Adventures in Parenting
X Mothers X
"Mom?" Kagome called as she entered the small townhouse that her mother lived in, dumping the backpack and small duffle bag she'd been toting around.
"Oh, Kagome! You're here!"
Her mother entered the front hall, drying her hands on a dishtowel. Kagome smiled and gave her a hug, inhaling the smell of brown sugar and flour. She leaned back and gave her a knowing look. "You've been making cookies!"
Mrs. Higurashi just laughed lightly and waved her into the kitchen. A tray of cookies fresh out of the oven was on the counter and when Kagome went to investigate, she found that the mixing bowl beside it still had cookie dough sticking to the sides. Scooping a piece onto her finger, she sat down at the kitchen table and happily nibbled at it.
"Where's that grandson of mine?" her mother inquired as she joined her daughter at the table with two steaming mugs.
Kagome licked her finger clean and accepted the mug of coffee. She took a sip before answering her mother's question. "He is actually at a friend's house. They set it up a few days ago and his mother offered to bring him over here when they're finished playing. They should be here in about an hour, I think."
Her mother nodded as she blew on her herbal tea. "Well, I set up Souta's room with new sheets and I'm just about to start dinner. Do you want to help?"
"Sure," she said, standing up and dusting off her jeans. "What are you making?"
"Oh, just spaghetti. The ground turkey's in the refrigerator."
They set about cooking dinner, Kagome occasionally sneaking tastes of cookie dough. Halfway through turning a wooden spoon through the tomato sauce, Kagome turned to her mother, "So, how's Souta?"
The older woman smiled and slid a pan of buttered bread into the oven to toast. "Oh, you know, busy with school. He has a girlfriend now, did you know?"
"Really?" she quirked an eyebrow in disbelief. "When did that happen?"
"Oh, about three months ago. He's been trying not to make it a big deal, but I can tell he's so excited every day. It's so cute!"
Kagome laughed. "Aw… so what's her name? What's she like? When do I get to meet her?"
"Oh, well her name's Hitomi and she's the most darling thing! The two of them together are just adorable," her mother gushed, clasping her hands together beneath her chin with a dreamy sigh. "They should be coming over tonight. But I don't know when…"
"You're already planning the wedding, aren't you?" Kagome snickered, knowing how her mother thought. As soon as she started dating when she was younger her mother was dreaming up grandchildren with her boyfriends-at-the-time's hair or eyes. Once she envisioned a little boy with her boyfriend's ears… it'd been so embarrassing when her mother had told that boyfriend this embarrassing little tidbit…
Her mother just looked away innocently and tweaked a dishtowel on the counter to cover the wedding magazine she'd been perusing earlier…
The doorbell rang and Kagome wiped her hands off on the backs of her jeans, earning a sharp look from her mother. She just waved it off as she went to answer the front door.
"Hey, Janine, thanks for watching him today," she said as she opened the door.
"Oh, no problem," Janine replied with a laugh as the two boys raced past her into the house. "He was great today, Kagome," she continued as they walked into the kitchen.
Kagome's mother was handing out cookies and sending the two boys off to play in the living room. The three women sat down at the table to chat after Kagome put the spaghetti noodles in a pot of water to cook. They talked over more mugs of coffee and tea for half an hour before Janine dragged her son away to go home with promises of more play dates later and Taco Bell for dinner.
Kagome stayed for a few more minutes to make sure dinner was prepared and that Shiro was settled in to spend the night with his grandmother and Uncle Souta. Before she left, she swooped in to give him a quick kiss on the forehead before shouldering her purse and heading out the kitchen door. Sango would be picking her up from her house in about an hour to get ready for Sam's party and she still needed to shower before she got there. She could probably tidy up a bit too…
Sorry it's been so long… My life's been really busy. I completely shoved all writing to the back of my mind to focus on finals and the daily crap that has been happening for a while. I've actually had this written for a bit. I was going to add to it I think, but rereading it, I just decided to leave it as is. So, until next time. - Hope
