Chapter 11

The family switched into high gear as they prepared a couple rooms for their new charges. The women began pulling out cribs, toddler beds, dressers and changing tables while the men painted the rooms in bright, pretty pastel greens, blues, pinks and yellows with drawings of rainbows, sheep, birds and Bambi. It didn't take long for the bedrooms of their newcomers to be bright and welcoming. Inuyasha and Kagome had always instilled in the pups the meaning of family, so whenever a new pup (or, in this case, pups) came along, everybody ptched in. It didn't matter where in the family the pup's status would be - sibling, niece/nephew, grandchild - the pup would have numerous caregivers.

Sesshoumaru showed up a while later with Ai and sat down with Inuyasha and Kagome and explained how everything would work,

"The girls will be arriving tomorrow night on a plane from China. Even though the children are Chinese, we have secured for them Japanese birth certificates. It will show some of the girls as being your offspring, some being Kaori and Jiro's, some being Yasha and Shiori's, and some being Hiroshi and Ruri's. My people have a list of when every child in this family was born so that we can make sure the birthdates we give them will not interfere with children already living in your family. They will all have new names when they arrive. Their new identities will stack up to any amount of scrutiny the Chinese government can try for.", Sesshoumaru explained.

"Kagome. Inuyasha. Please, be aware of the state these children are in, " Ai started, "They have been abused and neglected for some time. From what I have heard, the older girls just stare and rock. These children have never been held, except maybe by Eri. They are distant. They are malnourished and underweight. I made sure that our people fed and washed them, but they will need alot of time and love. The babies will be easier than the toddlers."

"Don't worry, Ai. We know all about the plight of the Chinese orphans. Sesshoumaru, why couldn't we just have listed them as adopted by foreigners like the Westerners do?", Kagome asked.

"Because they are half-demon children. The government had intended them as experiments. That's why they were in that province where nobody would suspect. I had heard about the fate of half-demons in China, but until your call, I never had the proof to go in and rescue them. We have no idea how many half-demons have been lost to the experiments."

"Do you know what kinds of experiments?", Inuyasha asked.

"You don't want to know.", was all Sesshoumaru would say. The tone of his voice sent chills down Inuyasha's spine.

The next night, the Shinwa family arrived at the Akita Municipal Airport in multiple cars with 14 infant and toddler seats set up. Sesshoumaru's plane touched down at 8:00 pm and a group of nurses began bringing the girls off the plane. The youngest children, the 4 infants - none of them older than 5 months, never cried as they were moved from the plane into the waiting cars. 2 of the girls were barely 13 months old, 3 were about 2 years old, 2 of them were 3 years old, 2 were 4 years old and the oldest was barely 5. The 5 older girls just stared at the large family that greeted them with hugs and kisses, even though the children didn't respond to the lavish attention being showered on them.

To say the girls were shell shocked was an understatement. First, they traveled with strangers on a plane to a strange land where they were greeted by a group of people that quickly enveloped them and welcomed them to a strange country in a language they didn't understand. Then they took their first ride in cars to a huge, old fashioned farmhouse. When they entered the house, it was a far change from what they were used to. They had come from a dark, dank, depressing building and entered a bright, welcoming building. Offered food, the children tenatively ate their first ever ice cream and fresh, orchard apple cider. As the children began to show signs of sleepiness, the family took them into gayly painted rooms and they were given their own personal beds,

The next day, the children were a little less apprehensive as they ate more of the delicious food that was offered. Warm, fresh blueberry pancakes, farm fresh bacon and sausage and fresh squeezed orange juice for the older children, warmed formula and farm fresh applesauce for the infants. The girls soon discovered a wide array of toys in the house and numerous friendly farm animals outside.

Having children their own age around, the newest Shinwa members started following Marina, Alexander and Kiska around. Kohana and Tetsu knew some Chinese and was able to communicate a few things to the girls, but, as the days went on, the family worked patiently to teach the girls their new, adopted language. Patience paid off, as soon, starting with the infants, the girls began responding to the love and attention they were being readily offered. The girls soon learned that this was all theirs, forever, and they didn't have to worry about it being taken away. The love and security that was showered upon them started taking its effect as the girls became happy, chubby, giggly and loving.

Although the birth certificates listed certain members of the families as the parents of particular girls, when they were all together it was impossible to tell who belonged to who because the entire family had embraced them. When they were out, each set of parents remembered which girls belonged to them, but when they were home it didn't matter.

Bending to Inuyasha's wishes, Sesshoumaru allowed the family to chose names for their newest pups, before finalizing the faked birth certificates. Inuyasha and Kagome adopted 3 of the girls - 2 infants that appeared to be the same age and 1 of the 3 year olds. They named the infants Meghan and Tara and the toddler Nina. Yasha and Shiori adopted the 5 year old that they named Larissa, the other 3 year old they named Gabrielle, 1 of the 2 year olds they named Diana and an infant they named Starling. Kaori and Jiro adopted one of the 4 year olds and named her Natasha, a two year old they named Lacey, one of the year old girls they named Amanda and the other infant they named Brynn. Hiroshi and Ruri chose the other year old girl and called her Hope, the other 2 year old they named Cherish, and the other 4 year old they named Faith. Since anyone could discover that Kohana and Tetsu had never had a natural child, it had been mutually agreed upon that they would not adopt any of the girls. The birth certificates were designed to look as if Kagome, Shiori, Kaori, and Ruri had birthed the girls themselves, to ward off any suspicion that the girls were of Chinese heritage.

Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha, in the weeks after the homecoming, sat down together to try to determine the demon parentage of the girls. Some of the scents were obvious and some were not. Sesshoumaru finally had to contact some of his sources in China to determine what the other demon scents were. Some of the girls were of tiger parentage, some of panther, some of leopard. 4 of the girls, Hope, Lacey, Diana and Nina were of humanoid demon. As a precaution for their safety, Kagome designed jewelry for the girls. One piece had them appear as normal humans (their normality jewelry) and another piece had them appear as dog-demons, with silvery-colored hair and dog ears. The jewelry was designed to be worn together, the magic on the pieces would make them appear normal in human society but dog-demon-esque in demon circles.

Kagome's family had been kept abreast of all the changes as had Yuka and Ayumi. Those in demon circles that were trusted, Totousai, Myouga and others close to the family were also informed of the changes and were advised that the news went no further than that circle. Acquaintences, whether demon or human, were kept off the path by a memory charm Kagome would use when someone would say,

"I didn't know you had so many other children ..."

Kagome, "playing" with her charm pendant would say,

"You must have forgotten. I know you've met our other "daughters"/"granddaughters"."

Within months, the girls were fully integrated into their new home and had acclimated themselves easily to their new language of Japanese and were beginning to use English as well. No longer fearing the transformed Kirara, the girls eargerly looked forward to getting rides on her back with their siblings. The older girls learned their chores and their place in the circle of family life in the Shinwa household. Their horrible days back in the Chinese orphanage was no longer even a memory. To an outsider, they appeared as a normal, happy, healthy family.

Nearly a year later, Eri finally got the chance to get back to Japan and see her previous charges. She was shocked at the change. So much so, she didn't recognize them in the least. When her vacation was up, she sadly informed them she had to return. Inuyasha, concerned for her safety in China, urged her to stay on and work in his office with Ayumi and Yuka. Eri hesitated to commit, but Inuyasha's dashing grandson Ranma managed to convince her to stay.