Chapter 30

When all the teens arrived home the next morning, Kyo groaned at the ring and huge smile plastered on his sister's face. He rounded on the tall man next to her.

"If you ever make her regret marrying you, I'll have your head you damn dog!" Kyo yelled, looking not at all intimidating with Luc hanging on his back like a monkey.

"Huh? Married?" Tohru asked with her signature confused face and high pitched voice.

"What part of secret did you manage to forget in the last, oh twelve hours, Kyon-Kichi?" Shigure asked him, annoyed enough with the teen to steal Ayame's nickname for him.

Kyo froze in place, turning as white as a sheet, realizing what he had said in his irritation. Yuki had walked up behind them and had overheard it all. He walked up to Kyomi and took her hand to look at her ring.

"It seems like Shigure actually had good taste twice in his life now. But why is it on the wrong hand?" Yuki said. Tohru joined him in looking at the ring and she agreed it was beautiful.

"Because we are just engaged, but we are trying to keep it under the radar for now. We also weren't going to tell anyone yet besides Kyo." Kyomi answered whacking her brother upside the head earning a loud ouch from him.

Yuki nodded in understanding. "No one will hear about it from me. Good luck with him though. You are going to need it." He said smiling at Kyomi while Shigure fake cried dramatically next to her.

She thanked him appreciatively catching Luc as he lunged off his uncle's back at his mother.

"Mama happy?" The sweet boy asked his mother. She smiled and hugged him tightly channeling all the hugs she wished she could give to those around her into her small son.

"Yes Luc, Mama is very happy." She said with a big grin on her face.

"Okay, Uncle Ko, eat!" And the toddler launched himself back at his uncle who caught him and swung him up onto his shoulders, more than ready to leave the conversation.

Tohru started to follow to help, but stopped and gave Kyomi a huge hug as well. "Congratulations! I will keep your secret for you, but I am truly very happy for you both!" Then she followed Kyo to help make breakfast.

Kyomi turned to Shigure, "Would you like to go with me and Luc to Ayame's today?" She asked him.

"I think I would enjoy that. I haven't seen Aya in what seems like ages." Shigure grinned. "He never did believe that I could land you."

"Land me? Wanna try that again?" Kyomi said poking her fiancee's chest backing him up against the doorframe.

"He never believed I would be able to make you fall in love with me much less agree to marry me." He amended, running a finger seductively down the side of her jawline. She shivered and pulled his face down to meet hers, dominating the kiss this time herself. She finally pulled away when Yuki walked out the front door, leaving for school while shaking his head at them. She could have sworn she saw a bit of a smile on his face though as he slipped his shoes on.

Shigure chuckled in her ear as he nibbled on it making Kyomi groan and jump away from him. She gave him a look that was fiery in more than one way. She was irritated both that he had done that, but also that he couldn't do anything more. "Behave puppy." She told him.

"You haven't called me puppy in so long my dear. I'd actually been missing it." He said smugly as he passed her to go in the house. She whacked him with her shoe as he passed her, giving her the slight satisfaction of making him jump.

He didn't turn around, but asked over his shoulder just as smugly, "Have you seen the movie Hitch?"

She flung her shoe at his rear that time.

…

The couple arrived at Ayame's shop swinging Luc between them. He loved being swung by his hands and would say, "Ready, set, GO!" every time he wanted to swing. They opened the door and Luc took off running to find Mine. Ayame met his best friends at the door and he and Shigure began their normal banter.

"It's been so long since I've seen you, my lover! We have so much time to make up for…" Ayame crooned.

Kyomi just stood back, arms crossed, and eyebrow raised at the pair, watching it all unfold.

"My deepest apologies my darling! My attention has been torn lately, but I promise nothing will ever truly come between us." Shigure responded. The two smirked at each other and each grabbed one of Kyomi's hands and pulled her in next to them. Ayame grabbed her right hand and immediately felt the ring on her finger. Kyomi had kept her thin gold wedding band on her left and that still hadn't changed. It was as just as much to protect her as it was a remembrance of her late husband. It only made her smile now and she had decided she would only take it off when she was ready to replace it.

Ayame knew all this because being the slightly nosey and chatty friend and coworker he was, had asked her about it. However, the new ring on her other hand made his eyes widen. She never wore any other jewelry besides some simple stud earrings, so this was a bit of a shock.

"Kyomi, this is a lovely ring. Where did you get it from?" He asked, trying to be subtle. Kyomi only smirked and turned to Shigure.

"I'm not sure, where did you get it my dear?" Her eyes sparkling in amusement at Ayame's jaw metaphorically hitting the floor. She even heard Mine's movements still and Luc protest her lack of continued play.

Ayame looked at Shigure. "You asked her?" He said, awed, but excitement building in his voice. He then turned to Kyomi. "And you said yes?"

"Well, I'm wearing the ring, aren't I?" Kyomi couldn't resist teasing him. She was immediately engulfed in a huge hug followed by a glittering white snake slithering around her shoulders. His tongue flicked her cheek. "I am elated beyond measure for you both my darling girl! And Gure! Shame on you for not telling us before you asked! We would have wanted to be there!" Ayame continued over Shigure's comment of, "and that's exactly why I didn't tell you, my friend." However, it was said with a smile on his face. Ayame slithered over to Shigure's shoulders and Shigure walked over to let him glide onto the couch. Ayame returned to normal and then insisted they sit down for tea so he could hear the whole story.

They all sat and chatted the afternoon away until Kyomi made them leave to meet the teens when they returned home from school. Right before they left, Ayame made Kyomi promise that he could make her dress when their big day came. Kyomi tried to say that they weren't even sure when that day would be, but Ayame insisted that even if they just went to the courthouse to file paperwork and did nothing else, he wanted to be the one to make her dress for that day. She gave him a peck on the cheek and promised he could make it. Then they left for home.

….

After the small family returned home, had eaten dinner together, and sent the younger occupants to bed, Kyomi had a new project to work on for the shop and Shigure had writing to do for his editor, so Kyomi turned on some music for them to work to. Since it was mostly in English, Shigure could tune it out easily and Kyomi could sing along as she wanted. She did have a few songs that were in Irish having found some of the songs she had heard as a child. She had some Ed Sheeran, but she had also re-found an acapella group her adoptive father had found and loved. She had been a little shocked because he used to poke fun at her love of country music and this group did covers of A LOT of country music. She was singing or humming along with all the songs until she reached one song. She grinned to herself at the irony of the lyrics.

"Take it from me, I don't know what's best for us
Come take my hand, And let's run through the forest
Cause I don't care, I don't care if we get lost

So Darling, Won't you walk this winding road with me?

I swear to god, I'll do my best
And time will tell, We'll pass the test
But we'll cross that bridge when it comes

And what we got, we better not waste it
Like it or not, we might not make it
We'll cross that bridge when it comes"

She was bouncing slightly and bobbing in her seat as she harmonized along with the group. Shigure looked up over his glasses at her and smiled and shook his head. He finally started listening to the lyrics. "Is this another one you wrote about me my dear?" He teased her noticing the similarities in the conversations they had had over the past few days. She laughed at him.

"No, but it is pretty perfect." She agreed.

Shigure hummed and tapped his chin with his pen, "I think I liked the other one better." He said before he returned to his writing.

They continued their respective projects listening to the music play until another Ed Sheeran song came on and Kyomi wasn't able to stop from dancing in her seat. She was trying to not move too much, but the way she was moving her hips in her seat caught Shigure's attention. Of course… He took his glasses off and stood. He walked over to her and pulled her work out of her hands and pulled her to her feet. "Remember when my parents hired a dance teacher and you attended to help me learn the dances?" He started doing a simple Latin dance step and she laughed as she tried to match his steps. She was staring at his, thankfully visible feet since he was wearing pants, to mirror them, but he grabbed her chin and tilted it up to catch her eyes.

"Don't you remember the first thing the teacher said?" He asked teasingly, his hand not leaving her chin.

"That was close to twenty years ago so no, I don't!" She laughed, her eyes sparkling at him. He couldn't resist leaning forward to catch her mouth with his for a moment before whispering in her ear. "Just trust me, feel the music and feel me move." He said and then ran light fingers down over her eyes to close them.

Kyomi smirked at him, but kept her eyes closed, her cheeks blushing a little. She thankfully remembered the basics of the dance but had no way of knowing what steps he would be doing. As the song ended and then restarted, she realized Shigure had put it on repeat before pulling her to her feet. She felt his breath on her ear again before she heard him speak, "I had heard you play this song before, but I've never seen you move the way you did when it came on tonight so I just couldn't help myself." Her cheeks lit up bright red and she refocused on their movement. She was quickly becoming impressed with the ease he was remembering the steps. It was tricky to gauge what he was doing with the distance they had to keep between them, with her hands on his chest and his on her sides. She finally threw caution to the wind and grabbed his hands and moved them to her hips and placed her own on his shoulders. She heard his breath catch, but then he squeezed her hips slightly and then was able to give her slight cues by the touch he used on her hips. She hadn't opened her eyes since he had closed them and with as hot as her cheeks were, she wasn't about to do so any time soon. Instead, she lost herself in the song and feeling the motion of their movements.

"Girl, you know I want your love
Your love was handmade for somebody like me
Come on now, follow my lead
I may be crazy, don't mind me
Say, boy, let's not talk too much
Grab on my waist and put that body on me
Come on now, follow my lead
Come, come on now, follow my lead

I'm in love with the shape of you
We push and pull like a magnet do
Although my heart is falling too
I'm in love with your body
And last night you were in my room
And now my bedsheets smell like you
Every day discovering something brand new
I'm in love with your body"

"My bed really does smell like you now, every bit of it." Shigure said right before he caught her lips in a deep kiss that made Kyomi hum deeply against him. She moved her hands back to her chest in an attempt to keep them just far enough apart to continue. They explored each other for as long as they could before they inevitably got too close and Shigure disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Kyomi sighed and sank to sit on the floor. She buried her face in the black dog's shoulder, hugging him tightly, and sighed deeply.

"Is this damn curse broken yet?" Kyomi mumbled into his shoulder. Shigure nuzzled her head tucking her closer into him.

"Not yet my dearest. However, it's only a matter of time." His eyes glinted in anger at what his family's curse had done to her. "I will make sure it is broken soon." She hugged him tighter.

"Don't do anything stupid. I can not lose you too." She nearly choked on her last words, and he responded by licking her ear.

"I'll be careful as long as you promise to be careful as well." She nodded against his fur. Then she whispered, "I love you." So softly he thought he had imagined it. However, he responded anyway, "I love you my dearest." They stayed like that for some time just snuggling together until Shigure felt Kyomi lay more heavily against him. He nudged her head with his nose and huffed at her lack of response. He managed to wiggle his way free of his sleeping fiancée and lay her gently on the floor without waking her. He waited until he transformed back into a human and very gingerly brought her to the bed and laid her down. He threw on some sleeping pants and crawled into bed next to her. He fell asleep staring at her and running his hands through her hair.

Yes Zm93, we are wrapping up slowly but surely! But boy is it going to be a rollercoaster before we do! Cueing evil maniacal laugh…

"For those of you who didn't go to high school, hitting, is a good thing…" LOLOLOLOL My husband teases me with this line ALL THE TIME! Plus, I actually didn't go to high school so you know, double teasing there. He made me watch this movie when we first started dating and I died laughing when I realized I had done the keys thing on him. He had had to seriously hold back laughter when I did it too. That was ten years ago next month!