Kagome steadied herself and got her girls attention. "About Inuyasha here…"

"Kagome." The sudden voice snapped her out of her thought train. Kagome looked back up at Inuyasha when he said, "Wait, we need to talk."

The hanyou rolled back onto the balls of his feet and wrung his hands. His amber eyes widened with urgency and the second the girl met them, he reached out to snatch up her wrist. Catching it, he maneuvered by the small children and pulled, rushing outside. The doors slid open and Kagome almost whined when he kept tugging until they reached the end of the block.

She instantly twisted around to see where her girls stood. The three had just past the door frame. Instinctively, Zel grabbed the others twins hands and held them tightly. She watched her mother with a look of confusion and Kagome held out a hand to urge them to stay. The sidewalks were nearly empty and nearby pedestrians slipped by them quickly and quietly.

Kagome reluctantly took her eyes of them and turned to face the hanyou that had dragged her out there so suddenly.

"What's wrong with you?" Kagome yanked her hand free with a huff.

Inuyashas stuffed his hands back into his sleeves and dug his nails into his own skin. He stood up higher and took a breath.

"Kagome," He spoke quietly even though the girls still stood far away from them.

Inuyasha's ears twitched as he kept himself aware of their presence, the back of his mind straying to wonder just how good their hearing was.

It took him another minute of hesitation but he kept the Kagome's attention. "You can't—" He growled to himself as he struggled with the words. His thoughts jumbled together and a knot formed in his chest, pulsing with annoyance. "Just tell them like that."

Kagome let her mouth fall open with realization and put a hand to her chest.

"Well Inuyasha." She found herself struggling to word it as well. "How exactly are you expecting me to do it?"

Inuyasha let out a huff and threw his head to the side, suddenly engrossing himself in the empty street, the trees that lined them, and the shops across the street that had closed signs glowing in their dark interior. His youkai blood flailed a bit but he ignored it.

"So you're just going to tell him? This is your father who hasn't been there for you for your entire life. Enjoy."

Kagome pouted, backing up an inch.

"About the same time I tell them that we have to go into the past to hunt for their brother that got abducted by demons."

Inuyasha peeled his mouth back to reveal his fangs at the comment. His drew his hand into fists and forced himself back to look at her, the sheer emotion burning in his amber irises.

Kagome faltered a bit.

"Inuyasha," she directed more pointedly. "I have no desire to throw you to the wolves here. I never told the kids that you abandoned them." She couldn't help but let the emotion swirl up into her voice. "I just told them there were circumstances that they couldn't understand until they were older." She let out a deep breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.

Reaching out, she gently touched his arm, unsure if he wouldn't yank away. He didn't.

"This would be the opportune moment. And plus, they aren't dumb. They'll understand better than you know." Kagome almost said the last part proudly. Her mind jumped to remember how adaptable her children had been, how clever they've acted. She supposed they'd have to be in order to be part demons among a modern society.

Inuyasha's face softened for second and he flexed his knuckles. Glimpsing over her shoulder, he watched where the girls stood patiently. Well, at least where Zel stood patiently. The other two hopped in place and kept twisting around to follow every dust particle they could see.

"How are you planning to do this?" Inuyasha asked without looking at her.

Kagome put a finger to her lips, her mind reeling back to what she was going to tell her children a minute ago. It wasn't quite an easy subject to broach, Kagome knew, but she had to tell them something.

"I guess just explain to them part of what happened and go from there."

Inuyasha shot his head back to look at her, his heart skipping a bit.

"Not that part. Just a nice little version." Kagome tried to reassure him without much thought. "At least not until they're older."

A dark feeling came over her at the idea. Or maybe never.

Kagome shifted in place and looked back up at the hanyou in front of her. Inuyasha's eyes never quite stopped glimmering with the cohort of emotions that plagued him. But he relaxed at least a bit, Kagome figured, and he let his hands fall back to his sides.

She turned, and Inuyasha took the unspoken acknowledgment to walk with her. "How do you want to do it?"

They walked slowly to cover the small distance. Inuyasha paused, thoughts running over themselves.

"Just give me a minute." He shut his eyes for a second trying to block out the world's stimuli. "I need to think about it."

They reached the girls and Kagome beckoned them over. Fingers sweeping over their hair, she directed them forward with a quick tap.

"We can talk about it later if you want. And just bring them there. They won't ask too much." Kagome said ignoring when Zel poked her head up to see her.

They stopped at the end of the block and an idea sprung to Kagome's mind. She slipped by to tap the cross-walk button and kneeled down. Beckoning Zel closer than her, she caught the attention of the entire group. Kagome disregarded the extra looks and reached out for the girls hands.

"Zel baby," She whispered even though she knew Inuyasha could probably hear her anyways. "Inuyasha's a very nice man. Be nice to him. He's very happy to see you. Be happy to see him." She squeezed the girls hands before releasing them and standing back up.

Inuyasha shot her a look of confusion but Kagome just shrugged. The cross walk light changed and Kagome reached out for Meimi and Ko's hands. She gathered them and turned to Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha, would you mind holding Zel's hand while we cross the street?" She asked quietly. The hanyou flinched and tried to form a word. But before he could react further, Zel held out a hand to him.

Inuyasha let out a breath and steeled his nerves. He reached out and took it, the tiny hand disappearing completely in his palm. Inuyasha smiled at her and started to follow Kagome and the others.

His heart still thumped loudly in his chest but then… a wave of happiness snaked through his body. His muscles relaxed and his shaking nerves dissipated. Zel grinned at him in return and Inuyasha opened his mouth at the strange change of sensation.

The hanyou turned back forward tightened his hands on hers. His daughter.

~*~

A/N: Hey guys, sooo I just noticed a lot of the inconsistencies through the last few chapters dealing with the children. I'm not entirely sure if it would screw everything up if I try to go back and change it but I wonder if you're noticing the constant changing in the spelling of the names, hair colors, and for some reason this problem I have with interchanging him and her. Ha ha, anyways, if that didn't throw you too much, I'll try to fix it in future chapters.