Chapter 7 : Don't anger the cat, a woman's secret

Fifteen minutes later he descended the stairs and joined the three at the table for breakfast. He set the half empty mug on the table.

"Morning, papa!" Rin smiled brightly. The boy too mounted a 'morning' with his mouth full.

"Morning." he replied back. Kagome passed him with a smile and went to place her plate and glass in the sink.

"Papa?" he looked at Rin. "What are those scratches?" the girl asked innocently. He looked at his abused arms. With the light sting he felt during the shower, even more could be found on his chest, back and neck.

"I run into a cat last night. It wasn't too happy to see me." a loud crash from the kitchen area made him turn and raise an eyebrow at the woman. Pieces of the broken plate and glass were spread all over the tilled floor. The woman was looking back at him, eyebrow twitching. Had the explication ticked her off? He was not going to explain anything else to the child on the matter. The girl pouted.

"Rin wants to see the kitty, too."

"Maybe next time." he said in a tone that clearly closed the subject as he watched shaded of light red cross her lovely features.

"Mama?" the boy started in a similar voice to Rin. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

"Yes, dear?"

"What is that?" he asked pointing to the collar of her shirt. She looked at where he pointed and his eyes followed suit. A pleased smile spread across her lips as something gleamed in her eyes. She put her hand on the hip as she checked her nails.

"I guess the cat had flees." eyes tuned to his and the smile turned into a grin when his eyes frowned, eyebrow twitching at her.

'The nerve!' he resisted the urge to snort, joining her child-like behavior. Even if he might have started it. She cleaned the glass off the floor while the rest ate in silence. He watched as the morning plaid before him. This atmosphere was disturbing to say the least. All he could think was that they looked much like a happy little family, not new next-door neighbors.

"I'm done!" the boy cheered.

"Rin too!" the girl joined.

"Let's go play!" Shippo hurried to get out of the room.

"Play?" his mother's voice stopped him in mid step. "Aren't you forgetting something?" the boy's shoulders slumped, head bowed. He slowly turned around.

"But, mom!" he whined.

"No buts." she also gestured with her hand. "You don't do it once and I get stuck with it forever. Now clear the table" she turned to continue washing the glasses and putting them away. Rin looked lost at him. Sesshomaru made no move aside continuing to drink his coffee. "You too, Rin-chan a young lady isn't excused from cleaning." She nodded slowly and helped Shippo take one plate after the other to the kitchen counter. When they were done the table was spotless. She did have a point, again. Maybe he should pick up on her teaching methods for Rin, just maybe.

"Thanks for the food." said the boy and Rin followed his example. The woman turned and smiled at the two.

"Good job guys!" she ruffled their hair affectionately. "Now you can go play with Hatsuyo. You are excused." the two kids squealed and left the room to get their shoes. Only they were left in the room.

"That was educational." she smiled. He stood and walked into the kitchen area.

"Yes, well I learned on my mom's skin from when I was young. She had to take care of a 50 gallon fish tank, 2 cats, one parrot and 3 rabbits at a time. And it was because she excused my brother and me from the routine once. The idea of ending up like that wasn't pleasing, so no excuses are allowed unless he is sick." he nodded and put the mug next to the sink. He leaned on the counter and looked at her. Then tentatively he wrapped his arm around her waist standing behind her. She didn't flinch from his touch so the other followed. It felt pleasing to have her pressed to his chest again. He laid his chin on her shoulder and still nothing.

"What did you mean I was your first?" he couldn't help it. The thought gave him no time to relax all morning. She stopped, the plate almost slipping through her fingers.

"You agreed to ignore It." she continued to wash the plates the kids brought.

"I did. But the thought ignored what I agreed." she sighed. She tensed a bit when she felt his hand sliding to her crouch. "I felt no restrain aside from your tightness." her cheeks blushed furiously. She shuddered when he hugged her tighter to his body. "Care to explain, Kagome? Hmm?"

"I..." she started."I have never had sex before." his eyes widened but she couldn't see that. So that was true, then... "I guess that's why everyone was avoiding me."

"Avoiding you?" she nodded.

"Around 6 years ago I agreed to be a surrogate mother." his eyes widened. So she had given birth before... and for another. "I had in vitro fertilization. Everyone was against it... and said that I should get an abortion when the pregnancy was successful." she leaned into his chest and sighed when he didn't pull away. "How could I? After giving some couple hopes of having a child to just crash them." Six years, her adopted son was around that age.

"The boy?" she shook her head.

"No. Shippo was the son of my closest friends. Sango and Miroku died in the hospital after an accident. He was in my care at the time so he was sparred. With their last breaths and strength they signed the adoption papers in front of a judge. They had no other willing relatives alive that would take Shippo in and leaving him in an orphanage would have been worse. The judge agreed that I was a good choice since he was only about 8 month's old." he nodded against her cheek. "I think most would find me pitiful and disgusting... Now, that you know I..."

"Never." he assured her. She sighed in relief. "I..." he started when a loud honk interrupted him. She patted his arm.

"Guess the trucks are here. You should go meet them." she slid out of his arms. "I'll get the keys." she didn't look back to see how his hand had reached out to her. The hand slowly retracted and lower into a fist, an unreadable mask was placed over his features and he walked to exit her house.

A/N: Thanks for reading. R&R!