InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity Redux: Fruition ❯ Family Curse ( Epilogue )

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

Ben heaved a sigh as he grabbed Emmeline's ankle to tug her back over as she tried to squirm away.  "Oh, no, you don't," he warned, pulling a little pink denim skirt up over her and making quick work of fastening the waist band before standing her up to pull on her shirt.

"Daddy!" her tiny, sing-song voice complained.  "I tan do it!"

He arched an eyebrow, but handed her the shirt.  She pulled it over her head with a little bit of difficulty, manifesting itself in her, shaking her head back and forth as she struggled to get her arms through the holes.  She barely stood still long enough for him to straighten the hem before she dashed away with a giggle, her feet thudding lightly on the floor.

"One down," he muttered as he braced his hands on his knees and stood up.  "Nads!" he hollered, hoping that she'd come to him, but knowing deep down that it wasn't going to happen.  Grabbing the outfit that Charity had laid out for her before she'd left to go pick up some last-minute items for the girls' second birthday party later in the day, he headed out of the room to go find his other daughter.

It wasn't hard to find her.  True to form, she was hiding under the kitchen table, like she did every morning.  Ben smiled to himself as he caught her by the foot and carefully pulled her out of her spot.  "I tan do it!" she insisted, sounding entirely too much like her twin, and that just figured.

Ben handed over the clothes and stepped back while Eddie muttered something about Ben's towel that he summarily ignored.

Emmeline ran into the kitchen, throwing her chubby little arms around Ben's leg, and he could only shake his head when he saw that she'd managed to remove her clothing that he'd just put on her, which was entirely frustrating if not completely expected, too.  Nadia, seeing her sister wearing only her panties, figured that fair was fair, and she tossed aside the clothes and climbed onto her booster seat at the table.

"Where are your clothes?" he asked Emmeline as the toddler climbed onto her booster seat beside her sister.

The girl threw her tiny hands up at her sides and shrugged her shoulders melodramatically.  "I don't know, Daddy!  They went, 'poof!  And it was gone'!"

"Poof, did they?" he countered, slipping into his chair and figuring that he might as well let it go until after they ate breakfast anyway.  "I think you've been watching a little too much of Carrie the Crow Witch," he remarked since one of the things that Carrie said whenever she got caught doing naughty Crow-Witch things was, 'Poof!  And it was gone!'  He reached for the newspaper and slowly shook his head.  "What the hell is a crow-witch, anyway?"

"One of the most annoying things on television, that’s what," Kyouhei—who now went by the name 'Ashur'—remarked as he strode into the kitchen with Kells on his hip.  "Oh, look, Kells.  Uncle Ben's being entirely inappropriate—again."

Kells giggled, popping his juice cup out of his mouth long enough to tug on his shirt.  "Me, too!" the year-and-a-half-year-old hollered.

"Absolutely not," Ashur stated flatly.  "Leave your clothing on."

Ben reached for Kells and chuckled when the boy nearly tumbled out of his adopted-father's arms in an effort to reach his 'uncle'.

"What would you like for breakfast this morning, Kells?  Pancakes?"

"Cakes!" Kells repeated, clapping his hands as his plastic cup rolled out of his grasp and hit the floor with a dull 'thud'.

"Pancakes for Kells, please, Eddie," Ben said.

Eddie waved a hand since she already heard it, anyway.

"So, tell me, Ben . . ." He'd gone back to calling Ben by name when he'd opted to move him and Kells to the US.  "Did Zelig tell you why he asked to meet with me?" Ashur questioned as he filled a coffee mug and strode around the counter.

"Nope, but I have an educated guess . . . Why don't you hire a housekeeper instead of showing up here every morning to abuse mine?"

He considered that and turned to glance at Eddie.  "Eddie, how much does Ben pay you to do his dirty work?"

Eddie snorted.  "Not nearly enough some days," she grumbled.

"Why don't you come work for me?  I'll give you a raise, and I have better manners than to sit around the house in a towel till noon."

Ben rolled his eyes but chuckled, letting Kells off his lap since the lad wanted to go exploring—or wanted to go pester his cousins.  Either one worked for Ben.  "I don't sit around in my towel till noon," he retorted.  "Just until I finish my breakfast—and go find your own housekeeper. That one's taken."

"Hold out for that raise, Eddie," Ashur muttered under his breath.

"Daddy!"

Glancing over at the far side of the table where Kells had ventured off to, Ashur heaved a very loud sigh and shot Ben a withering look when the boy popped up, without clothing, before clamoring up onto the extra booster seat at the table.

"Ben . . ."

Ben held up his hands.  "Not my fault," he insisted.

Ashur slowly shook his head.  Then he reached for the city section of the newspaper and proceeded to ignore his older brother.