"Weeeee!" Miroku cried. Sesshomaru's daddy carried him all the way from the park to a little restaurant called Tino's. His eyes went wide when he saw that what his friend had said was true—Tino's had an amazing play area! A whole bunch of slides and monkey bars and a ball pit and even a spaceship to go in!

Mommy had said to wait until after lunch, so he had to sit very patiently while the waitress got their drinks and meals. But he couldn't help it that his foot was tapping out a fast rhythm against the seat of the booth, making his whole body bounce up and down. Sesshomaru grinned at him and he smiled back. They were both eating as fast as possible so they could go play quicker.

Miroku looked up when he heard his mom giggling again. She and Sesshomaru's daddy were talking about grown-up stuff, and they must have been telling jokes because both of them kept laughing. The first few times he heard his father laugh, Sesshomaru had been startled, but now he didn't even look up. He continued eating very ketchup-y french fries.

But Miroku watched, very shocked as his mother laid a hand on Sesshomaru's daddy's shoulder. His mom had never touched any boys but him! Did this mean he was going to have to share? He couldn't remember having his dad around, so he couldn't remember how she acted with him, but she had only been sad and quiet around other people since then. She loved him, so she gave him lots of hugs and kisses and ruffled his hair (he didn't like that so much), but nobody else.

He didn't know if he liked it. Sure, he liked Sesshomaru, and his daddy was really great, and he wanted a dad of his own more than anything else in the world. But he didn't want somebody else to hurt his mommy's feelings like she told him his dad had. So he'd have to make sure Sesshomaru's daddy was really nice and liked his mommy a lot.

Miroku realized he'd been ignoring his food and returned to it with gusto, wanting to be done before his friend so they could go play. He continued to watch the adults through his bangs; happy with the way Sesshomaru's daddy smiled and made his mom laugh.

"All done!" he and Sesshomaru said at the same time. Both their parents looked up at the same time, then down at their own half-eaten meals.

"You guys really wanted to go play, didn't you?" his mom asked. He nodded with a big grin. She motioned towards the play area. "You go on ahead, you two. We'll watch from here while we finish our meals."

Miroku gave Sesshomaru a gentle push to get him moving out of the booth seat and towards the play equipment. They ran off, giggling and nudging each other the whole way.

Toji turned in his seat and winked at her. "Did you see how your son was looking at me just then?" Rather than sounding angry or offended, he was very amused.

She just looked at him, puzzled and startled by the change of subject. They had been talking about recent movie that had come out, a very bad rendition of a book they had both read. Now he brought up something about her son? "No. How was he looking at you?"

"Like I was a threat. Like I'm moving in on his territory—you. He's trying to figure it all out. He loves you a lot and can't decide if he wants me in the picture," he said, nodding and looking as if he had all the answers.

Izayoi just stared at him for a moment, trying to keep a straight face but failing. "No way! That's ridiculous, he's only four for heaven's sake!"

Toji cocked his head at her, admiring her smile for a minute before answering. "But it's true. He's older than he looks, that one. He knows you've been hurt, and he knows his father did it, so he doesn't want any men coming near you," his reasoning would be logical in any other situation, but this was Miroku. As quick and intelligent as he was, even she didn't think her son was clever enough to figure all that out.

"How would you know? Are you some kind of child psychologist?" Izayoi with shocked with how defensive she sounded. It wasn't like her to be accusing and offensive. But Toji was hitting a little closer to home than she would like. She wanted to believe Miroku was healthy and as normal as any other boy his age.

"No, but I've been through something very similar with Sesshomaru. In fact, he was looking at you much the same way Miroku was looking at me." He was calm, his voice pitched low and soothing as hers rose the tiniest bit in volume.

"Now you're telling me your son thinks I'm going to tear your heart out and stomp on it? Great, what an impression to make on a kid," she muttered, more to herself than him.

"He's just been very protective and clingy since his mother passed away two years ago, is all. And I recently started dating again. He's driven off all of my dates in the last four months. Sometimes it's temper tantrums, or asking a hundred questions, or bringing home some lovely scaly thing. Anything to send a woman packing. It's a way kids react to stress and trauma," Toji said, and she settled back against the booth again. He was opening up.

But one thing still confused her. "If that's so, why is it that Miroku has no problem with a friend of mine, Ryo?"

"I don't know. Is Ryo a potential dating interest?" He couldn't resist. He had to know if she was seeing someone or thinking of seeing someone.

"No, no, he's too young for me. But we always see him and he's always smiling at me. If what you're saying is true, wouldn't Miroku react to it?" Now that she thought about it, it was true. Ryo was always eager to please and grinning from ear to ear whenever they saw each other. But Miroku treated him like another adult, maybe even a big brother-figure.

"Maybe he sees that you're not interested in Ryo. I can only guess. I don't have all the answers, you know," he said, getting the expected reaction when she processed what he insinuated. A pretty blush colored her cheeks and she looked down at her hands, lying innocently in her lap.

"I don't see why it should be any different with you, then. He should know I'm not…I'm not interested in you that way, either." Damn her inability to lie! And his smile said it all. The darn smug man knew she was attracted him. And it only strengthened his argument.

His grin widened when she looked up. "Then I must be wrong, huh? I was so certain, too. I'm sure Sesshomaru will be glad to know he doesn't have to worry. Little Miroku though, he should keep his guard up." She blinked and tried to look innocent as she turned to him.

"Oh?" she was cute when she was trying to be coy. Then Toji realized what he had just thought. Of all the other women Sesshomaru had scared off, he had never thought they were 'cute.' Sophisticated and elegant maybe, but never cute. And they certainly never played coy.

He nodded, coming out of his thoughts when she poked his shoulder. "Yeah. There's this guy who seems pretty interested in you. He's been ogling you all of lunch." He teased.

"Really?" she looked around for the mystery man, playing along.

"Here he comes now," he said, pointing towards the back of the restaurant. Confused, and she peeked around him to see a large, balding older man walking down the aisle. Luckily, before she could even worry, he turned to enter the men's room. She shoved him hard, but he didn't even budge. He didn't even seem to notice.

"Jerk!" she said between giggles. After a few minutes of silence and shared glances as they finished their meals, he signaled to the waitress to pay the check and laid a few dollars on the table.

He stood and reached for hand. "Milady, may I escort you to a seat nearer to the children?"

"Yes, good sir, you may," she answered, letting him help her to her feet and down the aisle, not releasing his hand. And he wasn't trying to pull away.