Sick

Her hands fumbled and Kagome looked at him with wide eyes, clearly surprised. "Of course. Have you changed your mind?"

He shook his head fiercely and met her eyes with uncertainty, though there was worry in it. "I just thought…maybe you had changed your mind…'cause it's taking so long…."

"Oh Ship," she murmured and reached out to caress his small cheek. "I could never change my mind. I love you!" Pulling him into a hug, the present forgotten for a moment, she continued. "The only reason it's taking so long is because I want you to be with your grandmother as long as possible. You know Keade-chan loves you. I could never take you from her!"

There was no stopping the tears that flooded his eyes as he buried his nose in the crook of her shoulder. "She's sick," he whimpered. "She would rather have me at her side than her actual family. And that makes me happy." The last was a mere whisper, the guilt and shame in those sad words loud and clear.

Fighting back tears of her own even as she wondered how he even knew about Keade's actual family, she hugged him all the tighter, before holding him away from her. "She loves you as if you were her own," she said, voice soft as she ran her hands up and down his arms. "And that's all that matters, okay?"

o.O.o

Word Count: 234