Chapter 32: Truth or Lies.

Sesshomaru

I was shocked. Had I heard her right? Did she really find her birth mother? I leaned in and waited for her to go on.

"She'd gotten a hold of my number and she reached out to me yesterday over the phone. I was shocked. I never thought I would speak to her, much less meet I met with her the same day. I already waited twenty-plus years. I wasn't going to wait another day."

Is this what she was going to tell me before we were interrupted? She seems happy talking about it right now. Why did she seem so distressed last night? She was hiding something, but why? I was not angry but concerned. I want her to know she can trust me.

"What is she like, your mother? Is she what you expected?"

She smiled and relaxed. "I wasn't sure what to expect, to be honest. I went there with every intention of being angry and giving her a piece of my mind. Part of me hoped that she was this mean angry woman, who gave me away for no good reason. I couldn't have been more wrong. She was kind. Even after speaking to her for only a little while, I could tell how gentle she was. You feel how good her heart was. Maybe it's because I'm her kid, but even the sound of her voice was so disarming. It had put me at ease. I almost immediately wanted to trust her. I had forgotten all about being angry. Here I was so comfortable with this woman who was a stranger but felt so familiar. I was surprised at how similar we looked. I knew there might be a few similarities here and there, but it was like looking in a mirror: the same dark hair, the same eyes, and even the same smile. Then we eventually addressed the elephant in the room. I asked her why she gave up. I thought that that was it. This is the part where all my anger would be justified. Turns out I had a real crappy father. He didn't want another daughter, and she gave me away to protect me from him. How was I supposed to be angry at that? We had only talked for a few short hours, but it felt like I'd known her forever. It was only that one day, but I was happy with how everything is going so far, and I want to keep meeting her; getting to know her."

"If only my own child spoke about me with such tenderness." my mother chimed in. "I would love to meet this lovely woman."

"Meet her? You want to meet my Mother?"

"Yes, the sooner the better. You will be marrying my son. It is only right. We will be a family after all."

I held back a smile when I saw her eyes light up at the word family.

"Mother-"

"I'm sure she would love that," Kagome said, cutting me off. I'll make sure to set it up. Maybe you and I could spend some more time together. You know, just us girls."

She avoided making eye contact with me. Last night she seemed as though she wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and stay there. Now, she was rushing to get out of the house. She was running away from something. Was it me, had I done something wrong? Or... what is it that she doesn't want me to know? I could hear her heart pounding in her chest. If she was running from me, into my mother's arms was the last place she wanted to be. She would question her worse than I ever could.

Mother grinned. "That sounds lovely. I am free today. Right now if you are up for it."

My mother knew what she was doing, and she encouraged it.

She smiled. "Great. I will go get ready right now."

I watched her run out of the living room. I waited until her footsteps faded away. I could feel my mother's eyes on me.

"There is something you want to say, Mother. I can feel it."

She smiled. "She is hiding something. I am sure you can tell that much."

I nodded. "Kagome is not dishonest. There must be something wrong. I love her but If I was being honest. She was trouble keeping things in."

I could practically hear the gears turning in her head. "Mm, does your mate not trust you Sesshomaru?"

Was she trying to plant seeds of doubt? Or was she testing me?

"Kagome often likes to take things on, her own. She does not accept help from others easily." I said ignoring her question.

I could not answer because I did not have one. From the look on her face, I could tell she saw right through me.

"Why are you here? Really. I prefer the truth." I asked. "You do not randomly show your face. This is not some graduation or a birthday. When I was a small child. There's more, that much I know."

"It is as I have said. I am curious about all of this. It may not be a graduation or a birthday, but you are getting married, and eventually starting a family. It is just as important. No, it is more important."

"Meaning, she is human. You would like to see what kind of woman she is. Had she been a demoness, you would not have bat an eye. Forgive me if I question your motives."

She smiled. "Humans are fickle little things. I want to see if she can handle what it means to be with you. I want to be sure of her motives."

Was I to believe she was here because she truly cared? After all this time of being absent. She wished to be a mother.

"Kagome is much stronger than you think."

She crossed her legs. "We will see won't we."

"You disappear and pop in sporadically. Only to return when I have chosen a human to spend the rest of my life with."

"Well, your father had forsaken me for a human woman, and society along with him. Simply because he left me. They all looked at me as if something was wrong with me. They would never say such words to my face, but they were all thinking it. As lovely as Izaiyo may be. That was a blow to my pride and my reputation. It was difficult to face anyone for a while."

"You disappeared," I repeated.

"I sent gifts."

"Hn, yes, and postcards," I said sarcastically.

She smirked. "Is that sarcasm I hear? That is new for you. If this is what the girl is doing to you. She and I might get along yet."

I sighed. "Always the jokes with you, Mother."

Her smile fell. Perhaps the gravity of how serious I was, was finally starting to sink in.

"I am sorry Sesshomaru. I was gone and I should not have been. I left you. I own that. There is no excuse for what I did. Yes, I came back because I wanted to see who this woman was. That melted through that icy exterior of yours. I want to make sure she Is right for you-"

"You left when I was fourteen. It has been too long. You do not know who I am anymore. How could you possibly know what is right for me?"

She had a soft look in her eyes. "A mother always knows. It does not matter the time. Or the distance between a mother and her child. A mother will always know. Your soon-to-be wife and her mother are proof of that. I also came because she was my way in."

"Your way in?" I repeated.

She gave me a small smile. "Yes, back to you."

I sighed. "You cannot-"

"I'm ready!" Kagome called running down the stairs.

She stood and grabbed her things. "We will finish this conversation later little wolf."

I walked after them and let them out.

Was I really to believe all of this? That she needed a way in? Silly woman, you did not need a way in. The door was never closed.