InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 8: Vendetta ❯ Special Delivery ( Chapter 76 )

~~Chapter 76~~

~Special Delivery~

 

-=0=-

 

 

Evan sauntered into the mansion with a cocky grin on his face and a stack of mail in his hand. The smile faded as he stood in the foyer, though. The place was oddly quiet.

 

It only took a moment for him to deposit the mail on his father's desk, and while he wasn't too concerned with the emptiness, he was surprised by it.

 

No Mama in the kitchen, and no one in the yard. Weird, really.

 

Pushing the button on the side of his earpiece, he waited for the series of beeps. “Call Mama,” he said, yanking open the refrigerator and grabbing the container of orange juice off the top shelf.

 

“Evan, sweetie!” Gin's voice greeted. “I thought you were out of town.”

 

“I was, but now I'm not,” he said, taking a huge swig out of the container and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Where's everyone?”

 

“Hmm, well, your father got a call from Ben about a break in one of the old cases, your grandfather and uncles flew out to California to talk to the one researcher about Tanny's actual date of birth, and the girls and I decided to take a trip to Portland for some things for Tanny's nursery. Oh, but Sebastian is in New York City—he had to check on something since Gunnar had to go back to Japan for a few days, so Sydnie's there. She was feeling a little tired today, so she wanted to stay home. Won't you be a sweetie and check in on her?”

 

“What about the holy man?” he asked with a frown.

 

“Kurt? He's resting, too, I think. He's a little sore from fighting with your brother yesterday . . . Evan Roka Zelig, you aren't drinking out of the orange juice container, are you?”

 

Evan grinned and stared at the open container in his hand. “Of course not, Mama. You always tell me that it's bad to do that, right?”

 

Gin laughed. “You're such a good boy! Okay, we'll be home later.”

 

“Love you, Mama,” he said before she hung up.

 

“Love you, too, Evan,” Gin replied.

 

Pushing the button on the side of the earpiece to end the connection, Evan capped the jug and stowed it in the refrigerator once more. `Check on Sydnie? Ni-i-i-ice,' he grinned.

 

She was lying down in Bas' old bedroom—not at all surprising since she'd been forced to stay at the mansion while he was out of town. The door wasn't completely closed, and his knock opened it a little wider. “Hey, pussikins. Feeling a little under the weather?”

 

Sydnie cracked an eye open and managed a little smile. “I'm fine,” she told him.

 

“You sure?” he pressed. “I mean, I'd be more than happy to rub your kitty, if you want me to,” he said with a wide grin.

 

She laughed and threw a small pillow at him, hitting him square in the chest. “I'm fine, Evan, thanks,” she said once more.

 

“All right. Gimme a ring-a-ding on my ding-a-ling if you need anything.”

 

She nodded and giggled, and Evan winked at her as he slipped out of the room.

 

He sighed. Damn, he was bored, wasn't he? International rock sin-sation on the rise, Zel Roka, babysitting . . .

 

Ah, well . . . Considering who he was babysitting, he figured that it was okay. That particular pussy cat was the hottest one he'd ever seen, pregnant or not . . . Too bad she'd met his damn brother first. It was Evan's considered opinion that things would've been vastly different if she'd met him, to start with. Then again, call it bad timing since he was only fifteen the first time they'd met . . .

 

He headed for the stairs, taking them two at a time. Might as well check in on the unwilling guest while he was there, right?

 

Evan made a face. To be honest, he wasn't entirely sure what to make of Kurt Drevin. Sure, he'd agreed that locking Samantha into that God-forsaken place was a dag-nasty thing to have done, but he also believed Sam when she told him that it was a mistake. Everyone else was so convinced that Drevin should have been strung up and shot at dawn that it was a little sad, really. Maybe if he weren't sorry for it, but . . .

 

But it was natural to make mistakes, wasn't it? Hell, Evan knew that better than anyone. `Sides, Samantha had told him parts of it, enough for Evan to start to understand exactly how and why it had happened, in the first place, and while he couldn't say that he was okay with it, he also didn't think he had a right to carry a grudge when Samantha didn't.

 

And he supposed that was a large part of the reason he was out here now. When he'd spoken to her a couple weeks ago on the phone between recording sessions in Vancouver, she'd sounded so bummed out. Sure, she could understand everyone's feelings, but it still hurt her, especially the idea that her father refused to even listen to her side of things—or more to the point, Kurt's side of things. She wanted to be happy—that was all she wanted, and with the impending adoption of the little girl they'd named Tanny as well as the happiness she should have felt at having found her one true mate, it seemed like she was getting the short end of the stick, didn't it, and that was enough to bother Evan more than he cared to think about. So Evan had thought that maybe it'd please her if someone made an effort, and to that end, he'd hopped on the first flight out after having laid down the tracks for his upcoming album in record time . . .

 

Sparing a moment, he tapped on the closed door and waited.

 

“Come in,” Drevin called out.

 

Evan opened the door and poked his head into the room. Drevin was sitting at the small table, fussing with some kind of electrical device.

 

“Got the day off?” he asked.

 

Kurt glanced up with a marked scowl. “I guess so . . . unless you're here to beat on me.”

 

Evan chuckled. “Naw. I left my sword at home, anyway. So whatcha doin'?”

 

Letting out a deep breath as he stared at the device he had disassembled, he slowly shook his head. “Samantha said that this was broken, but she was upset because all of her music is on it,” he replied absently, reaching for a tiny electronics screwdriver. “Figured I'd see if I could fix it for her.”

 

“What? Her Medialis?” Evan queried.

 

Kurt nodded.

 

“Oh, hell, I'll buy her another one if she wants. Hell, they gave me that one for free just to have it in one of my videos . . .”

 

“Yeah, but all her music is on this one,” Kurt remarked. He didn't say anything as he positioned a loose wire and carefully soldered it into place. “There . . .”

 

“You fixed it?”

 

Kurt shrugged, positioning the back cover of the unit and carefully picking up one of the miniscule screws. “I think so.”

 

“Nice,” Evan approved. “So tell me, Kurt—can I call you Kurt?”

 

“Sure,” Kurt intoned in a distracted sort of way.

 

“What do you do for a living, young man?”

 

Kurt paused long enough to cast Evan a rather droll look. “I'm sort of between jobs, at the moment.”

 

Evan rolled his eyes, grabbing a chair and turning it around to straddle it. “Well, did you go to college? Did you get adequate book-learning?”

 

“Yes,” he replied as he finished replacing the cover. “I even went to grad school.”

 

“Impressive, impressive . . . I'm sure that the big bones in the office will be accordingly impressed by a bit of bond paper with your name on it. So what does that bit of paper entitle you to do?”

 

Kurt almost smiled as he pressed the power button. “I'm a doctor,” he said.

 

“Really? As in, a real doctor? Like making the rounds and all that happy crap?”

 

Kurt nodded, sticking one of the earbuds into his left ear. Wincing as the very loud music blared in said-ear, he yanked it loose and tossed the earbud on the table. “It's fixed,” he declared with a shake of his head.

 

“That is an awesome song,” Evan quipped. It was one of his older songs—one of his favorites.

 

Kurt snorted. “It sounds like a bag of pissed off cats.”

 

“You think?” Evan asked with a grin. “And here I thought that was one of my better songs.”

 

“That was you?” Kurt demanded, shaking his head.

 

Evan's grin widened. “Abso-fucking-lutely!”

 

Kurt stared at him for a moment as though he didn't quite believe Evan, who nodded vigorously and reached for the Medialis, unplugging the earbuds and turning up the volume. “I take that back, then,” he finally decided. “It doesn't sound like a bag of pissed off cats—it sounds like a bag of pissed off cats having an orgy . . .”

 

“Really? You think? Wicked! That's pretty much what I was going for, but the upper ass cracks in charge were afraid that it would offend the public, so they added a few guitar riffs over it to tone it down . . .”

 

Kurt opened his mouth then closed it, finally shaking his head slowly. “Christ. You're bent.”

 

“Yeah, well, better to be bent than to be Bubby.”

 

Kurt chuckled. “I suppose.”

 

“You're all right,” Evan decided with an approving nod.

 

Kurt rubbed his forehead. “You mean you don't want to see me dead, too?”

 

Evan shrugged, as though it were of no real consequence. “What's the point? You love her, right?”

 

The frank question seemed to catch him off guard, but he nodded, his cheeks pinking up just a little. “Y . . . yeah . . . I do.”

 

Evan grinned. “Then it's all good, `cause, you know, right? You're gonna have to wait for her.”

 

Kurt shook his head. “Wait for her?”

 

“Well, sure! You don't think they'll let someone her age run off and get hitched, do you?”

 

The expression on Kurt's face was priceless, in Evan's estimation. “What do you mean?” he asked slowly.

 

“Du-u-ude . . . how old do you think she is?”

 

Evan almost laughed at the nearly panicked look on the man's face. “Wh . . .? H-how old is she?”

 

Evan sat back, crossing his arms over his chest and ignoring the voice in the back of his mind that chided him for being so mean. “Aw, lessee . . . She might be . . . Oh, nope, not yet . . .” He snapped his fingers, as though the answer had just come to him. “Guess she's about seventeen.”

 

Kurt swallowed hard. “S-seventeen?”

 

Evan nodded. “Yeah . . . almost.”

 

“. . . Almost seventeen?”

 

Even grinned like a damn lunatic—a sure sign that he was bullshitting the poor guy. Too bad Drevin didn't know him well enough to realize that . . . “Well, she'll be seventeen in June, I b'lieve . . .”

 

The man looked decidedly green.

 

“But, you know, it's different for youkai . . . Take Ryomaru, for example. He knew Nezumi was his mate when they were just pups, so it's not a big deal, right?”

 

The first hint of suspicion surfaced on Kurt's features. “They can't have—”

 

Evan shrugged again. “Sure, they could. I mean, they were inseparable; always together. Sure, they waited to get hitched, but that's just a formality, anyway, for us. They were mates lo-o-o-o-ong before that.”

 

Kurt grimaced. “I . . . I see . . .”

 

With a particularly nasty chuckle, Evan shook his head. He was about to let Drevin off the hook when his phone rang. He pressed the button to connect the call. “'Lo?”

 

“Evan?”

 

His grin widened at the absolutely breathless quality in Sydnie's sexy voice. “Hey, pussikins! Miss me?”

 

Sydnie let out a slow, measured breath. “Evan, I need help . . .”

 

His smile faded as he slowly got to his feet. Something in her voice . . . “What's the matter?”

 

She uttered a half-whine. “Um . . . I think I'm having the baby . . .”

 

He stopped dead still, eyes flaring wide. “You-you-you mean now?”

 

She breathed deeply again. “Yes.”

 

“Uh, okay. I'll call Bitty,” he said as he headed for the door.

 

“No-no time,” she gasped. “Evan—”

 

“Just hold on, Sydnie. Cross your legs and hold it in or something,” Evan blurted, smashing his hand against his forehead as he racked his suddenly-blank brain. She uttered a sound halfway between a growl and a hiss, and he grimaced. “All right; all right. I'm on my way down . . .”

 

An ear-piercing shriek shot straight to his core, and with a grimace, he jerked the phone out of his ear.

 

“What's wrong?” Kurt demanded, his face showing signs of alarm.

 

Evan glanced at him then stopped short. “You're a doctor, right?”

 

Kurt shook his head. “Yeah, but—”

 

Evan didn't wait to hear more, grabbing Kurt's arm and dragging him out of the room. “Sydnie's in labor,” he said as he broke for the stairs. “You gotta help her.”

 

“I'm not an obstetrician,” he insisted, tugging against Evan's grip.

 

“But you did rotations, right?”

 

“Not in that,” Kurt growled.

 

“Yeah, well, you're a helluva lot closer to this kind of thing than I am.”

 

“N-no!”

 

“Get moving, Dr. Drevin!”

 

Kurt scowled at Evan but followed him down the stairs.

 

Sydnie was curled on her side in the huge bed. She looked so tiny, so lost, and Evan had to bite back the surge of irrational anger that swelled up inside him; the rage that Bas was off doing God only knew what. He gritted his teeth. True enough, Sydnie wasn't due for another six weeks, and Bas wouldn't have done any damn where if he'd known . . . He was big, and he was a moron, but he wasn't that big a moron, after all . . .

 

“Hey, pussikins. Lookin' good,” he teased.

 

She shot him a grateful, if not somewhat weak, smile. “Of course, puppy,” she murmured. Her smile faded when Kurt stepped into the room. “Why's he here?” she demanded warily.

 

“Relax,” Evan said in his most reassuring tone. “He's a doctor; didn't you know?”

 

“R-really?” she asked with a grimace.

 

Kurt cleared his throat. “Evan, can you get the first-aid kit for me, please?”

 

“Okay,” he agreed. “Water? Towels?”

 

Kurt shot him a blank sort of look. “You've watched too many movies, haven't you?”

 

“You don't need those?”

 

Kurt nodded. “Yeah, okay, but I need that kit first.”

 

Evan started to go. Sydnie caught his hand. “You do it,” she whined, casting a distrustful look at Kurt.

 

He made a face. “Sydnie, darlin', I gotta tell you, I'm damn fucking good at doing what puts the critters in there, but I don't think I'd be any good at all at getting them out again.”

 

She sighed then winced.

 

“I'm going to look now, Sydnie. Is that all right?” Kurt asked in a calm, soothing tone.

 

She whined as another contraction hit her hard, but she nodded.

 

Kurt gently repositioned her, pulling off her underpants and check her dilation. Eyes flaring wide as he grimaced since there wasn't any way in hell an ambulance would make it in time, Kurt bit his lip. “Uh, Evan . . .”

 

“Huh?”

 

He shot Evan a meaningful look. “I really need that first-aid kit, please.”

 

That was all Evan needed to hear. Calling an apology over his shoulder, he dashed out of the room again, slipping his phone over his ear and holding down the button as he dashed down the steps and broke for the kitchen. “Call Bubby,” he barked without missing a step. “Hey, Bubby,” he said when Bas answered as he grabbed the kit and ran out of the kitchen again.

 

“Evan? How's Vancouver?”

 

“Yeah, I'm at home, in Maine,” he quipped. “Anyway, I thought you should know, you're about to become a daddy . . . Let me put my phone on Sydnie. You might as well hear it, at least . . .”

 

 

-OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO-

 

 

Samantha slipped into the quiet room with a tender little smile on her face. Kurt was sleeping with Tanny cuddled against his side. Somehow, during the confusion and excitement of the day, the taijya had managed to fade into the background once the women had returned home about twenty minutes after Bailey Zelig, the future North American tai-youkai, was born. Bellaniece had rushed in and had taken over, checking the child, satisfying everyone, including Kurt, that the baby was hale and hearty, and that the mama was just fine, too. She'd smiled at Kurt, hadn't she? Bellaniece had smiled at him and had told him that he'd done a fantastic job . . .

 

Evan had happily informed them that Kurt was a doctor, didn't they know? And Sydnie, who never warmed up to anyone very quickly, had smiled and thanked him and told him that she'd tell her puppy that he wasn't allowed to beat on Kurt anymore.

 

Samantha's smile widened as she pulled up the blanket that was smashed into a lump at the end of the bed over the two sleeping forms.

 

Kurt had managed to slip away from the thanks and smiles. Cain shook his hand, his gaze bright with emotion and had thanked Kurt for taking care of Sydnie and the baby. Gin had cried and had proceeded to make Kurt a special cake to thank him, much to Cain's chagrin. Kagome had smiled a knowing little smile, and InuYasha had made some weird comment about making enough of `em in his past life that he ought to know how to birth them. Even Isabelle and Gunnar had given their thanks, too, much to Samantha's amusement—Isabelle's in the form of a kiss on the cheek; Gunnar had opted to shake Kurt's hand instead. Griffin had muttered something about `getting used to that kind of mush'. In Evan's excitement, he'd actually hugged Kurt, which had been well worth seeing, and Samantha had a feeling that the poor taijya hadn't been sure what to do with that kind of attention, so he'd retreated back to the sanctuary of his room.

 

But the best reaction had been Bas'. He'd somehow managed to make it back from New York City in record time—Samantha had a feeling that he'd run the entire way. He'd opened and closed his mouth a few times, unable to find the right words to start with. He'd managed a weak but heartfelt smile and the sheen of tears in his eyes, and, with his son in his arms, he'd acknowledged the next tai-youkai, giving him the name Bailey Kurt Zelig.

 

And then Bellaniece had shooed everyone else out of the room to let the new family have a bit of peace and quiet. For once, Evan and Bas hadn't argued, though Evan had shot his brother a ridiculously large grin, stating loudly that he'd officially seen more of Sydnie than he ever thought he would, and something about her swollen breasts since he'd also gotten to see Bailey get his first meal. Bas had shook his head but smiled, unable to summon the will to go after Evan.

 

Kurt uttered a loud breath, his eyes slowly opening, and when he saw Samantha standing there, he smiled just a little. “I . . . I fixed your Medialis,” he said, nodding at the table.

 

Samantha laughed and leaned down to kiss him, his lips warm, welcome. “You really are my hero today, huh?”

 

He grimaced but carefully sat up so as not to disturb Tanny. “I don't know about that,” he confessed. “How's the baby?”

 

“Bailey's just fine,” Samantha said as she poured a glass of ice water for him. “Cute as a button—like a baby version of his papa with his mama's eyes.”

 

Kurt scowled, as though he were trying to see it in his head. He must not have been able to do it because he got the strangest expression on his face. “Damn. He's going to be as big as a house, too, isn't he?”

 

Samantha laughed and handed him the glass. “I'm glad you were here with her today.”

 

He heaved a sigh and shot her a serious sort of look. “Yeah, but I'm not a baby doctor,” he replied. “If there had been complications . . .”

 

“But there weren't, so don't worry about that. Mama said that he's just fine, and they're going to take him in to Isabelle's office in the morning for a thorough checkup. They both said that you did a fine job.”

 

He finally smiled just a little. “Then it's all right,” he allowed then made a face. “Of course, I think I could have done without Evan hugging me . . .”

 

She laughed as she wandered over to open the doors, letting in the salty night breeze. Stepping outside into the darkness, she drew a deep breath. “You know, I don't think that we can live in my apartment,” she ventured at length when she sensed his approach.

 

“You have an apartment?” he asked.

 

She nodded. “You didn't think I lived here, did you?”

 

“But you're not old enough to have your own apartment,” he countered.

 

She turned to face him, her eyebrows raising in surprise. “Of course I am,” she said.

 

He shook his head and narrowed his gaze. “Oh, I'm on to you, little demon. It's all right; I can wait.”

 

“Wait?”

 

He nodded. “Yes, till you're . . . till you're legal.”

 

“. . . Legal?”

 

Kurt scowled in what seemed to be self-disgust, and he planted his hands on his hips. “You really should have told me how old you are,” he said in a tone that lacked censure but was a little on the disgruntled side.

 

She bit her lip. “How . . . how old am I?” she asked slowly.

 

That earned her a slightly darker scowl. “Seventeen. Almost.”

 

“I'm . . .? Who told you—? Wait, don't tell me . . . Evan?”

 

“Yes.”

 

She nodded. “And you believed him?”

 

“Why not? I mean, strictly speaking, you really don't look that old, so I should've guessed . . .”

 

“Taijya?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

She tried to keep her expression blank. She couldn't help the way her lips twitched just the tiniest bit. “He was lying.”

 

“Why would he do that?” he demanded.

 

She blinked at him as the smile broke free. “Why, indeed?”

 

It took a moment for him to consider that, and he must've figured out that maybe she was telling the truth. Heaving a sigh, he shook his head. “Your family likes to mess with me,” he grumbled.

 

“I'm almost twenty-one.”

 

“Damn . . . you're not even old enough to drink,” he muttered.

 

She laughed. “You're adorable when you're blustering,” she pointed out.

 

He heaved a longsuffering sigh and pinned her with a doleful sort of expression. “So . . . you have an apartment, eh?”

 

She nodded. “Yep.”

 

“Then why are you here now?” he snorted, slipping his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder.

 

Heaving a sigh of utter contentment, she closed her eyes and leaned back against him. “Because you're here . . .”

 

“Wow, that's a pretty pathetic reason, isn't it?” he half joked.

 

“I thought it was a pretty good reason, myself,” she quipped.

 

He sighed and shook his head. “I still don't get why you think I'm your mate,” he admitted then smiled a little bashfully. “Not that I'm going to complain . . .”

 

She laughed then winced as a droplet of rain fell on her. “Well, that figures . . .”

 

“Hold on,” he said, letting go of her. “I'll be right back . . .”

 

She watched as he ran back inside, shuffling through the desk drawers as though he were looking for something. Grabbing a small notepad, he scribbled something on the page, then grabbed a roll of tape and tore off a small strip. “I don't know if this will work,” he admitted as he slipped past her and out the doors again. He affixed the paper to the glass pane and touched it for a moment, murmuring something under his breath before slowly looking up over his head.

 

Samantha gasped as the rain grew steadily harder, but none of it fell on them. Reflected by the barrier he'd constructed over the porch, they stood in the dry area as a soft giggle slipped from her. “That's a neat trick,” she teased.

 

Kurt grinned and shrugged as he pulled her against his chest once more. “Yeah, I'm great for parties,” he deadpanned.

 

She laughed and leaned back to kiss his chin, wrapping her hands over his arms as the gentle patter of the rain filled the companionable silence . . .

 

 

~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~= ~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~

A/N:

== == == == == == == == == ==

Reviewers

==========

MMorg

AtamaHitoride ------ malitiadixie ------ CandyEars ------ sunshine161820 ------ monkeyseemonkeynodo ------ Dark Inu Fan ------ darkangel05 ------ Jester08 ------ Usagiseren05 ------ sheastarr334 ------ DonthatemecuzImbeautiful ------ kittycatkitten ------ iloveanimecartoons ------ Sesshomaru4Kagura4ever

==========

Forum

Proforce ------ tragic-hellion ------ sueroxmysox ------ BlkbltVette ------ laura.beth ------ FriskyPixie ------ Mangaluva

==========

Final Thought from Evan:

There's one born every minute …

==========

Blanket disclaimer for this fanfic (will apply to this and all other chapters in Vendetta): I do not claim any rights to InuYasha or the characters associated with the anime/manga. Those rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi, et al. I do offer my thanks to her for creating such vivid characters for me to terrorize.

 

~Sue~