Aura grinned a bit when she got piled on by all the kids when Kris got up, and she carefully slipped out of the cuddle-pile only to have them follow her and pile on her again. She rolled her eyes, but settled in and let them cuddle.

Kris set out food once it was done, looking over at them. "Oi. Come eat before it gets cold, or you don't get food."

That got an immediate reaction out of the kids, who basically all scrambled to the table. Kris smirked.

Aura braced herself as all the kids scrambled off of her and to the table, and then got up to follow them.

"That was a cheap shot," she murmured to Kris, grinning a bit.

Kris snorted. "That was not a cheap shot, that was getting them to move. You know as well as I do that they wouldn't have otherwise, unless we picked them up and moved them ourselves."

Which really wouldn't have been a problem, but then they'd all have been pouting. This way they got off voluntarily and got food and weren't grumpy. Win-win-win.

"Not that you would have objected to the impromptu snuggle," Aura pointed out. She stretched a bit.

Kris snorted and didn't dignify that with a response, instead going to get her own dinner once the kids had all gotten theirs.

Aura got her own dinner once Kris had gotten something, and sat down to keep an eye on the kids for the time being. She knew they would wind down after dinner and the adults would have some peace for a while.

Kris got up to do the dishes once things calmed down again, the kids all winding down from the day. She guessed they had maybe half an hour before the little ones started to fall asleep, which was better than the previous night, anyway.

Half an hour was a fairly accurate guess, in Aura's opinion. It took about that long to convince the children that bathing was a good idea and clean pajamas was an even better one, and by then they were all sleepy enough to just obey.

Kris herded her youngsters up to bed, grinning. Her human night was in two more nights, and then she'd be a lot more cranky, but for now she tolerated the half-hearted, sleepy protests as she put her three to bed.

Aura managed to get her son and her 'brother' into bed as well, ignoring Inuyasha's sleepy protests that he wasn't tired at all and he could stay up all night long if she would let him. Katsuro was much easier to put to bed; he liked sleep, most of the time, and he settled right in.

It didn't take much longer after the discussion with Kris for Aura to fall pregnant again. She wasn't surprised that it happened so quickly, but she was definitely thrilled with it, especially since the second pregnancy was turning out to be easier than the first.

Sesshomaru was quite pleased as well. Things were going well, and Katsuro wasn't jealous, just curious.

At least until the Moon Festival, which he had planned on skipping this year. His father was going, there was no need for him to go as well. But a heavy envelope with an ornate invitation inside made him swear and grudgingly reconsider.

His reaction to the missive was surprising; Aura knew he wasn't usually prone to swearing.

"What's wrong?" she asked, trying to get a look at what was in the envelope.

"My mother," Sesshomaru said, frowning at the card. "She's expecting us to show up." And the wording of her invitation had left no doubt that she expected Aura, too.

"Show up?" Aura asked. She looked at the card, reading the elegant writing. "Wait, for the Moon Festival? I thought you said you were going to stay here this year."

"I was planning to," Sesshomaru agreed. "Unfortunately, now I don't have a choice but to go." He scowled. "I can make your excuses, if you prefer to stay home."

"I'd prefer to stay with you," Aura said, tucking herself under one of his arms. "And I'm sure Katsuro would enjoy the festival."

Sesshomaru nodded, settling his arm more comfortably around her. "Alright. We'll figure it out, then." He huffed a bit. "If you do not want to meet my mother, we'll have to plan for that."

"I take it from the way you say that, my meeting your mother isn't something you're looking forward to?" Aura asked, trying to be as careful as possible with the subject.

"No." Sesshomaru sighed. "I doubt she will see you fit to be my mate. She won't try anything, she knows better than that. But she enjoys making others uncomfortable."

"Lovely," Aura murmured. "Then I doubt she'd be thrilled with Katsuro being a hanyou." One hand unconsciously went to her belly, rubbing it a little.

"Indeed. She won't do anything to him, but she will disapprove. Possibly loudly." Sesshomaru made a face. "If I could ignore her or make her go away, I would."

"It's alright," Aura said, cuddling closer to him. "We can handle it. We'll go, you and Katsuro can enjoy the festival, and then we'll come home."

Sesshomaru grumbled a bit, mostly to himself. But he wrapped her up a little tighter.

Aura snuggled closer, nuzzling him a bit.

"It's alright," she said. "I don't mind going with you to the festival. I feel okay to travel, and I know Katsuro will enjoy it too."