Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Inuyasha characters, mainly Sesshoumaru in this story. I do however own everyone and everything, including the rights to this story, in this story… that sounded kinda weird… oops.
Summary: Sesshoumaru Fukai, owner of Western Lands Co., has been left behind during the holidays while the rest of his family has gone on a cruise. A co-worker, Kadasa Mori, offers him a place to stay during the Christmas break. He accepts and then finds out she has 6 adopted brothers and sisters living with her. He'll have to survive through 'church' her family, shopping, and two teens and 4 toddlers for Christmas. Maybe he should've just stayed home…
Warning: Sesshoumaru is very much so out of character. Please excuse that…
Author's Note: Hoping you're having a happy holiday, here's The Meaning of Christmas: Part IV
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The Meaning of Christmas
Part IV - December 24th
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Beep! Beep! Beep! Be- slam! Yuki groaned and rolled over, blinking and looking hard at his alarm clock which read 8:30. He frowned, trying to remember why it was set so early then groaned as he remembered.
We're going to Uncle Alex and Aunt Ally's house… he sighed heavily then slid out of bed stretching and walking into the hall. He quickly slipped downstairs and into the kitchen. He paused, expecting no one to be there but someone was leaning against the counter watching the news on TV.
"You scared me Mr. Fukai."
Sesshoumaru glanced over from the TV then back at the news. "If you'd like, I made hot chocolate."
"Thanks." Yuki walked over, pulling a santa mug from the cupboard and filling it.
"So what are we doing today?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"Seeing our aunt and uncle," Yuki answered, also snatching a muffin. "It'll be a 45-minute drive so bring something to do." He bit into it before heading back towards the main entry way to the stairs. "You might want to eat now. It's gonna get chaotic in about a half and hour."
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"Hatsu! Knock that off! Go get your shoes on!" Kadasa cried, handing Carrie a few things to run out to the car. Cree held her arms open and was given a box, Rin as well, both following after their sister.
Sesshoumaru came down the stairs, wearing a simple navy sweater and jeans. Yuki raced up the steps after Neal by him. He hit the ground and Kadasa handed him Hatsu.
"Please get his shoes on," she said exasperated then grabbed a few presents and headed outside to the silver minivan.
He looked down at Hatsu who giggled. "Which ones are yours?" The boy pointed to a black pair of sneakers. He quickly pulled them on his feet and set Hatsu on the ground. The boy blinked then laughed and raced outside.
"HATSU!" Sesshoumaru grinned from inside and went into the kitchen to grab a cup of water.
Twenty minutes later, Kadasa finished buckling Cree's seat belt and shut the door, climbing into the driver's seat.
"Lion King!" Neal cried.
"Lion King!" Cree agreed.
Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow and looked at Kadasa who grinned. "The miracles of movies." She slid the DVD in and each kid picked up a pair of headphones, eyes glued to the small TV screen. Yuki pulled out his Lord of the Rings book and Carrie pulled out a magazine, both sitting in the very back, Hatsu between them, Cree, Rin, and Neal in the middle, Kadasa and Sesshoumaru in the front.
Sesshoumaru looked out the window as they pulled out of the driveway.
"Hope you guys want to listen to Trans-Siberian Orchestra," Kadasa called back. The teenagers ignored her, both wearing headphones to their own CD players.
She shook her head and pushed in TSO Christmas Eve and Other Stories. She turned to Sesshoumaru who'd just pulled out his laptop.
"Work?"
"No. Play. Solitare's very amusing."
"For about 10 minutes till I loose."
"You're pretty good at that aren't you?" She scowled at him then turned back to the road. He smirked and turned to his laptop.
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Forty-five minutes later, Sesshoumaru awoke abruptly looking around quickly. He glanced at Kadasa who glanced at him.
"You finally awake?" she asked quietly with a smile.
He nodded. "I fell asleep… guess I was more tired than I thought."
She chuckled and motioned to the back of the car. He turned and found all four toddlers out cold in their car seats. Yuki glanced up from his book then back down, Carrie's head against the window out cold.
He turned back around and yawned. "How long till we get there?"
"Bout five minutes. Better wake them up. Yuki?"
The boy grumbled but reached out a hand tapping Carrie's shoulder. She stirred and looked at him blurrily. "Are we there yet?"
"Almost. Wake up Cree and Rin." She nodded and sat forward, shaking their shoulders softly while Yuki did the same to Neal and Hatsu.
"Here we are!" Kadasa called, pulling into a long driveway up to a simple two floor house. She parked behind a small line of cars and climbed out as the toddlers cheered.
"Now before anyone gets out, you need to grab something to bring inside," she ordered.
They agreed, climbing out quickly and stretching. Yuki and Carrie each grabbed something and darted for the house, holding the door open as the toddlers rushed after them.
Sesshoumaru grabbed two presents, vaguely reading 'Alex' on one and 'Taiyo' on the other. He shrugged and followed after them into the house. Kadasa followed after him, shifting the platters in her arms, a knowing grin on her face. He raised an eyebrow but she waved him on. As he stepped inside he heard a shout.
"ASA!" Several tiny bodies collided with his legs as he stepped through the door. He paused and looked down, raising an eyebrow.
Kadasa walked by, keeping a stoic face. "Hello Alex and Taiyo," she said and kept walking.
They turned and watched her then looked up at Sesshoumaru. They stepped back and he realized he'd scared them. He bent down on his heels and handed them the presents.
"I think these are yours," he said. They looked at them, looked at him, grinned and took them, running to several people sitting on the couch.
"Mama! Papa! Look what he got us!"
Sesshoumaru turned to Cree who was trying to carry in a heavy bag and pushed open the door, grabbing the bag and picking it up, Cree dangling from it.
She blinked in surprise then started laughing, kicking her feet. Kadasa came back in and blinked then started giggling.
"I think this is yours," he said stoically.
She shook her head and took it. "Augh! It's soooooo heavy!"
Cree laughed. "No I'm not Kasa!"
"Yes you are!" Kadasa cried.
"I'll take that!" A man with short dark blue / black hair and sapphire eyes said, walking over. He grabbed Cree, flipping her over his shoulder. She laughed, wiggling. The man bent down slightly and kissed Kadasa's cheek. "Good to see you sis," he said before taking the girl and running to the couch and falling onto it. She squealed as she landed then started laughing, Rin climbing up next to them.
"So who's this incredibly handsome young gentlemen?" A woman asked walking over. She had sandy blond hair pulled into a fancy bun and warm violet eyes. She wore a simple green turtle neck and jeans.
"Ally!" Kadasa cried and lunged forward, hugging the girl.
Ally laughed and hugged her back tightly. Kadasa turned to Sesshoumaru. "Sesshoumaru, this is Allison Mori. Just call her Ally or she'll decapitate you. She's married to Alan Mori." She pointed to the dark haired man who was picking up the girls and moving them to the next room. "My brother. Alan, Ally, this is Sesshoumaru Fukai, my house guest and boss."
Ally shook his hand. "Nice to meet you."
"You too."
She grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the kitchen in the back and through it and the dining room combo to the back room where it was a bigger sun room/living room overlooking the backyard.
Lyon and his wife, a dark gray haired, violet eyed woman sat on the couch opposite of the entryway, their two boys playing with Neal, Alex and Taiyo who'd seemed to have forgotten their experience with Sesshoumaru.
Two boys, Sesshoumaru suspected as Tsuki, a 6 year-old, and Edmund, an 18 month old, were being held by Lyon and Sarah.
Cree and Rin were talking at Alan and Ally sitting on a loveseat against the opposite wall. Carrie was talking with Wren and Serenity. Yuki was sitting against the wall on the floor, helping Hatsu piece together a puzzle of a large cat.
Kadasa walked in and flopped on the shorter end of the "L" shaped couch, Sesshoumaru sitting beside her. "Hey Lyon, Sarah." They nodded back a hello.
"So, we're ordering pizza," Ally said. "Since we don't feel like making a huge lunch. Afterwards we'll go sledding. Kay?"
"Yay!" the kids cried.
"But first we need to finish the puzzle," Yuki spoke up.
"Yes!" Alex said. "Need puzzle finishing!" Kadasa giggled as Yuki was suddenly tackled by the little boy.
"Alex!" she cried standing up to help her younger brother out. "Don't kill Yuki! I'll be blamed!"
Sesshoumaru looked at Ally and Alan's family. The kids look so much like their parents.
Alex had short dark hair and golden eyes. Taiyo had golden blond hair and gold eyes. Tsuki had short dark hair and dark sapphire eyes. Edmund had bright blond hair and light blue eyes.
He just leaned back into the couch when the doorbell rung. When Ally tried to get up but was tangled under a few kids he stood.
"I'll get it," he said. Walking back to the front door he opened it and found the pizza man holding two boxes of pizza.
"That'll be $20.00 sir," he said.
Sesshoumaru fished out three 10's and handed them to him. "Keep it," he said as the boy began to fish for change.
"Merry Christmas sir!"
"You too." He closed the door, the boy heading back to the car and pulling out. "Where should I put the pizza?" he called.
"You did not just pay for that!" Ally cried.
"Yes I did. Where?"
He heard Kadasa start laughing. "Ally. He's not going to take any money back. You'd better believe that." He could imagine a scowl and smirked. "Set it on the counter Sesshoumaru," Kadasa called, a moment later entering. "We need 17 plates."
Sesshoumaru grabbed a pile of paper plates and washed his hands before opening the box and putting a slice on a plate, Kadasa handing them out.
Many plates later he sat down with his second slice of pizza, Kadasa flopping next to him.
"So where are we sledding?" he asked.
Kadasa motioned towards the backyard. "It's a small hike to the hill but it's awesome. We can also go snowmobiling."
"Yay!" Neal raced over. "Snow-bill Kasa? Snow-bill?"
"Yes Neal. Snow-bill. As soon as we're done eating all right?" That of course had every kid finished in three seconds. The parents/siblings quickly finished their pizza as well before making everyone go the bathroom then bundle them up in snug outfits.
Sesshoumaru pulled out a black cap and his black snow pants then glanced up as someone fell into the room.
"I can't put my arms down!" (A/N: Luv that movie!) Neal cried.
He snorted and walked over, picking the kid up and unzipping him, pulling off his outermost sweater and re-zipping his coat. Neal grinned and raced outside with the others waiting in the yard with tubes, sleds and disks.
He followed after Neal, standing near Alan who was bundling up Taiyo who wouldn't stand still.
"Tai… come on. Do you want Dad to take you snowmobiling? Then stand still."
Sesshoumaru shook his head with a smirk. "Glad I don't have to deal with that."
"Yet," Alan said cryptically.
"Excuse me?"
Alan shrugged as he stood, tugging on his own jacket. "I've seen you and Kadasa together."
Sesshoumaru gave him a dull look. "You met me forty-five minutes ago."
Alan grinned. "I'm good at this stuff."
"Alan! Sesshoumaru!" Kadasa called. "Come on!"
She walked over to the shed. "We've got what… three snowmobiles here?"
"No. Two. Zach, my neighbor down the street borrowed one yesterday."
"Kay. We've go two… we can fit three on a seat right?"
"Yup."
"We can drag a sled behind one."
"Sure." (A/N: I have no idea if you can but it'll make the story more interesting.)
"Kay. So. Sesshoumaru, do you know how to drive one?"
"No."
"You ride with me to the hill and we'll drop a group off. On the way back you can drive the other one. You'll switch with Lyon and Sarah."
"Got it," Alan said.
After maneuvering the snowmobiles out of the garage and onto the lawn, Kadasa picked up Cree and settled the girl in front of her. Neal, Hatsu and Rin sat on almost a wagon-like sleigh with high sides and a flat bottom. Sesshoumaru sat behind Kadasa and glanced at Alan.
He was driving, Ally holding onto his coat with Edmund between them, Taiyo, Tsuki and Alex in the same kind of sleigh, Alex and Taiyo cheering and Tsuki actually grinning.
"Let's go!" Alan called, heading for the woods at a slow pace.
"We'll be back in a bit!" Kadasa called to Lyon who waved as she followed. Over the machine she shouted instructions to Sesshoumaru.
"Basically, it's like a big noisy bike!" she yelled. "The black button starts it, the green button on the left handle is gas, the red button just above the right handle is stop. And you just turn it to go which ever way you want!"
They reached the hilltop, a large hill emptying into a flat plain below. They'd even created their own little rope tow back up the hill. Kadasa stopped her snowmobile and Cree leapt off, the other three jumping out of their sleigh carrying their own.
Sesshoumaru climbed off and Alan lead him over to the other snowmobile, picking up the sleigh and putting it in the back of the snowmobile so it wouldn't get caught on anything on the ride back. "Did Kadasa tell you how to use it?"
"Yeah… somewhat…"
He chuckled. "Don't worry. Take it slow if you can't remember."
Sesshoumaru nodded and climbed on. "Like a bike right?"
"Exactly."
He turned it on then turned it around and looked at Kadasa who grinned. "Let's go!" She turned and flew towards the trees.
Sesshoumaru and Alan shared a look before Sesshoumaru followed after her. She glanced back and grinned, winking and blowing him a kiss before zooming away.
He shook his head, blaming the cold of the redness spreading over his cheeks.
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Now standing at the top of the hill, the rest of the gang having been retrieved, Sesshoumaru manned the rope tow. His job was to grab whomever was coming up and swing them around to safety so they could zoom down the hill again.
Kadasa was coming up it and was looking behind him, smirking. He got a bad feeling and turned to see Ally grinning. As Kadasa reached the top, Ally grabbed her, swinging her into Sesshoumaru who fell on her, then kicking the tube they were on, sent them both flying towards the hill.
Sesshoumaru yelped as they spun, teetering for a moment on the edge. He looked at Kadasa who seemed to be balancing them and shook his head.
"Don't you dare," he hissed.
She smirked. "Or what? You'll fire me?"
"Mori?"
"Aw. Back to Mori is it?" She grinned even wider. He took in a sharp intake of breath as she leaned back and the tube followed. She started yelling as they zoomed down the hill and laughing hysterically.
They slid into a pile of snow and he sat up shaking his head. He looked down at her as she giggled and blew a piece of hair from her face.
"That wasn't so bad."
He scowled. "You will pay Mori."
She gave him an innocent look. "What'd I do?"
He watched her stoically then smirked and leaned forward. "Kadasa…"
She blinked. "Yes?" she asked cautiously. A moment later she jumped up yelping and screeching. "God damn-"
"Kadasa!" Ally yelled from the hill.
"HE PUT SNOW DOWN MY SHIRT!"
"And stole your tube," Sesshoumaru said walking towards the rope tow.
"SESSHOUMARU!" She tackled him, stuffing snow down his shirt. He grabbed a handful and tossed it at her as she jumped away. He missed and hit who Lyon who accidently shoved his wife into a pile of snow. She retaliated by tossing a snowball which missed him and hit Ally who was just coming down the hill. She threw a snowball at Alan thinking he'd done and so began the biggest snowball fight in the Mori-O'Summers-Fukai history.
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Sesshoumaru sighed, now sitting in the living room in dry clothes with a hot mug of coffee. Kadasa was giving Cree a sippee cup of juice. He suddenly remembered something.
"O'Summers."
Lyon turned towards him from Sarah and his son Sean. He smiled. "You can call me Lyon."
Sesshoumaru leaned back then said, "so what was the deal with Kadasa and juice?" Lyon and Sarah blinked then started laughing.
"When Kadasa first joined the Church of Carole, she mistook a cup of wine for kool aid and downed it pretty quickly. One was followed by two, three, four. Soon enough she was so drunk she couldn't even stand up. She thought a chair was a dog and kept yelling at it to stay when she tried to go to the bathroom and she married herself to a plate then divorced it because it was cheating on her with a napkin." Sesshoumaru snorted.
Kadasa walked into the room holding Alex's hand. "What's so funny?"
Alex suddenly ran up to him and dropped a doughnut on his lap. "Now pronounce you man and wife!" he cried.
Sesshoumaru blinked before everyone started laughing hysterically. Done with that Alex rushed back to the kitchen.
Sesshoumaru looked up in confusion. "Um…"
Kadasa tried to catch her breath to explain but began laughing again.
Wren who'd cooled down enough, explained quickly. "Whenever Alex meets someone, he always grabs whatever's closest and hands it to someone. He heard that line somewhere and always says that as well."
He burst out laughing again and Sesshoumaru looked down at his strawberry frosted doughnut before frowning. He waited until they'd calmed down enough before saying, "I don't even like strawberry."
"It was good meeting you," Alan said, shaking his hand as he walked past. Ally gave him a quick hug and turned to someone else.
"You too Alan. Maybe we can get together sometime and discuss Kadasa's embarrassing qualities."
"I'm there," Lyon said, carrying Sean as he came by, shaking both their hands.
Kadasa scowled at them then turned holding her head high. "Good bye Ally. Bye Sarah." They hugged each other and she ruffled her brother's hair and Lyon's before picking up Rin and heading for the car.
Sesshoumaru nodded to them and picked up Cree following her.
She buckled the kids in and looked back to find Neal and Hatsu already asleep, Rin and Cree on the verge of going out. Carrie was curled up asleep in the back and Yuki was gazing out the window, eyes dulled.
She smiled and looked to Sesshoumaru. "It'll be a quiet ride home."
"Good," he muttered and got comfortable. "If you need me, wake me up."
She scowled. "Jerk."
He smirked. "I know I am."
"And here I was just about to forgive the snowball."
"And here I am, not caring."
"Can you two be quiet? We're trying to sleep," Carrie called from the back. They both sent her a dull look before Kadasa turned on TSO and pulled out of the driveway heading for home.
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"Um… Mr. Fukai?"
Sesshoumaru looked over the couch to find Yuki walk in holding a binder. "It's Sesshoumaru kid. What's the matter?"
"Could you help me out?" He raised an eyebrow and shifted on the couch. Yuki came over and sat down next to him, holding out the binder with extremely complicated math problems on it. "Kadasa's bad at math so you're the only one I can ask for help."
"Why not the teachers?"
Yuki scoffed. "They're annoying and can't explain things right."
"How do you know I can?"
"Well you're really good in business. You have to be good with numbers." Sesshoumaru watched him momentarily then nodded.
Kadasa passed by 15 minutes later then blinked, paused and backed up. She peeked in at Sesshoumaru who was explaining something to Yuki who blinked then flushed.
"Oh…" he muttered. "That's kind of obvious."
"No," Sesshoumaru replied. "Not until you understood the problem could you have figured that out. It's kinda like…" He blinked then smirked. "Forgive the stupidity of this example." Yuki grinned. "Okay. Your sister, Kadasa, is decorating the Christmas tree. But first she's got to get it up."
Yuki raised an eyebrow. "She doesn't' put the tree up. Carrie and I do."
"Yeah well she's kinda weird. Anyway, she's first got to get it out of the attic, then she's got to drag it into the living room and finally get it up. Once she's done with that, it's easy to figure out how to decorate it compared to how hard it was to get to that point."
"So it doesn't matter how obvious the answer is, it's how to get to the answer that's hard."
Sesshoumaru gave him a dull look. "Thank you for ruining my example."
Yuki smirked. "No problem. Help me with the next one."
Kadasa smiled and continued on her way.
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"Hm…" Sesshoumaru typed a few numbers into his laptop before saving the file and shutting it. He stretched before heading for his bed. There was a knock and he turned. "Come in."
Kadasa slipped in and grinned. "Sesshie! Just the person I wanted to see."
He twitched at the nickname. "Why?"
She walked over and grabbed the front of his shirt pulling him down. She kissed his cheek then stepped back. "Thanks for helping Yuki out," she said softly. "He needs a male idol in his life. You just gave him that." She turned heading for the door but paused before she left. "Don't expect this to be the last of it. If anyone else has problems with math, you'll be hearing from me."
"Great," he groaned.
She grinned and winked. "Merry Christmas Sesshoumaru."
"Merry Christmas Kadasa."
She slid out the door and he fell into bed, turning off the light. Merry Christmas…
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