InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity Redux: Fruition ❯ Negotiations ( Chapter 12 )

"How are you feeling?"

Gin Zelig stood up, bracing the small of her back with one hand as she used the other to push herself to her feet, smiling at her mate as he lounged, arms crossed over his chest, in the archway.   It struck him, as it often did, just how little she'd changed over the years.  In fact, wearing the cute denim overall dress with the simple white tee-shirt, she could still have been the college co-ed with the love of art and the innate ability to say things that were both entirely innocent as well as highly provocative, even though she never had any idea of the latter option.  "We're just fine, Zelig-sensei," she said, shuffling over to wrap her arms around his waist as she leaned back to peer up into his face.  "Why do you look so thoughtful, anyway?"

"Do I?"  He smiled and kissed her forehead as he slipped his arms around her, lacing his fingers together to hold her to him.  One of the babies still residing in Gin's distended belly dealt him a good, solid kick, and he chuckled softly.  "Teach your pups to share, why don't you?"

She nodded.  "You do, and they're your pups, too.  Considering, how big of a baby-piggy you were with Sebastian?  I think they take after you."

"Yeah, but you have a much closer relationship at the moment," he pointed out with a sigh.  "Anyway, it's nothing really bad," he assured her.  "Oh, we're going to have guests soon.  Ben called to say that he was in Bevelle, and he brought along Charity and the twins."

Gin gasped as her eyes widened, as her aura spiked with the sudden anticipation that coursed through her.  "The babies?  That's so exciting!"  She squealed, and Cain flinched as she broke away, probably to go cook something.  "And he's bringing Charity?  Why is he bringing Charity?  Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine.  She's been helping him with the girls, I guess . . . and don't forget that you're pregnant, Gin," he said, following behind her as she sped off toward the kitchen.  The reminder was enough to make her slow her gait, which was probably the biggest concession he was likely to get from her.  "You promised you'd take it easy, all things considered."

"Oh, Cain, I feel fine," she insisted, yanking open the refrigerator and stepping back as she gave the contents a critical eye.  "They'll stay for dinner, right?"

"I can ask," Cain said, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his rumpled khaki cargo pants.  "He also said something else . . ."

"Hmm?  What's that?"

He rolled his eyes at her preoccupied tone.  "He said he wants to keep the twins."

She stopped and slowly turned her face toward him, and while she didn't look particularly alarmed, she did look surprised.  "He does?"

Cain nodded.  "He did . . . and he said that Charity feels that she is their mother."

Pulling out a hulking roast, she used her shoulder to close the door as she slowly moved over to the counter.  "Hmm . . .?" she intoned but offered nothing else.

"What are you thinking, baby girl?"

"Huh . . .?  Oh, what?"

Cain made a face since he knew well enough that Gin tended to be very one-track-minded, and he'd interrupted whatever she was pondering.  "I said, what are you thinking?"

She scrunched up her shoulders then let them drop as she broke into a soft giggle.  "I was just thinking that they make a really sweet couple, don't you think?"

He blinked and reached over her head when she rose on tip-toe to reach the giant roasting pan she kept in the cupboard over the stove.  "Who?"

"Silly!" she chided, placing a hand on his forearm to thank him for retrieving the pan for her.  "Ben and Charity!  I've always thought so . . ."

Frowning at Gin's strange statement, Cain turned around, slouching against the counter behind him as he crossed his arms over his chest and considered her claim. "Ben and Charity?  They're not a couple . . ."

Gin rolled her eyes as she tore open the butcher's paper and carefully unwrapped the roast.  "Well, not officially, no, but everyone knows that they're meant to be."

Picking up Gin's water glass off the counter, Cain made a deliberate show of sniffing the contents to see if she'd been spiking it.  It smelled like water, sure, but that didn't mean much, as far as he was concerned.  "How does everyone know that?" he argued.  "I don't know what you're talking about."

She shot him an incredulous glance.  "Of course, you do," she insisted.  "Whenever we have a family function and they're both there?  Trust me, Zelig-sensei, it's a done deal, and if Charity agreed to come with Ben?  Those two are most definitely meant to be—like us!"

"I think being pregnant is affecting your brain," Cain retorted as Gin reached for the huge bowl she keep on the counter with fresh vegetables in it.

"You'll see, Cain Zelig," she said, poking a finger in the middle of his chest.  "I'm right!  Just ask anyone!"

"Ask anyone what?" Bas Zelig asked as he stepped into the kitchen with his son, Bailey dangling down his back.

"Hi, Grandma!" Bailey yelped in his excitement.

"Hi, sweetie!  And we were talking about Ben and Charity, Sebastian," Gin replied, hurrying over to kiss her grandson on the cheek.  She started to pull him down, but Cain stepped over to intercept her since Bailey was growing like crazy.  Bailey let go of his father's neck and started to slide.  Cain caught him with a soft grunt before he hit the floor.

"Ben and Charity?" Bas echoed.  "What about them?"

Gin wrinkled her nose and dug a cookie out of the container on the counter for Bailey, who took the cookie before struggling to get down out of Cain's arms.  About the second his feet touched the floor, he took off around the counter to climb on a stool so that he could grab another few cookies out of the jar, too.

Cain shot his son a look—the 'She-Doesn't-Know-What-She's-Talking-About Look.  "She says that Ben and Charity are 'meant to be'."

"They are," Sydnie stated flatly as she strolled into the kitchen with Olivia in her arms.  The cat-youkai set her daughter on her feet, fussing with the skirt of the pretty pink sundress Olivia wore, before standing up and slipping her hand up under Bas' elbow to rest on his forearm.

Both men turned to stare at her, as though they weren't entirely sure what she was saying.  "I guess you've seen it, too?" Bas asked dryly, arching a golden eyebrow at his mate.

"It's not my fault if you men are entirely too slow to see what's directly in front of your faces, is it, puppy?"

Bas wrinkled his nose and shook his head as he shot his father a knowing look.  "So they've danced together a few times," he said with a shrug, grabbing a few cookies out of the jar and stuffing a whole one into his mouth.  "Big deal."

Cain blinked.  "They did?"

Heaving a sigh, Bas slowly stared at his father.  "Really, Dad?  Really?"

"What?"

"Never mind," Bas said.  "Anyway, a few dances don’t really mean that two people are destined to be mates."

"It's all there in their eyes," Gin insisted, scooping Olivia up for a quick cuddle.  The tiny girl giggled and grabbed Gin's face in her hands to return the favor.  "All you have to do is look at them to know."

Bas grunted and shoved another cookie into his mouth before offering the last one in his hand to Sydnie, who declined with an adorably wrinkled nose.  Bas shrugged and jammed that one in, too, before leaning over to nab a cup out of the cupboard and turning toward the fridge.  "So, why are we talking about Ben and Charity, anyway?" he asked, his voice muffled by the appliance as he pulled the earthenware container of farm-fresh milk out of the door to pour into the glass.

"Ben wants to keep the twins," Gin piped up, turning her body just enough to keep Olivia back while she seasoned the pot roast with her free hand.

"He does?  Can he do that?"

Intercepting Bas' questioning gaze, Cain shrugged.  "Don't see why not."

"Maybe, but those pups need two parents," Bas replied as he handed Sydnie the glass of milk.

"I did all right with your sister—I'd like to think so, anyway," Cain replied tightly.

Bas shook his head.  "It's not about that, Dad," he insisted.  "One baby?  Okay.  Two?  That's a lot of work."

Cain didn't respond right away.  In truth, he hadn't really thought about that.  It was true enough, that one child was a ridiculous amount of work for one parent—something that Cain knew, first hand, given that he'd raised his daughter, Bellaniece alone.  Could he have done the same thing if Bellaniece had a twin?  Probably, he decided, but it would have been ridiculously hard to do . . .

"So, tell him that he can only adopt them if he and Charity want to . . . What's the word?  Oh!  Co-parent, since he said that she thinks of herself as their mama, anyway," Gin replied.

Cain opened his mouth to argue, but snapped it closed again as Gin's simplistic logic sank in.  "That's . . . a really good idea," he allowed after a moment of contemplation—and after swallowing the bite of his daily cake that he'd broken off during the discussion.  "I mean, it wouldn't be any different than a couple who gets a divorce and who shares custody or even those who don't get married at all . . . He's pretty busy a lot, so it'd be good for them to have her around, too, especially if she feels like she's their mama, anyway . . ."

"You're so smart, Zelig-sensei!"

Cain chuckled, mostly because the idea really was Gin's.

"Yep, which means that Dad's not nearly as smart as you, Mom," Bas pointed out.  "Not really very observant for a tai-youkai, either . . ."

"Thanks, son," Cain grumbled dryly.

"No problem, Dad," Bas replied pleasantly.

Gin giggled and hurried over to kiss her son's cheek.  "And when they become mates, then it'll be even better!"

Rolling his eyes at that since Cain still wasn't entirely sure that Gin's declaration that the two in question really were mates held water, he chuckled, anyway.

"I cannot get over just how beautiful they are!" Gin said with a happy giggle as she held Nadia.  "Such a gorgeous girl!  Yes, you are!"

Charity laughed at Gin's silly antics.

"It makes you want to have another one," Kagome remarked with a wistful sigh as she gazed down at a very content Emmeline.

"Keh!  I'll pretend I didn't hear that, wench."

Kagome shot Charity a grin and a wink.  "Yeah, but you know that Takara's not really a baby anymore," she said.  "I mean, she's almost three . . ."

From his place near the floor-to-ceiling windows on the far side of the Zelig living room, InuYasha grunted. "Keh!"  Sitting with his legs crossed and his arms crossed over his chest, they couldn't see his face, though Charity had a feeling that he probably was blushing by now.  She smiled as she took in the sight of Takara, sprawled on his back with her head resting on his shoulder—her preferred pose when taking a nap, even if it looked entirely uncomfortable.  "Your lips are flappin', but I can't hear you," he shot back at his mate.

"Wouldn't it be nice for Takara to have a sibling close to her own age?" Kagome tried again.

"Keh!"

Covering her mouth before she burst into laughter, Charity intercepted the devilish glint in Kagome's eyes.  The miko winked and smiled, but didn't giggle out loud.

The girls were apparently happy enough to be held by anyone other than Cain.  He'd tried to take Nadia when they'd arrived, but that hadn't worked out well.  About the second that he'd lifted her out of Ben's arms, the infant had proceeded to howl bloody murder until Ben reclaimed her and shot Cain a reproachful look.  So, Charity had been a little concerned, just how they'd react to Gin since she smelled a lot like Cain, but they must have sensed that she was a different person, because they hadn't repeated the crying, much to Charity's relief.

Nadia started to whine just a little, and Charity dug into the diaper bag for the bottles she'd already prepared and set them on the table before reaching out to take the infant.

Gin laughed and handed her over while Charity sat back and proceeded to feed her.

"When Ryomaru and Kichiro were babies, it always seemed like they wanted to eat at the same time, every time," Kagome remarked.

"Because they were born, trying to drive people nuts," InuYasha grumbled, hanyou ears flicking though he didn't move otherwise.

Gin giggled as Kagome rolled her eyes despite the smile on her face.  "Baka," Kagome muttered, shaking her head slowly.

"You're going to be a fine mother," Gin remarked as she watched Charity feed Nadia.  "But then, it won't be too difficult, not with these darlings!"

Charity cleared her throat and ducked her head almost nervously.  To be honest, she was still having trouble believing all of it, especially when it seemed like it was happening so fast.  The acknowledgement, however, was as welcome as it was unexpected, and she smiled despite the happy flush that heated her cheeks.

"Charity."  Glancing up as Ben stepped into the living room, Charity frowned at the seriousness in his tone.  "Zelig wants to know if you'd join us for a minute?"

"Oh, uh, okay," she said, carefully standing up without pulling the bottle away from Nadia.

She started to step around the coffee table, only to be waylaid by InuYasha when he stepped into her path and neatly lifted Nadia out of her arms.  "Take that pup in there, and she'll start crying all over again, not that I blame her," he pointed out.

Sparing a moment to kiss Nadia's cheek, she followed Ben out of the room and through the foyer to Cain's study.  "What's this about?" she asked before Ben could open the door.

He reached for the handle, but stopped.  "I don't really know," he admitted.  "He just asked if he could speak to both of us, so I imagine that it has something to do with the babies."

She digested that for a moment.  "Should I be worried?"

Ben chuckled.  "I doubt it."

Even so, she wasn't entirely convinced, but she followed Ben into the office and slipped into the chair nearest to the door as Ben stepped over to take the other one.  Behind the desk, Cain waited, his chair bathed in the late summer sunlight that spilled through the windows behind him.  It lent him a strange, unearthly kind of glow that deepened the contrasting shadows of his face, that heightened the uncanny brilliance of his sapphire blue eyes.

Cain sat back and offered her the bashful little smile that she knew well enough.  For some reason, her stomach felt like it was twisted in knots.  After all, he might well be related to her, but in this office, she had the feeling that he was tai-youkai before he was anything else, and as tai-youkai, he had the final say regarding the permanent placement of the twins . . .

"Ben tells me that you've acknowledged the twins; that you'd like to be their mother."

"Yes," she said, unaware of how her claws were digging into the wooden arms of the chair.

A thoughtful expression surfaced on Cain's features as he slumped to the side, propping his elbow on the armrest as he slowly rubbed his chin.  "This is . . . a really unusual request," he admitted at length.  "Ben already knows all this stuff, so I'm actually speaking more to you, Charity . . . I understand that you've bonded with the twins, and that is the one thing that is the most important when it comes to this process . . . The thing is, we've never actually placed any child with a single parent before.  I'm not totally against the idea.  I mean, Ben's fully capable of caring for the babies."

Charity sat up a little straighter, her cheeks blossoming in indignant color at the strange undertone she detected in Cain's words.  "Ben's an excellent caregiver," she said, unable to repress the frostiness in her voice at the perceived slight.  "Those babies adore him."

Cain blinked, surprised at Charity's quiet outburst, and he shifted in his chair as he straightened up.  "I wasn't . . . I don't doubt that they do," he replied.

Ben reached over, put his hand on hers, instantly calming her rising defensiveness.

Narrowing his eyes just a little, Cain gave one curt not, as though something made sense to him, and he went on, "It's just not something that's ever come up before, that's all, and even though I've been told that both of you have bonded with the twins, it presents an interesting dilemma.  Ben's indicated that he wants to adopt them, but he's also acknowledged that he leads a very busy life.  There are many times that he's required to travel and to be away from home for days or weeks at a time, and, given the nature of his job, he's not going to be able to take the babies with him, either, considering secrecy is a big part of what he does.  If it weren't for that, I'd be more than happy to grant Ben's request to adopt the twins alone, even though he's not mated."

Pushing back the chair, Cain got to his feet, wandered over to the windows behind the desk as he dug his fists into his pockets and peered outside.  "I will allow the adoption on one condition, and this condition is why you're here, Charity."  Turning back to face them once more, he smiled, the gravity in the tai-youkai's expression giving way to the oji-san that Charity knew best.  "I'll grant it, so long as you want to co-adopt.  That way, they'll always be with one of their parents, meaning that Ben's travels won't be an issue.  How the two of you wish to work things out is entirely up to you, of course.  If you wish to simply share custody, that's fine.  I'm not asking that either of you turn your life upside down.  You've both bonded with those babies, so I trust that you both can figure out what's best for them, too.  That means, Charity, that from here on out, Ben is their father, and you . . ." He chuckled.  "You're their mama.  Congratulations."