A/N: This is it. Last chapter of Tracing Happy Trails. It's been a fight and a half since I decided that I wanted to do an epilogue, and probably put more pressure on myself than I should have. I wanted it to be good and worth the wait, and...I'm happy with it, so I hope you are too. Smut in this one, I promise.


College was over and done with. Kagome had moved in with him right after Christmas break, and Inuyasha made his work schedule bend so he could make sure his girlfriend got back and forth to her classes safely. She had finished school with honors, and graduation had been the first time he'd met her family face to face. It had been an experience to say the least.

That was over a year ago.

Kagome still lived with him, and he couldn't fathom what life would be like if she hadn't said yes. His house didn't feel empty anymore, even when she had left to run errands. Knowing that she was there, that she had made his place her home, made his heart swell. He wanted more, as selfish as it was. She shared his home, his bed, her love…but he wanted more.

Her family had given him their blessing almost as soon as he approached them. He had the ring, even. Had it picked out seven months prior. All he needed to do was ask Kagome.

Easier said than done.

It had taken two months to get the ring sized properly, and for the following five months he'd been through a rollercoaster of distractions that prevented him from finding the time.

The first time he had decided that he wanted to ask her was in October. Mid-October to be more precise. They had gone to the big party store in town to pick out costumes for Halloween, and they'd intended to drive back to her family's shrine to take her younger brother and cousins out for a party. Kagome was sequestered in the furthest dressing room with a mountain of costumes that she deigned fit to try on. Inuyasha had already selected his – a generic rockstar – easy and simple enough to drive to the shrine and back in. His girlfriend, on the other hand, couldn't make up her mind. She wanted to do something cute, but she also wanted to look good for him. She also didn't want to be cold if the weatherman was wrong, but she didn't want to roast in something either, and still wanted to be able to be comfortable.

It was a process.

Inuyasha could still recall the moment that she opened the dressing room door and revealed the very revealing mini with the tule petticoat underneath, and how he was backing her up into the dressing room and shutting the door. Telling her to stay as quiet as she could as he bent her over the seating and flipped that skirt up.

It wasn't the costume that she wore for Halloween, but he'd bought it anyway just for the memories.

When November came around, they were going back to the shrine to celebrate Souta's birthday. It was a small gathering, and one of the big gifts Souta had gotten was a new gaming platform. It had been an organized gift, with everyone pitching in to a bit to cover it, and going through a list of games to get him started. One of the choices that Souta had been super excited to get was Fortnite, and Inuyasha hadn't been able to say no when her brother asked him to play. He'd never played Fortnite before. He didn't even know what it was exactly. At best he knew you could play against other people online, so he thought in the spirit of being a good boyfriend he'd do the kid a service and humor him for an hour or so.

The opportunity to ask Kagome that weekend was lost because he and Souta stayed up into the late hours playing, and once the kid started to drift off holding the controller he knew it was time to shut it down. Inuyasha discovered to his dismay that Kagome had also passed out on the couch watching them play, so he ended up carrying both to their rooms.

In December there were family gatherings with his family and hers, so between the shopping for everyone and driving all over town and back, there was no time to sit down and talk. Hell, there was barely time to get so much as a kiss in on some days. It was like he'd hit that dry spell all over again before he'd met Kagome, only this time she was in bed next to him and too tired to even offer a hand.

After the new year, he thought that there might be a chance in January. That whole spiel about "new year, new you" was bullshit, if anyone were to ask him. The only thing that January brought out was the gray suck that blanketed everything in the midst of getting organized at home and with work. Even though there were no birthdays, holidays, or events that they had to contend with through the month, they were still both drained. There wasn't one day that felt right to him, so he held off.

And now it was February.

Past Inuyasha would kick himself if he could for not just…outright asking! How hard would it be to say "Kagome, will you marry me"?

Pretty fucking hard, apparently. This was, after all, the genius who thought to gauge her interest in him by taking an experimental drug for months that made him look different.

It wasn't like he didn't know that she loved him, either. She had worried herself almost to the point of an anxiety attack trying to choose his human appearance or his half demon self. It shouldn't have been this hard to come up with a way to pop the question. Kagome didn't expect wild gestures, and he knew this.

That didn't mean that she didn't deserve them.

The first weekend of the month, they were both lounging on the couch watching a movie. It was one of those chick-flick type movies that Kagome had wanted to see but couldn't bring herself to buy, so she toughed it out until it was put on cable. Inuyasha really didn't care. The plot was pretty basic: guy meets girl, there's a connection, then a misunderstanding, then a blowup, more drama, and ultimately a kiss and happily ever after. It was mostly white noise to him as he doubled as his girlfriend's breathing pillow, snuggled under the crook of his arm. He had her, and she was content with the movie, so he didn't give a damn what she wanted to watch.

It gave him time to think about how he could propose to her. He was starting to get anxious – it had been five months since he'd gotten the ring from the jeweler. Then an idea struck him.

Valentines day.

Why hadn't he thought of it sooner? It was a romantic holiday – okay maybe not originally – but it had the right atmosphere even on a dreary day. There were lots of ways that he could set up the perfect date. They could go to the movies, see a flick that she'd been wanting to but never made time for – or better yet a play. He thought that Twelfth Night was one of the currents in circulation, and Kagome loved the chaos of that one. They could go to a fancy restaurant for dinner, perhaps go dancing… somewhere in the midst of whatever he set up for them he'd drop to one knee and present her with the ring. The more he thought about it, the more his ears twitched in excitement. It was brilliant. Perfect even. It was –

"Can you believe some women think this is romantic?"

Inuyasha blinked. "What?" He really hoped that she hadn't picked up on the fact that he hadn't been watching the movie.

If she did, she didn't let on. Kagome didn't even turn her head to as she continued, waving a hand at the tv screen. "This whole grand stand proposal," she said. "Not every woman wants to be proposed to in the middle of a crowd! What if she says no? It's going to humiliate them both."

He couldn't panic. He tried not to panic. "So… I take it you're not a fan?" Keep his voice even, don't act suspicious –

Kagome snorted. "Hardly. Don't get me wrong, sometimes it works out, and that's great for those couples. I just think that this isn't one of those things that needs to be announced to the world until there's something to actually announce. It's putting all of your eggs in a basket that you're not sure has a sturdy base."

"You've…put some thought into this." He was doubly glad that she couldn't see his expression then, because he was certain that he looked like he had sat in a puddle.

"Oh I've barely gotten started," she laughed, and his stomach dropped. "Sometimes I really think these grand gestures are put on. The woman doesn't look the least bit surprised. It's like she's expecting to be wined and dined at these hard to reserve places, that she's just by coincidence managed to dress to the nines with a perfectly done mani pedi – you can almost feel the energy that comes off her screaming 'Just show me the big ass rock already'!"

Okay…that eliminated proposing at a fancy restaurant. And both a movie and stage play would have the lights turned down so low that he wouldn't be able to read her expression before she answered. Sure, he could use his senses, but he wanted to see her reaction to the ring.

Such as it was.

That was the one thing that he knew he had gotten right. Kagome liked her jewelry to be of the simpler styles with smaller inset stones than the "big rocks" as she dubbed them. He'd even gotten some examples of rings he was considering cleared from her mother as further confirmation.

It still didn't help him decide how to ask her, and Kagome apparently wasn't done ripping all of his ideas to shreds.

"But you know the biggest cliché of all of them?" she asked, not waiting for him to respond. "Valentines day. I don't know why guys think that it's romantic to propose on Valentine's day. Is it so they can remember the day in case she brings it up in conversation years later? Do they think that it means they can bundle gifts for multiple occasions into one? I mean gifts aren't necessary in my opinion, because I think they should be spontaneous and thought out instead of planned around a commercialized day, but anyway. The only thing worse than proposing on Valentine's day is getting married on Valentine's day."

Thank fuck he had never considered the wedding for that day; he was more partial to early summer before it got excessively hot and it could be held outdoors. "I take it this goes back to the gift thing?" He tried to sound amused, he really did.

Kagome shrugged against him before snuggling in closer. "Kind of? But there's this whole…I don't know…there's something crass about anniversaries on Valentine's day, to me. There's already guys that but that trashy, cheaply-made lingerie for their girlfriends for the holiday, but how many of them would double down on that as an anniversary gift too?"

Inuyasha pulled a face at the thought. "I see your point," he agreed. There was a lot that was just…horrible looking. "Hey! I thought you liked that set I picked out last year!" Considering she was with him when they came across it, he hoped she wasn't just humoring him. It wasn't even like it was a surprise he'd sprung on her.

"Of course I liked it! I still do!" Kagome reached for his hand, interlacing her fingers with his. "You have good taste, Inuyasha."

He felt her sigh against his chest, and with the silence that followed, he took that to mean the conversation was over. She was back to being engrossed in the movie, unaware of how his ears had drooped into his hair or the dejected look in his eyes. That was that. He'd gotten his answer straight from the source. No wild gestures in public. Don't plan to propose on Valentine's day.

Fuck.

What was he going to do?

'I think they should be spontaneous and thought out instead of planned,' he thought to himself, rolling her words around in his head. Of course she was talking about giving gifts, but with an engagement ring, it was the same principle…right?


It was almost the end of the month before Inuyasha found his opening.

Valentine's day had been a success. He did opt for the fancy dinner before taking her to see Twelfth Night, and later that night they had come back and she'd surprised him with the lingerie again. The ring box, as he'd taken to carrying with him everywhere for months, he'd stashed away in a special place. It would only be a matter of time, he'd decided, taking advantage of Kagome disappearing into the bathroom.

That moment came on a quiet evening when they both decided that it was too much trouble to get dressed to go out. For that matter, it was too much trouble to get dressed, period. Inuyasha had made sure all of their curtains were securely shut and the doors locked that morning, telling his girlfriend that it was a clothing optional kind of day. He had no qualms walking around the house naked, and he wanted Kagome to be just as comfortable. They had no company to entertain, the heating was keeping the house warm, and there were no complaints about the view.

Except when cooking was involved. Then he was the one reaching for the aprons he rarely used.

That "lounger" had long since made it's home in their bedroom. He couldn't very well leave it out in the living room if his nieces were to come around to visit. They were inquisitive as hell, and his bare ass had been all over it – along with Kagome's when he could talk her into trying something new. No way he was going to let them climb all over it when he had climbed all over his girlfriend on it.

"You really should let me draw you more," he said, leaning back against it. Since her skills were better than those of her classmates, he felt no guilt as he shifted around.

"Now why would I let you do that?" she mused, waiting for him to settle before she continued her work. It was probably stupid to draw your boyfriend naked when you saw him naked so much, but he had a good form! He had even offered!

Inuyasha smiled lazily, letting his eyes run up and down her body while she turned back to her task. "Because."

"Because why."

"Because you're hot as hell, Kagome." He tried not to roll his eyes at her scoff. "I mean it. I know I'm not as good an artist as you are, but you don't see your eyes light up like I do when you look at what I've drawn. I like seeing you smile like that."

"Inuyasha…" How she could still blush after half the things they did – on that sex couch even – was beyond her. And yet, he always found a way to bring it out of her. Kagome ducked her head, staring at her current stash of pencils. It hadn't taken him long to figure out that she felt inadequate next to him, and he was slowly getting her to acknowledge that that wasn't the case at all.

Her brows furrowed when she took stock, realizing that she needed a darker lead for some of the shadows. The pencil case that she had on hand only housed the ones she used most often; the rest of her supplies were in a cabinet in the corner. On autopilot, she rose and started towards the cabinet, not noticing that Inuyasha was sitting straighter on the couch.

He knew the moment she gasped that she had found something she wasn't expecting. Inuyasha swung his legs over the edge, bracing himself for what happened next. He tried not to let his senses lead him any which way, but he couldn't get a read on her with her back to him. "Kagome?"

When she turned around, she was holding the ring box in both her hands.

"Inuyasha?" she asked quietly. "W-what is this?"

"Why don't you come over her and open it?" he encouraged, reaching out and guiding her to sit next to him.

Her hands were shaking, and he wasn't sure if that was good or not. And if he could unclench his, they'd be shaking too. The seconds that went by as she pushed open the little black box felt like an eternity to him. The gasp he heard as she took in the sight of the ring that was sitting inside still didn't tell him if he had messed up or not.

For Kagome, it was a matter of trying not to cry. When she had stood up to get darker leads from the container in the cabinet, she had no idea that she was going to find a jewelry box sitting in the drawer. She'd been using her materials frequently; she'd have come across before now – which meant that it must have been placed there this evening. As she turned to look at Inuyasha, she couldn't help but think that he was looking nervous as he motioned for her to sit next to him. She couldn't stop her hands from shaking as she started to lift the box lid. Her first instinct was the obvious, but she couldn't let herself fall into that. For all she knew, it could be something else, like a house key. Granted she had already been given a house key right after she moved in with him, but surely it wasn't –

She gasped at the sight of the sparkling clear stone. It was a ring.

"Inuyasha?"

"Kagome," he swallowed, taking her free hand and squeezing it. "I've…I've been wanting to give you this for months, but there wasn't ever a right time." He slid off the couch and dropped to a knee before her, still holding her shaking hand. "I love you, Kagome. I'm tired of waiting for the perfect time to ask you, because looking back, any time with you is perfect to me."

A tear had slipped down her cheek, the traitor. Kagome let out a sniffly laugh as she looked at Inuyasha. "We're naked," she pointed out.

"So?" he grinned, making her laugh more. She was relaxing, and that eased his mind a lot. "Consider it an way of putting all the cards on the table. No hiding anything. Kagome, will you marry me?"

More tears fell, but Kagome was smiling so brightly at him that he knew they were happy tears. "I will, Inuyasha. Yes!"

Inuyasha took the box from her, and she could see how his hands had begun to shake as he removed the ring and slipped it onto her finger. Kagome launched herself into his lap moments after, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing his face. Inuyasha ended up landing on his butt with an 'oof', but otherwise neither seemed to notice. He was too busy trying to dry her tears between her kisses and she was trying to stop crying at all.

"Inuyasha, it's beautiful! How did you know it would fit? How long have you had this? Why did you wait so long to ask? Did you really think I'd say no?" Every question was coming out rapidly, but Kagome's mind was buzzing with excitement. Inuyasha had asked her to marry him. She was going to get married. All of the wedding dreams she joked about as a teen would actually get to happen – probably not what she wanted back then because her tastes had changed – but Inuyasha would be the one that she'd be walking to.

It was enough to start crying all over again.

"Hey, hey," he soothed, brushing away the new tears. "It's alright, Kagome." Inuyasha dropped a kiss to her forehead before pressing his to it so he could better look at her. "I'm glad you like it; and if you must know I was paying attention to the styles you said you liked when you looked at those jewelry ads way back when."

"And here I thought you were just leaning over me to stare down my shirt," she teased.

"That too," he admitted. "It's a glorious view. I don't know how you get stuff done when you wear low cut necklines." Inuyasha's heart soared when she laughed again. She'd stopped crying, and even if they were happy tears, it still tore him up inside. "Anyway, when I'd gone to your mom to ask for her blessing, I'd also asked about what size ring you would wear. If you wore them more often around here I could have just borrowed one and taken it to the jeweler. It took them a couple months to get it fitted when I'd put in the order; there was a backlog it seemed. I was told that I could come and get it in… September, I think?"

"S-Sept…tember?" she squeaked. "You've been carrying this around for five months?!"

"I don't think that's that long!"

Kagome leaned back slightly and looked at him with skepticism. She could see it in his face even then that he was trying to play it off.

"I mean… alright fine five months is ridiculous," Inuyasha admitted, "but look – can you blame me? I wanted to do it right! I was thinking that if you said yes, that you'd want the moment to be one that you'd remember."

"I get that," she smiled. "You thought I'd say no? Really?

It was his turn to give her a skeptical look. "There were a few times I had the fear that you'd want things to stay as they are, or that you'd draw out the engagement until you decided you had enough of dragging out something that'd never happen. Guys do think about these things," he added when her expression began to change to confusion. "I know it's stupid now, but think about how long it took to get where we are. You mean the world to me, Kagome. I don't want to risk losing you."

Her eyes softened as she listened to him give his reasons, and as it sunk in her heart melted. Of course it made sense. Hell, she'd been so skittish that first time she'd met him in the bookstore, that it was a wonder they'd gotten to this point at all. 'Though the art modeling seemed to fix that, looking back on it.' Even if it had made things more complicated before they got easier. "I think if I were in your place, I would probably feel the same way," she replied. "But you know what? My answer is and will always be yes, Inuyasha."

Hearing her say that again made his heart swell.

The feel of her sitting in his lap, on the other hand, made something else swell. Something that she seemed to pick up on, if the way she bit down on her lip was any clue. That was something else that he loved about her. She did it when she was in thought, when she was nervous, but he especially liked it when he had her spread out before him, trembling with desire as he teased her.

Fuck he needed her. Right then.

Inuyasha scooped her up in his arms and made the shaky rise to his feet. The bed was right there, just a few feet away, but he wasn't interested in that. He had other plans in mind.

"Inuyasha? What are you doing?" Kagome tightened her hold on his neck as he rose up from the floor. Which, normally was a feat when carrying another person, but she'd also felt his cock twitch against her ass so she knew he was getting hard. As her back touched the leather of the lounger, she had a fairly good idea of what he wanted to do.

"If you hadn't figured it out by now, I need to up my skills," he grinned, dropping back to his knees before the lower end of the couch. Inuyasha slipped his hands under each of her knees and pushed upwards. "Hold your legs up for me," he ordered when she gave him a questioning look.

Kagome felt foolish, hooking her hands under her knees to help keep them up as Inuyasha had asked. It wasn't unusual for them to experiment with different positions, but every time she did this on this couch…her ass ended up sliding downwards into the dip. It was hard to feel sexy when she couldn't even keep still like this. It was also hard to not laugh each time it happened.

Inuyasha didn't care. The sound of her choked laughter as she sunk didn't detract him from the view she presented, legs raised up and open, giving him easy access as he leaned across the couch and drug his tongue slowly through her folds. She let out a strangled moan as he did it again, and he couldn't help but grin. This mistake of a piece of furniture had been a blessing in so many ways. It had helped bring them together at last, served as a tool for experimenting with new positions.

It also kept Kagome from squirming as he ate her out.

"Oh god, yes…" Kagome's head rolled back against the couch as Inuyasha's tongue dipped inside and swirled around her clit. The only thing that was better when he did this was when he trimmed his claws and used his fingers. Once a month on the night of the new moon just wouldn't be enough, as she'd learned that first time, and he'd taken care to trim and file them down from time to time for that reason. As he reached out to grab her hips, the small pricks against her skin meant that wouldn't be happening tonight, but that was fine. There was always a next time.

Right then, however, she was trying not to get a crick in her neck. Between the dip in the couch and Inuyasha's hold on her, her back was in the deepest part, and it was starting to make her neck hurt. As good as this felt, she didn't know if she could hold this for much longer.

"Inuyasha…I can't…"

The strained words hit his ears and Inuyasha knew something was wrong. That wasn't a sound he liked to hear. "Kagome? What's wrong?" he asked, lifting his head to look at her. What he could see of her expression from between her thighs and the scrunched position she was in….oh.

Oh.

"Fuck, Kagome – I'm sorry! Did I hurt you just now?" That was just his luck. Go to town on his fiancé right after she agrees to marry him and he attempts to bend her in half like a pretzel – and he's the dumbass that asks if she's alright as she's bent in half in the crook of a sex couch.

He was ticking off all the boxes of being a future husband tonight. Oh yes, star material right here.

Kagome blinked up at Inuyasha. "No, you didn't hurt me," she assured him, thinking he was talking about his claws. "I just… I don't know if I can lay like this much longer." It was embarrassing to admit, but she was getting stiff, even if she was close to the edge. But Inuyasha was looking at her with concern, so she might as well get it all out. "I like what you were doing, I really do…but I can't move and I need to…my neck…"

"Why didn't you say something?" he asked, rising to his feet. Inuyasha helped ease Kagome into a more upright position against the back of the couch before straddling it facing her. "I don't want you to put up with something if you're uncomfortable in any way."

She shrugged. "I didn't want to kill the moment." Which was true, it had felt phenomenal up until her neck started to get stiff. "Don't get me wrong, it wasn't that I couldn't move that I didn't like – I mean within reason I like that….are you kidding me right now?"

"What?"

"You're going to sit there and jerk yourself as I tell you why I didn't want to stop you?"

Inuyasha grinned, leaving his hand wrapped around the base of his cock. "No, I'm jerking myself at the thought of you saying you like being restrained." He really wasn't going to, and they both knew it. The urge to touch himself for just a moment was overpowering, a taste to stave him off before they got back to what they both wanted. The temptation to tease her was too great, however. "You can join me, if you want."

Her squeak in response had him laughing as he leaned forward to capture her lips in a kiss. It wasn't like they hadn't done that before either, but it was fun to make her blush. Took away the anxiety she had about asking him to stop when he did.

Kagome knew what he was doing, and she loved him for it. It meant everything that he was so understanding. She eagerly returned his kiss as he leaned over her, pushing her back into the couch. An appreciative moan escaped at the feel of his cock pressing insistently against her. "Inuyasha," she whispered, breaking the kiss. "I need you."

"Don't have to tell me twice," was his husky reply. Inuyasha shifted, scooting closer to Kagome as he lined the tip of his cock up with her folds, pushing in slowly. "You okay to raise your legs still?" At her nod, he slowly brought each thigh to rest against his chest, draping her knees over each shoulder. It opened her up more, letting him sink deeper into her, and it was fucking wonderful.

Staying in shape had always been about her health, but for moments like this Kagome was doubly glad that she kept up with her flexibility exercises. Aside from how deep she could feel Inuyasha thrust as he slowly rocked his hips into hers, this position was delicious in how it kept her in place and at his mercy. They hadn't taken things that far, but the subtle dominance that would come out in him was something she liked. How much larger he was than her, pinning her against the couch as his thrusts increased…it had her back curled around the higher portion of the couch with each push.

He loved how she squeezed him, how each little gasp of his name on her lips only seemed to fuel him. Inuyasha loved that she was willing to try things with him. It had taken a little time to work up to that, and she was getting better at telling him what she didn't like or if she wasn't comfortable. And that she had no qualms about using this couch for its intended purpose?

Inuyasha couldn't possibly love her more.

Her gasps were becoming more frequent and his name was now a garbled mess of syllables, but she couldn't help it. The sensations were building quick and she couldn't hold back much longer. Kagome reached up, cupping his face and bringing him down to her level. The urge to kiss him was too great, and she was glad he obliged. Moments later her body tensed and she cried out his name, pulling him down with her.

The only sounds in the bedroom were the labored breathing of the couple slumped together on the couch. Inuyasha tried not to crush her with his weight, but fuck…it was hard to keep his balance after that.

"I think…" he struggled to catch his breath, "that there may be a downside…to this fucking couch."

Kagome's laugh was weak as she combed her fingers through his hair. "It's a fucking couch, Inuyasha. How is there…a downside to that?"

He snorted at her joke. "Okay…you got me there. But…you have to admit that it's not designed for getting up in a hurry."

"Certainly got you up in a hurry that first time we used it."

Alright, another good point. That was also the first time they had touched themselves in front of the other, if he remembered right. He hadn't been able to help himself, bent her over the high end of the couch, and well…he'd never heard any complaints. He chuckled, leaning down to kiss her again. "I love you."

"I love you too," she smiled.

"Sure I'm not hurting you?" Inuyasha shifted a bit, slipping out of her and easing her legs down until her feet touched the floor. Kagome brought his head down to her shoulder, and he settled against her. She'd murmured in his ear that she was fine, but he still wanted to be careful. He knew he needed to get up, that they both should get up and shower, clean off the lounger…just…not yet. He wanted to enjoy this peaceful feeling. It wasn't even the satisfaction at the sex they'd just had. It was knowing that he'd finally proposed to Kagome, and she'd said yes. She was going to be his wife one day.

"You know…" he started, trying not to doze off as she rubbed his ear. "When we have kids we're gonna have to do something about this couch."

"Already thinking about kids?" Kagome giggled, "We just got engaged, Inuyasha." Though she'd be lying if she were to say that the idea of having kids with him wasn't thrilling.

"Hey – it took me five months to propose to you. I figure it's better to plan ahead, don't you?"

"Mmm, that's true," she agreed. "We may wear it out before then, so it won't be a problem."

"True."

"And we could always upgrade to more subtle furniture, or find something that can be folded away…"

Was she suggesting… "What exactly did you have in mind?" He leaned up to look at her blushing face. "Kagome?"

"I don't know!"

He grinned. "Yes you do. What's my dirty girl thinking of?"

"Nothing!"

"Your face says otherwise."

"Inuyasha!"

"Kagome!"

He pinned her against the couch, nibbling along her neck, demanding that she tell him between nips and licks. Kagome squealed and squirmed against him, trying to get away. All her maneuvers did was encourage his cock for a second round.

They had nowhere to be, after all. He'd get the answers out of her one way or another.