Chapter XX

Koizumi, Rin is many things but patient. Since having her daughter she has learned that patience is a virtue, especially when dealing with a hyperactive hanyou toddler. However, when forced to deal with a child that's not her own, that patience just shrivels up and dies. So, it came as no surprise to anyone that she was close to tearing her hair out, as she watched her friend's daughters stop what they were doing when she called out to them, nod that they heard before continuing on as if what she just said meant nothing.

Rin, not used to such behaviours from a child, was at her witts end. Kazumi is a relatively calm and obedient child when all is said and done, so when she issued orders she expected them to be listened to and obeyed. Even if in the process of being obeyed, they required explanations so that a toddler could understand.

When her heavily pregnant friend left to use the bathroom, and asked her to watch her girls she said, "Sure, take your time," expecting the girls to continue acting as they did in front of their mother. Boy, was she wrong. As soon as their mother was out of sight the girls turned into she-devils; screaming for all they were worth, running all over the place, and throwing whatever they could find, no matter how dangerous or harmful it is, at each other.

When said friend returned a while later, both girls were covered in mud among other unmentionable things with both Rin and Kazumi looking at them in horror and wonder respectably.

"Girls what have you done?" a very exhausted and irritated mother asked.

"Nothing Mama!" both twin girls exclaimed. Their mother neither believed nor trusted what they said, instead she leveled them with a look that had them looking down in shame and regret.

Turning to her friend she said, "I'm so sorry that you had to go through that Rin. Girls, apologize."

"But Mama-"

"Apologize."

"We're sorry Rin-obasan," both girls whispered while looking down at their feet.

Rin so badly wanted to say apology not accepted, but knowing that that wasn't acceptable or very mature of her instead said, "It's fine," to the girls before turning to address her friend, "Never leave me alone with them again Sango."

"I am so sorry, I don't know what gets into them. They never act this way around Miroku and I."

"Maybe it's because they know that you won't put up with their antics," a slightly amused voice said. Looking to where the voice was coming from, both Sango and Rin were greeted with a sparkly eyed Kagome. Waving her over to the bench where they were sitting, Rin watched as Kazumi greeted her "'Ome" before running along to play with the other kids in the park. Having turned a blind eye as Sango scolded her girls, Rin turned to Kagome and said with a casual flare, "Kazumi's grandfather is coming to meet us," and waited to see how her friend was going to react.

For a second it seemed that Kagome hadn't heard and she was just about to repeat herself when Kagome turned towards her and had about a million questions dancing through her eyes, but she settled on asking, "Why?"

Shrugging, Rin laid back against the bench and spared her friend a look before looking back to the park to see where her daughter was and answering her with a nonchalant tone. "He said he wanted to be properly introduced to her."

Nodding to show that she understood, Kagome looked her friend over to see if she was alright with that, and besides the slump of her shoulders and bags under her eyes that were carefully concealed with a little bit of makeup that showed how tired she was, she seemed alright. Humming a little under her breath, Kagome shifted through all the questions swimming around in her head and picked ones that were fairly simple to answer and asked them.

"Do I know who he is?"

"Mhmm."

"Is his son going to be coming along with him?"

"Don't know," Rin replied as she turned her gaze towards the sky. "It was kind of a spur of the moment thing. I was also distracted by the she-devils over there to really get an answer out of him."

"I...see."

"Hmm."

It was a while before the silence that had surrounded them was broken when Sango sat down on Rin's other side and let out a soft groan. "Are you feeling alright Sango?" Kagome asks as she looks over Rin's head to see how her friend was faring.

"I'm fine," Sango replies with a sigh as leans back against the bench and rests a hand on her protruding stomach. "I just want this kid out already."

"Just think about it this way," Rin adds. "You only have four more weeks of restless sleep, three weeks of not being able to bend over, two weeks of making weird noises as you get out of bed, and one more week of having to go to the bathroom every minute of every day, and then you have the one that caused all of that in your arms and you forget about it for just a moment."

For a moment, both Kagome and Sango are speechless before Sango says, "Rin...that was just-"

"Horrible," Kagome finishes.

"I know," Rin says with a cheeky smile. "But, if Miroku asks you to have another child, you just need to grab him by the balls real tight and ask him, sweetly of course, if he wants to know what you can do with a spoon and blender. All the while tightening your grip ever so slightly with every word you utter...I'm sure he'll get the hint after that."

For a moment they're all silent before erupting in laughter. Wiping away a tear from her eye, Rin looked up with a bright smile only to end up gazing into three pairs of golden eyes looking down at her and her friends. Noting the slightly pale vestige of horror in their eyes, Rin couldn't hold back the smirk that graced her face even if she wanted. It seems that the Taishos had arrived at the perfect moment in their conversation.

Clearing her throat slightly, Rin straightened up a bit in the bench and with the smirk still on her face, Rin subtly nudged her friends to gain their attention. Once the laughs turned to giggles then snickers, Rin happily introduced the two to the ones she knew.

"Kagome, Sango," Rin starts. Pointing to each individual she continued, "I would like you to meet Taisho, Sesshomaru, his father Taisho Touga, and...whoever he is."

"Inuyasha," the one with the dog ears stated. Nodding that she heard she waited for what her friends had to say, knowing that whenever they did it would be interesting, if the silence said anything.

"You know," Kagome says as she regards the three men in front of her with interest. "You all have strange names."

"I know," Sango adds as she considered the three with a critical eye. "Who names their kids dog demon and destroyer of life?" Seeing the eldest Taisho was about to speak, she waves away the coming comment away and continues as if she never saw it. "Well, I guess with a father named after a piece of cloth used in ancient times, he has to have horrible name contributions."

Acting as they weren't there, Sango and Kagome turned to each other and spoke at the same time.

"I feel bad with whoever ended up with him."

"I feel bad for their mother."

"I believe that if we ask their mother, they'll tell us that it was all his idea," Sango states with a twinkle in her eye. With that same twinkle, Kagome nods enthusiastically.

"What were the names Miroku wanted to name the twins again?" Kagome asks.

"Something from an anime, can you believe that?" Sango sighs. "I mean seriously, what kind of of name is Kashikikatofu*?"

"What does that even mean?"

"Who knows. I'm telling you Kagome, men are idiots."

As her friends continued on with their act, Rin was trying her hardest not to laugh. The look on the Taishos faces is just priceless. Although the two oldest didn't show much besides the widening of their eyes and slightly gaped mouth, the youngest looked like he was about to have a casket. Wiping a tear from her eye, Rin couldn't help but think that this day has turned out to be perfect.

*Not a real name or from an anime. I just threw in a name that sounded and looked weird to help with Sango's argument.

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