Chapter 6:
At Tamisé's home, Inuyasha and Kagome were introduced to Tamisé's staff. Nanny Frances was a young British woman with a delightful accent. Inuyasha loved to hear her talk, even if he could not understand what she was saying. Rod was a young black man, Leo's cousin. Tamisé explained that Rod was working for them while he finished school, with an eye to having his own landscaping company some day. Heather, who was the housekeeper, was an older woman with brown hair fading to grey.
Inuyasha loved Tamisé's home immediately. The diningroom was huge, with a table that could sit sixteen comfortably. One wall of the room had been transformed into a rock face with water trickling down in many different rivulets into a channel that ended in a small pond at one end. The other end of the channel headed in the direction of the sunken livingroom. There was a small, stepped waterfall going down to the livingroom level. There the water pooled into another indoor pond, larger than the one in the diningroom. Plants of all descriptions were landscaped around. There were even goldfish in both ponds. A small grid above the waterfall kept the diningroom fish from joining the livingroom fish.
The livingroom faced the back of the house and had floor-to-ceiling windows and a huge fireplace at the opposite end of the room from the pond. Although there were vertical blinds that could be drawn across the windows, they had been left open.
Inuyasha was surprised when the staff sat at the huge diningroom table with them. Tamisé explained that it was the custom of his people for the entire household to eat together, regardless of whether they were family or staff.
There was another surprise at the table: Tamisé's infant daughter, Breanna. The baby lay in a carrier placed on a chair between Fawn and Nanny Frances. Unlike her older brother, Breanna had the blond hair of her mother. She was a happy baby with smiles for everyone.
Inuyasha sat uncomfortably in his seat between Kirsten and Kagome. He surveyed the table with dismay. Where were the chopsticks? He looked at the implements beside his plate, but had no clue as to what they were for or how they were used. Tamisé laughed gently.
"Sorry, lad. Let me get you something."
The tall alien left the room for a moment, then returned with chopsticks that he handed to Inuyasha and Kagome. They were beautiful, much nicer than the plain wooden ones Inuyasha was used to.
"I'm not sure how much use they'll be to you," Tamisé said with a laugh. "We're having lasagna tonight."
Inuyasha stared at the food on his plate when Fawn served him. He had never seen such a thing! Tamisé was right: the chopsticks would be of little use. Nor did he see anyone else eating with his or her hands. Kirsten took pity on him and cut the lasagna up for him and showed him how to use the implement she called a fork.
The first bite slid off the fork back onto his plate. Inuyasha tried again, only to have the food drop into his lap. Kirsten helped him clean it up. The next bite at last made it to his mouth. It was good!
Inuyasha managed to finish his dinner without any further mishaps. Kirsten had kept up a running translation for him and Kagome of what the others were saying. Much of the conversation made no sense at all to him. He was glad that tomorrow he would be taught English so he could understand what was being said.
Breanna started to fuss in her chair, and Fawn picked her up, jogging her up and down.
"Here, I'll take her," Kirsten offered. "I'm done eating."
She stood up and took the baby from Fawn. Inuyasha eyed the infant with some trepidation. The baby gazed at him unwaveringly.
"Oh, she's adorable!" Kagome cried. "Inuyasha, isn't she cute?"
"I suppose."
The baby leaned forward in Kirsten's arms and grabbed a handful of Inuyasha's hair, crowing in delight.
"Owtch!" Inuyasha gently disengaged the chubby fingers.
"You're in for it now, lad," Tamisé laughed. "Breanna likes holding onto my braid, so she's bound to grab your hair as well."
Breanna reached for him again, cooing.
"Want to hold her, Inuyasha? I think she likes you." Kirsten's silver eyes shone with laughter.
"I don't think so…"
But Kirsten was already putting the baby into his lap. "Hold on!"
Inuyasha's hands came up to steady the baby. "What do I do? Kagome, what do I do?" There was more than a hint of panic in his voice.
Kagome laughed at him. "Hold on, like Kirsty said."
The baby grabbed his hair again.
"Owww! How do I make her stop?"
"Try walking around with her, dear," Kirsten suggested.
It took several tries before Inuyasha was able to get to his feet with the baby held securely in his arms. He went carefully down the steps into the livingroom and took Breanna over to the windows.
"Look!" he said to her. "See the wind move through the trees?"
The baby looked up at him uncomprehendingly. Then a wonderful toothless grin spread across her face. Inuyasha lost his heart in that moment, or at least a piece of it. In a rhythm older than time, he began to rock back and forth. Breanna made a contented sound. He smiled down at her and began to hum a song he remembered his mother singing to him when he had been very small.
He was unaware of the amazed look Kagome was giving him. His world became the baby in his arms and for a moment he dreamed that it was his own child that he held and sang to.
"Inuyasha?"
Suddenly, Tamisé was beside him, reaching for his daughter, who had fallen asleep in the half-demon's arms. Inuyasha let Tamisé take his child, and for a moment, felt bereft. He watched as Tamisé took his daughter off to bed.
"Well," said Kirsten. "That was amazing, Inuyasha."
"Yeah," sighed Nanny Frances, staring at him with admiration. "I think I'm in love."
Inuyasha blushed and came back to the table to sit.
"You've got a good voice," said Jonathan. "Do you sing?"
Inuyasha shook his head when Kirsten translated for him. "It was just something I remembered from my mother."
The dinner party broke up soon after that. Kirsten and Jonathan were staying for coffee, but Kirsten told Inuyasha and Kagome to go ahead and take their walk.
"Can you find your way?"
"Inuyasha doesn't get lost," Kagome said. "He'll smell his way back if he has to."
They had gone out and found a path down to the park. The fence at the bottom of the property did not stop Inuyasha. He took Kagome on his back and leaped over the fence easily. The creek was crossed in one jump. Kagome got down and started to walk beside him along the paved path beside the creek. She took his hand in hers.
"Huh?"
"I just felt like holding hands. Is that okay?"
"Sure. It's…nice."
They walked along in silence for a distance. People passed them on bicycles or rollerblades, startling Inuyasha once or twice. Kagome kept him from reaching for his blade when a group of kids whizzed by them on bicycles, shouting at the top of their lungs. One of them flipped Inuyasha's hair as he passed.
"Hey!"
"Inuyasha…" Kagome laid a hand on his arm. "He's just a jerk. Leave it be."
"But…"
"Leave it." Her voice was soft.
"Keh." He turned from her and spied a huge willow tree. "Now that's what I'm talking about."
In a bound, he was at the base of the tree. Another leap took him into the branches, where he felt more at home.
Kagome stood at the base of the tree, her hands on her hips and an annoyed look on her face. "Inuyasha! Come down."
"I like it here. Why don't you come up?"
"No, you come down."
"You come up." He grinned down at her.
"I can make you come down," she threatened.
"Aww, Kagome, it's such a nice evening. Don't spoil it. Come on. I'll help you."
He moved to a lower branch and extended a hand to Kagome.
"Alright," she sighed.
"Up you come," he said, grasping her hand firmly and drawing her up until he could put an arm about her waist to lift her the rest of the way.
He assisted her into the higher branches of the huge tree until he felt they had gone far enough. The branches were still sturdy enough to bear their combined weight. He sat down against the trunk and settled Kagome between his legs with her back to his chest. His arms went about her to keep her steady. He was elated when she leaned back against him.
"I won't let you fall," he said.
"I know you won't."
They sat quietly in the tree as the sky darkened. Inuyasha allowed himself to touch his lips to Kagome's hair, telling himself that she would never feel it. It was peaceful up in the concealing branches, listening to the wind's music as it sighed through the leaves. Inuyasha wished they could stay there all night, but he felt Kagome shiver in his arms.
"Cold?"
"It's cooling down," she replied. "We should go back."
"I guess you're right. I don't want you to catch cold." He shifted his weight. "Here. Put your arms around me and I'll get us down."
Kagome turned to put her arms about his neck. She wobbled a little on the branch and clutched at him for support. "Inuyasha!"
"Relax!" he chuckled. "I won't let you fall. Just hold on."
He held her to him with one arm, while he swung them out of the tree. Kagome shrieked a little and clutched him tighter.
"Good grief!" he laughed. "What's the problem? I remember someone flinging herself off Kirara's back in mid-air, so sure that I would catch her. Don't you trust me?"
He set her down on the path, but it took a moment for her to realize that she was on solid ground and could let go of him. Inuyasha took her hand again and they headed back to the house.
"It's getting colder," Kagome said. "Let's hurry."
Inuyasha snorted and put his arm about her waist to draw her close to him. "Warmer?"
"Inuyasha!"
"What? I'm just trying to keep you warm, that's all. There's the path to the house across the creek. Get on my back, Kagome, and I'll jump us across."
She climbed onto his back once more and the half-demon made a graceful leap across the expanse of water. He hit the ground on the other side and broke into a run, even though it was hard going uphill with his burden. In another moment, they were letting themselves into the kitchen of Kirsten and Jonathan's house.
Kirsten was in the kitchen, putting on the kettle.
"Hi kids! Have a nice walk?"
"Nice, thanks," said Kagome.
"Well, better get off to bed early tonight. Tomorrow's going to be busy."
"But I don't feel tired," Inuyasha said.
"Yeah! For us, it still feels like morning," Kagome said.
Kirsten laughed. "And tomorrow you'll feel like hell when the jet lag sets in. That's why we'll only be in the office for the morning. Jon said he'd take Kagome to see the robots after we run the two of you through the language program. But you and I, Inuyasha, will start to work immediately. My colleague, Spider Kelso, is expecting us and we'll spend the morning running tests on you."
"What for?"
"Well, I know you're strong, my dear. But we don't know exactly how strong. And you're fast too. We will test all sorts of things, mainly to see how you compare to Jon and me. Once we know what we're dealing with in terms of your physical capabilities, we can finish up a training schedule for you." She patted his cheek. "And if there's time, there's lots of people I want to introduce you to."
Somehow, that did not make Inuyasha feel good at all.
