"Now it is." Kris smiled humorlessly and settled down to watch over the kids as well.

"I trust they all behaved?"

Aura nodded.

"They behaved fine," she replied. She hadn't had any problems with them; nothing that required more than a quick reminder to be careful.

Kris nodded. "Good." She relaxed a little at that, her eyes half-closing. She was still a little more tense than usual, but at least she was calm.

Shippou looked at her before he went back to showing off for the others, keeping their attention.

Aura adjusted how she was sitting slightly when her son crawled into her lap.

"He's such a snuggle-pup," she commented as she pulled him closer and rubbed his ears a little. She looked over at the others. "Hisoka, was Sess ever like this, do you remember?"

"Not that I recall," Hisoka replied carefully, thinking back. "Although, his lordship was older than your son, when I arrived at first, and already very independent."

Kris snorted. "I can't see him as a child," she said quietly. "A teen, yeah. But not a child." He was always too serious and composed. She had to wonder if he'd ever really been able to just play and goof off.

"He was a child, once," Hisoka replied. "Of course he has changed quite a bit since then... In some ways, if not in others."

Kris snorted. She still found that hard to believe, but Hisoka would know better than her. So she just shrugged and relaxed there.

"Hey, we were all kids once. Just because we were kids doesn't mean we actually had a childhood."

"Perhaps," Hisoka allowed. He put an arm around her waist. "Regardless, no, I do not remember if there was a time his lordship was every quite that clingy." Of course Sesshoumaru's mother was never as maternal as Aura, which was part of the issue.

Kris just nodded. "Inuyasha's mother seems nice," she offered cautiously. She hadn't met Sesshomaru's mother, which she guessed would probably have something to do with Sesshomaru's upbringing and resulting attitude.

Hisoka nodded.

"Izayoi is very kind, and a loving mother," he replied. "She tends to spoil the pup." He glanced at Aura. "Much like you and yours, in fact."

Aura just rolled her eyes, but it was half-hearted at best. She looked down at her son fondly where he was dozing in her lap.

Kris snorter. "Hey, a little spoiling is good," she said with a brief grin as she shot Hisoka a teasing look. She'd indulged him more than once, after all, so he couldn't say anything about spoiling people.

Plus he and Kris both spoiled their little ones.

"I never said it wasn't," Hisoka replied, returning the brief grin with one of his own. He glanced idly at the clock. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha would be back from the hunting lesson soon, he was sure.

A half hour or so later, Sesshomaru let Inuyasha in first, carrying half a dozen rabbits. Inuyasha had caught two, which was good for the pup's first time really hunting.

"Kris?" He raised the rabbits a little.

"Straight into the kitchen sink."

Katsuro could tell the instant his father came back, and climbed out of his mother's lap to follow him around. Aura couldn't help but grin a bit at the scene.

Sesshomaru put the rabbits down before he picked up Katsuro, carrying him back to the others. Then he settled Inuyasha in his lap, determined to try and give them equal attention. Somehow. Hopefully.

Kris got up after passing Alex to Hisoka and went to go clean the rabbits so she could start a stew. Hey, she liked rabbit stew, and she knew how to make it so that Aura liked it, too.

Hisoka took Alex gently, settling her in his lap and rubbing her ears a little. She was the one who needed the most attention of the 'litter,' and he was glad to give it to her.

Reaching over, Aura took Inuyasha.

"How was the hunting, pup?" she asked as she used a fingertip to rub behind one of his ears. She could give him attention while Sesshoumaru had their son.

Alex purred and rested against him, relaxing there. She was quite happy to get attention from her father-figure.

"Fun!" Inuyasha grinned, settling into her lap quite happily to tell her about hunting. He left out some of the details but he clearly enjoyed himself. Sesshomaru smirked faintly when he noticed that.

Aura grinned back and let the pup tell her about the hunting trip, making sure to 'ooh' and 'aah' at appropriate times. She knew how to indulge the pup, and it was clear he was enjoying the attention.

"Feeling better now, pup?" she asked him softly, cuddling him a bit.

Inuyasha nodded, quite happy to cuddle with her for a little while. He yawned briefly and stayed there for a few more minutes before bouncing off to go tell Shippou so they could exchange glorious hunting stories.

Kris snorted at the kids and shook her head, amused, and sat next to Aura again once she'd put the stew on to cook.

Aura couldn't help but laugh a bit as she listened to the 'glorious hunting stories' turn into a contest of who found the best rabbit. She moved over a little so Kris could sit back down.

Kris grinned and shook her head at the kids. Ah, they were so amusing. Still relaxed, she leaned back next to Aura.

"I love these "life is good" moments," she said quietly, grinning briefly at Aura.

Aura grinned and nodded.

"I agree completely," she replied.

Aura and Sesshoumaru ended up staying there one more day before heading home again. And while Aura had no problems staying in Kris's house, she welcomed the quiet back at the mansion. Three days of keeping an eye on five kids was quite a bit.

And besides, she kind of wanted to take a trip out to see the dragons again. Sesshoumaru hadn't wanted her to go while she was pregnant, and they hadn't had the chance yet since Katsuro was born. It would be a treat for all of them.

Things were normal for everyone for the first few days before something new came up.

Inutaisho called Sesshomaru into his office one day, and Sesshomaru came out again nearly an hour later looking faintly puzzled. His father had announced he was taking Izayoi away for a few months, leaving Sesshomaru in charge of everything.

"Well," he said quietly, looking at Aura. "It would seem you get to visit the dragons again sooner than I had anticipated."

Aura looked at him curiously. That was kind of sudden.

"What's going on?" she asked. "Not that I'm not pleased to go see the dragons again, but you look like something's up."

"Father will be gone for a few months," Sesshomaru said after a moment. "He's left me in charge."

It wasn't the first time this had happened, but usually he'd only been left in charge for a day or two, a week at most. This would be a little different. And good practice, he knew, but he didn't much like being taken away from time with his family.