Sesshomaru hummed his approval and kept his arms around both of them. There. Much better now.

Aura rubbed Katsuro's ears gently as the pup snuggled in with them. Yes, this is what she'd missed. She enjoyed just cuddling with her mate and son.

Sesshomaru stayed there for a while, until he heard Kris yelling something about dinner. Then he nudged them both, gently.

"You both need to eat."

"You too, Papa!" Katsuro replied, looking up at his father. Aura couldn't help but grin a little bit and waited for Sesshoumaru's reaction.

"Hnn." He didn't need to eat, not yet, but he would oblige if only to keep them happy. "Go on, then."

Katsuro grinned and scrambled down from his mother's lap to go to the table. Aura smiled a bit and looked up at her mate.

"I doubt you were ever quite that open as a child," she said softly.

"No," Sesshomaru admitted quietly. "I was not. My lifestyle was very different from his." He got up a moment later, keeping her close as he meandered towards the kitchen.

Aura stretched up and gave him a kiss.

"Well, we shouldn't disappoint him," she said as she went with him towards the kitchen. "He's expecting us both now."

"Indeed." Sesshomaru followed her into the kitchen, taking a seat despite Kris's look. He rarely ate with them anymore. Then she just shrugged it off and set out food so people could get what they liked.

Aura helped her son reach what he couldn't on the table, and kept an eye on him through the meal, but let him eat by himself. He was old enough now that he didn't need to be hand-fed everything. But she did make sure he was careful.

Sesshomaru kept an eye on everything, eating what he wanted but staying quiet otherwise. It was a rather nice meal, though. Kris's cooking skills had improved since he'd last had her food.

Not that he was going to tell her that.

Aura also knew better than to say anything, especially when she knew she couldn't cook at all. So she just stayed quiet and enjoyed the meal.

Kris gathered up her kids to cart them off to bed, or read to them for a bit before bed. But she looked over at Aura, raising her eyebrows, clearly still worried.

Aura waved a hand, gathering up her own son. She was alright for now. And hopefully Sesshoumaru's plan would pan out, so she would have at least something to contribute to the kids' training.

Kris nodded after a moment and herded her three off to bed.

It didn't take Sesshomaru long to make "teams" and rules and such. He put Kris in charge of Shippou and Alex, and himself and Aura in charge of Katsuro, Inuyasha, and Aiko. And he made Aura the referee, too.

And then he set them loose on each other for a sort of set of races, to start with. Things like who could run fastest, who could climb to a certain point first, and who could jump highest.

Aura had to admit, the games were a good idea for the kids. They were already naturally competitive amongst themselves, and this would allow them to compete without actually going against one another. It was a good idea.

Sesshomaru was rather pleased with himself for that idea, especially when he got Aura involved by having her keep track of scores and such. She was involved this way, at least, and the kids were spending more time with her.

And if they went to get comfort from her once in a while when they lost, he didn't mind.

Aura didn't mind, either. She was good at the softer kind of love that came with comfort and snuggles, and she usually ended up with at least one child in her lap at any given time during the games. That was fine by her.

Clearly pleased, Sesshomaru sat back to just watch them compete. Most of the time the adults didn't even have to interfere because the kids would be trying to outdo each other anyway.

Aura refereed the games until the children wore themselves out playing. She could tell when it was time to call it for the day, because the children all tried to gradually migrate into her lap.

Kris snorted and went to go sit as well so at least Aiko and Alex could sit on her instead of Aura.

"Feeling better now?" She looked over at Aura with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah," Aura replied as the two cat-hanyou climbed over into Kris's lap. As soon as the two felines were out of the way, Katsuro and Inuyasha tried to climb into her lap instead at the same time, and she took a moment to make it so they could both sit on her.

Kris nodded and watched with amusement as the two tumbled a little over the choice spot on her.

"Girls, really, you're making me feel like a prime cut of meat." Kris sounded more amused than upset, though. But both girls pouted a little and each settled for a spot, settling down there.

Aura couldn't help but grin.

"But they love their mama," she teased gently even as she cuddled Katsuro and Inuyasha a bit.

Kris chuckled and shook her head. "It's a good thing," she said, just as teasingly, and the girls both took a few moments to cling to her.

"Oh, by the way, I found a few more of your books the other day."