a longsuffering sigh, Gin forced down a few swallows.  "Your mother left a note.  I found it when I was hunting down the string, but you fell asleep before I could tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"Seems that your mother is having the baby."

Gin's eyes widened in shock, and she struggled to kick the blankets aside as she pushed herself up.  "It's too soon!"

Cain hurriedly set the glass aside and caught her shoulders.  "It's fine.  It's a little early, but not that bad.  She said that she'd have your father call when there's word."

Gin shook her head stubbornly.  "She's my mama!"

"Gin . . . You can't go to the hospital.  They'd take one look at you and admit you.  Do you understand?"

"But—"

He sighed, seeing the obvious distress in her features.  "You know I'd let you do it, but right now, you can't have your way.  Ask me for the moon, baby girl.  Ask me for the stars . . . but you can't have this.  I'm sorry."

She made a face, and for a moment, he thought that she was going to cry.  "I didn't think I'd be here . . . I didn't think I'd see my brother."

"Your brother?  I didn't think they knew for sure."

Gin shrugged and nibbled on her sandwich.  "Mama knows."

"Oh?  How's that work?"

She shot him a disbelieving glance and slowly shook her head.  "She's Mama . . . Mama always knows these things.  She told Papa that Sierra was going to have girls every time, even before Sierra knew for certain.  I think it's because she's a miko.  That's what Papa says . . ."

"Well, that's creepy as hell," Cain grumbled, cheeks pinking as Gin let him hold the milk glass to her lips again.

"It's not creepy," she argued.  "Mama is intuitive like that . . ." Trailing off with a sigh, Gin peered up at Cain through the fringe of her lashes.  "I wish I could be there with her."

"I know.  Your mother said that they'll be home in a couple days, and that you'll get to be the first to hold the baby when they do."

She perked up a little, ears twitching atop her head.  "Really?"

"You want to read the note, yourself?"

Gin considered that but shook her head.  "I trust you."

"Good."

"I've never been a big sister before," Gin went on.  "Do you think I'll be okay at it?"

He chuckled and sat beside her.  "You'll be just fine."

"You think so?"

Cain nodded, reaching over to tweak her nose.  "Absolutely—just don't drop him, and you'll do okay."

"I wouldn't drop him!" she protested.

"So you say; so you say . . ."

"Cain!"

He relented with a laugh.  "I'm teasing, Gin.  You'll be fine."

"Fine?  Fine?  You think I'll drop him . . . That was mean, Zelig-sensei—just mean."

"'Sensei', is it?  Ouch . . . and you think I'm mean . . ."

"Pfft!  You are mean.  You ought to be ashamed of yourself, you know."

"Yeah, I ought to be.  Too bad you're cuter than hell when you're all irritated at me."

Her cheeks reddened, and she snapped her mouth closed on her retort.  "You think so?"

"Of course I do."

She finished off her sandwich and grimaced when Cain carefully forced the straw into her mouth again.  Ears flattening as she drank the hated beverage, she heaved a sigh of relief when he finally set the glass aside.  "I don't have to finish that, do I?" she asked, glaring balefully at the quarter of a glass of milk still left.

"You'll want it after you have dessert," he assured her.

Her interest perked.  "I will?"

"Sure . . . nothing goes with peanut butter cups quite as well as milk."

Gin looked confused for a moment then gasped softly, struggling to sit up a little higher.  "You mean the orange packages like the ones you bought me in Chicago?"

He nodded slowly as he pulled a package of Reese's peanut butter cups out of his pocket.  "Do you want them?"

She nodded.  "Yes, please."

Taking his time unwrapping the treats, Cain broke off a bit of the first cup and held it out to her.  Gin wrinkled her nose but didn't complain as she let him feed her, grazing his thumb with her teeth.  "Hey!  No biting, baby girl!" he complained.

"I can feed myself."

"But I like to do it."

She smiled and let him feed her another bite.  "Where did you get these?" she asked, grabbing for his wrist to get the next bit.

"Bellaniece.  She contacted my acquaintance at the air force base and picked the things up for me."

"You mean there's more?"

He narrowed his gaze.  "Maybe."

"There is, isn't there?"

"There might be, but you've had enough for now, don't you think?"

"But you wanted me to regain my weight."

"Not all in one day."

"You said that we'd get married as soon as I do."

"And we will."

"Then hand over the other peanut butter cups."

"Not on your life, piggy."

"I'm not a piggy!"

"You are.  You're a peanut butter piggy."

"I am not—well, maybe . . ."

"Oink-oink."

Her giggle was cut off with a wide yawn.  Cain sighed but smiled as he offered her the rest of the milk and helped her lie down.  "Take a nap, okay?"

She tugged on the oxygen line and scowled.  "Will you call Kichiro-nii-chan?  Tell him I ate?"

"All right," he agreed.

She relaxed and sighed.  "Will you lie down with me after that?"

He thought it over and nodded.

Gin scowled as she stared at him.  "Cain?"

"Hmm?"

"You've lost weight, too, haven't you?  Were you . . . sick . . . too?"

"A little," he admitted, unwilling to worry her.

"Oh . . . I'm sorry," she whispered, ears flattening as her gaze fell away; as she gnawed on her lower lip miserably.

"Don't be sorry, Gin.  You're the one I'm concerned about.  I'm just fine now."

She didn't look reassured.  Grimacing as she swallowed hard, she dared a quick glance at him.  "I am going to be a really good mate to you; I promise."

He smiled.  "We'll be good mates to each other."

"That sounds fair."

'Cain, you're forgetting . . . You need to tell her about the marking.'

'I will . . . I'm surprised she hasn't noticed that for herself.  She smells like me now . . .'

'Yeah, well, with that oxygen tube, it's no wonder she hasn't figured it out.  You should tell her before she figures it out for herself, though.  Not that I think she'll mind . . . Just something she ought to know.'

He nodded slowly and cleared his throat.  "There's something else I've got to tell you," he said then shook his head.  Gin was already asleep.


"And you're sure that they're okay now?"

Kichiro rolled his eyes and smiled indulgently as Bellaniece cuddled against his chest, resting her temple against his shoulder.  "Yes, I'm sure.  Gin's looking much better, too.  It's a good sign."

"You think she wasn't recovering faster because she thought Daddy was only there because your father brought him back?"

Kichiro grimaced but nodded.  "So it would seem.  It's fairly important, as far as determining what's going on when someone's youkai is rejected."

"Daddy never rejected her."

"Maybe; maybe not.  It didn't matter.  In Gin's mind, he had.  The whole bonding issue might have more to do with psychology than we've thought all along."

"It can't be all psychological," Bellaniece argued.

"Well, no . . . I don't suppose it is.  It may just be that there is a psychological side of it that hadn't really been considered before."

"Of course there is.  Finding a mate isn't exactly a physical thing."

Kichiro snorted.  "Keh!  Admit it: there has to be a physical attraction, and you know it."

"I didn't say there wasn't," she argued, letting his braid drag through her hand over and over again.  "Still, the bond that's formed can't just be a physical thing."

"That's what I mean."

She shook her head.  "Yes, but the problem is, how would you research such a thing without nearly killing mates?"

He sighed.  "I know."

"What happened to Gin . . . It shouldn't happen to anyone else."

"I know that, too."

"Good."

"You know, it occurred to me," he drawled, idly stroking her back, "your father is going to live, right?"

Bellaniece sighed happily and relaxed, as though his musing reassured her.

"We could start a family of our own now."

"You held Mikio too long, didn't you?" she teased.

He chuckled and shrugged.  "He had nothing to do with it."

She sat back, toying with the tabs of his shirt collar.  "He's so tiny."

"All babies are tiny."

"Of course they are.  He's just tinier than I thought he'd be."

"Six and a half pounds is a decent size baby; about the same size as Gin was when she was born . . . Let's hope he grows more than she did . . ."

Bellaniece tugged Kichiro's braid.  "I'm sure he'll grow up to be just as big and strong as you are."

"Don't think I don't realize you're avoiding the question."

"Question?" she echoed innocently.

"Yes, the question.  Why don't you want to start a family now?"

"I never said that," she countered slowly.

Kichiro ducked his chin to level a no-nonsense look at his mate.  "Listen, princess—"

"I was thinking about taking some college courses," she blurted, color riding high in her cheeks as she avoided Kichiro's penetrating stare.

"That's fine . . . you could always take classes until the pup's born, then just go part time."

"Yeah, but I'd be spreading myself too thin, don't you think?  Besides, I rather like having you all to myself . . ."

He sighed.  "You're a terrible liar, Belle-chan."

"I'm not lying . . . I just thought maybe we should wait a little longer . . ."

He counted to twenty before he could manage a reasonable tone.  "Care to tell me why?  I thought you wanted pups—lots of them."

"Eventually," she agreed.  "In a year . . . or so . . ."

"Belle—"

"I enjoy being your only baby . . . and having you as my baby," she insisted.

He shook his head slowly but let it go at that.  Bellaniece was acting much too strangely for her reasons to hold water, as far as he was concerned.  He knew—just knew—that she wanted children as badly as he did.  What he couldn't figure out was what could possibly be bothering her now.  Why wouldn't she tell him the real reason?


"Mikio," Gin repeated slowly, considering the name of her new baby brother with a thoughtful frown.  "Three trees together . . . like Ryo-nii, Kichiro-nii-chan, and him, right?"

"Sounds good," Cain agreed, only paying partial attention as he leafed through a package that had been delivered via courier while Gin was napping.  Nothing but boring papers he needed to sign that he hadn't gotten around to taking care of before he was so unceremoniously ushered back to Tokyo: tai-youkai business—and a note from Ben basically telling him not to bother coming back if he didn't bring Gin with him this time.

"If I wore big clothes—maybe a few shirts under a sweater?  Do you think I could sneak in, then?"

"Huh?"

Gin sighed.  "If I wore some bulkier clothes, would you take me to the hospital to see him?"

"Baby girl . . ."

She made a face as her ears drooped.  "It was worth a try," she grumbled, rubbing her nose to dispel the lingering feel of the oxygen tube that Kichiro had finally removed earlier.  It would probably take a few days, he'd said, before her sense of smell returned to normal.  At least her ears had stopped popping from the intrusion.  The oxygen tube had really interfered with her equilibrium, or so it would seem.

"Your brother said that your mom would be released tomorrow, and your mother promised you could hold Mikio first, remember?"

"I know," she agreed listlessly.  "I wish I hadn't gotten sick . . ."

Cain grimaced and set the dull papers—some business he hadn't gotten around to taking care of before he'd been unceremoniously ushered back to Tokyo—aside and pulled Gin into his arms, cradling her cheek against his chest.  "I know, and I'm sorry, too."

"I'll get better fast," she promised.  "Then we can get married, and you can take me to Maine."

"No hurry," he assured her then sighed.  "Listen, Gin . . . about that . . ."

She stiffened slightly, and he could have kicked himself for worrying her at all.

"Nothing bad . . . at least, I hope you don't think it's bad," he hurried to assure her, hoping that she wouldn't be furious that he'd taken it upon himself to see that she was marked without even asking her.  'Hoping, maybe . . . Oh, who the hell am I trying to fool?  She's going to be mad, as well she should.  I didn't give her a choice, did I . . .?'

She relaxed, and so did he.  "Okay."

"I . . . I already . . . marked . . . you . . ."

The stiffness returned, and Cain flinched inwardly.  'Damn it . . .'

"You . . . marked me?"

"You looked so weak, and you weren't waking up . . . I didn't know what else to do.  You just looked . . . and I . . . So, when your brother said that marking you might help, I . . . let him—"

"Cain?"

"I just didn't think, and I'm sorry.  I don't blame you for being furious with me, but you have to understand, I was—"

"Cain . . ."

"But I'd rather have you living than not have you at all, and I'm not sorry for that . . . Just that I didn't really give you a choice . . . The same thing I did to Isabelle, only this time—" Trailing off with a scowl, Cain glanced down to see why Gin was tugging on his arm.  Her rising panic was enough to make him grimace, and he opened his mouth to speak again, only to be interrupted by Gin's voice.

"I can't find it!" she nearly wailed.

"Find . . . what?" he asked carefully.

Busy leaning away enough to hold her shirt out, she shook her head as she stared down the opening before kicking at the covers and pulling up the hem of the shirt to stare at her belly.  "Where is it?"

"Where is . . .?  The mark, you mean?" he asked, vaguely aware that he sounded rather stupid but unable to do anything to correct that.

"Yes!"

"Oh . . . Well . . . Wait . . . You're not mad?"

"No, but where is it?"

"Calm down, Gin.  You're going to tired yourself out looking for it."

She cast him an imploring look, and he finally smiled.  "Where is it?"

"It's where it's supposed to be: on your . . . heinie."

"On . . . my . . .?" She gasped, hand flying up to cover her mouth as mortified color blossomed in her cheeks.  "No-o-o!"

He nodded slowly, carefully biting his lip to keep from laughing out loud.  "Well . . . just above your heinie, I guess."

Gin uttered a harsh little whine but tried to roll to the side and craned her neck to look behind her, obviously trying to find the mark.  "I can't believe you marked me there!" she chided.

"Me?  It's your body, baby girl.  I had nothing to do with it.  Do you want to see it?"

She wrinkled her nose as she collapsed against him.  "Yes."

Her mulish tone nearly did make him laugh.  He kissed her forehead and carefully moved her aside.

"Where are you going?" she demanded, grabbing his hand and holding on as tightly as she could.

"I'm going to get a mirror so you can see my mark."

"Oh," she said, immediately letting go.  "That's okay, then."

He chuckled as he strode out of the room in search of mirrors.  Grabbing one out of a bathroom drawer and one off the wall in the hallway, he headed back toward Gin's bedroom only to find the girl in question trying in vain to look for the mark, herself.

"Here," he said, slipping the smaller mirror into her hand.  "I'll hold this one, and you can look."

"Thank you," she said, adjusting the mirror to see over her shoulder as Cain pushed the shirt up enough to uncover the small silvery mark just above the elastic of her panties.  Shaped like a tiny 'Z', the mark seemed to glow on Gin's pale skin, and Cain smiled just a little.

Gin stared in the mirror and giggled softly.  "I like that," she said at last.

"Do you?"

She nodded, cuddling deeper into the pillow but resting her hand beside her head with the mirror turned so that she could continue looking at the mark.  "So I'm really your mate?  That's what it means, right?"

"Yeah, it does."

"And you're my mate."

"Yes."

"That means forever."

"Absolutely."

"Forever's a long time," she said as the mirror swayed a little.  She was tired, he could tell.

He leaned forward to steady the mirror for her and kissed her temple.  "Not nearly long enough, with you."

She fell asleep with a smile on her face, and Cain set the mirrors aside in case she wanted to look again later.  Then he stretched out beside her, pulled her into his arms, and closed his eyes, too.