O.K. Next bit! Starts with a re-edit of the end of part 7. Had some stuff
that needed to go in here...
Please help out if you want...typos, wierd spellings or things that just
don't make sense...please point them out! Though any C&C, even a note to
just let me know you've read it, is greatly appreciated.

Enjoy!

Windlily

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	A tender expression overtook his normal, fierce countenance as he
reached out to gently push a stray lock of hair out of Kurama's face. It
was a rare thing, this look, and would have startled Kurama or anyone else
who knew him. It was a look that only came to his face in the small hours
of the morning, when he was certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that there
was no one and nothing that could see it. He rubbed the silky stuff between
his fingers and wondered if their son's would have the same texture and
coloring.

	What were the babies going to be like? Powerful, of that he had no
doubt. Would it be possible for he and Kurama to raise them in the
Ningenkai? But what other choice did they have? Kurama was stubbornly
insistent on staying in the Ningenkai until his human mother died and he,
himself, was going to be on Mukuro's hit list for quite some time. He
grinned. Probably until she died. Their parting had not been good. After
two years of sharing her bed and learning the 'in's and out's' of being a
ruler, he decided he really didn't want either thing. Kurama had tried to
warn him of what was coming but he had to do it the hard way and find out
on his own.

	There had been none of the glory he had envisioned in ruling. The
power and control only came through hard, tedious and boring work full of
'allies' that smiled as they sharpened the knife they were planning to
stick in your back. Literally. He had taken two that had been meant for
Mukuro. And even though Mukuro had been an interesting bedmate, it had been
Kurama he thought of when he had been with her. It was Kurama he had
dreamed of. It was Kurama that he missed enough to be willing to accept
what amounted to a banishment into the Ningenkai.

	Also, Kurama had never, ever done what Mukuro had attempted, which
was control him. His lover never tried to put any restraints on his coming
and going, never asked or demanded explanations for where he had been or
what he had been up to unless Kurama discovered it on his own, like he had
with the flower sellers. His Fox understood and valued his own freedom and
granted that same respect to his lover and friend. Hiei had learned it was
a very rare gift indeed.

	*You are very lucky to have a father like him. He's going to spoil
you rotten. Just like he does me,* he smiled as he put his hand over the
babies, still now that they were all stuffed and contented.

	He schooled his features back into their normal mask as he leaned
forwards to kiss Kurama's cheek with cold lips.

	"Kurama, you are going to get a crick in your back if you stay like
that."

	Kurama opened his eyes a crack and grumbled something back at him.

	"Come on," Hiei pulled and tugged and coaxed until Kurama got to
his feet, then half guided, half supported him into the bedroom.

	Kurama collapsed onto the bedding with a grateful sigh and mumbled,
"Love you, Hiei," as he let Hiei get him undressed.

	Hiei didn't bother to answer, but got undressed quickly and wiggled
into the curl Kurama had made of himself against the cool breeze from the
fan. Kurama cuddled against him, his arm going as far as it could around
his waist and within four beats of his human heart was taking the deep even
breaths of sleep. He yawned as the babies shifted against his new position,
then settled. He drifted off trying to envision what his children were
going to look like once they were out of him.


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	Kurama listened to Shiori babble happily as they ate. She was happy
with her 'new' family and he was happy that she could find so much
fulfillment with them. He smiled gently and poured them both some more tea
and went over the lie he was preparing to tell her as she started in on her
questioning of himself. Why did he look so tired, was he getting enough
sleep? Was he eating? How was school? Did he know how proud of him she was?

	He took a deep, mental breath as he answered her questions and
noted again that she avoided the subject of his love life. She hadn't
mentioned a thing about it for over two years. That had also been the last
time she had visited his apartment. He knew she didn't come because Hiei
was there. It was her way of telling him she did not approve of his
relationship with his lover. She had been anxious and nervous on her last
visit and had asked very leading questions about his relationship with
Hiei. He hadn't said that Hiei was his lover, but hadn't refuted it either
as he had tried to turn the veiled accusations aside, knowing the answer
would upset her.

	He knew that her questions had been brought on by his step-father,
who had 'teased' her about her 'beautiful' son constantly when he had been
living with them. She had defended him unhesitantly then and he knew that
she still did, even though she now knew the truth. Thankfully, it seemed
that once he had removed himself from the house his stepfather had stopped
tormenting her about it. But he had planted the seed and it had taken root
and germinated for a year until Shiori had finally had to confront him
about it. Especially once Hiei came back and started to live with him.

	Hiei had been the one thing he would not give up to make his mother
happy. He had seriously considered it when the problem first arose but
could not do it. He had been waiting for Hiei for far too long, had been
searching for such a soulmate for over three hundred years. It didn't
matter to him that Hiei was male. He loved Hiei for what he was inside, not
for the body he wore. Though it was a very nice body...he blinked and put a
firm lid on those thoughts for the moment as he waited for his human mother
to run through her queue of questions.

	"So, tell me what's been going on with you?" was his cue.

	"Hiei's pregnant. You're going to be a grandmother soon."

	Shiori froze and stared at him. "What did you say?"

	He smiled, his Youko self terribly amused as he repeated his statement.

	"Hiei's pregnant. You're going to be a grandmother soon."

	He caught the cup that slid out of her nerveless fingers and was
suddenly concerned that she might faint as she turned very pale.

	"Mother?" he took her hands into his as she took a few gulping
breaths. "Are you all right?"

	She shook her head no and got out, "How?" in a high squeak.

	"I think you are the one who explained to me how the birds and the
bees worked not so long ago, Mother," he said in a gentle voice, hoping to
tease her out of her shock.

	He hadn't quite expected this reaction as she continued to blink at
him with very wide and glassy eyes.

	"But...but...Hiei's a boy!"

	That was the launching point he had been waiting for. He took a
deep breath and started to spin his tale.

	"No, Hiei's not. His family desperately needed a son. The last set
of children born were twins. They raised one as a boy."

	"Hiei?" Shiori stated.

	Kurama nodded. "Hiei thinks of himself as male. For all intents and
purposes, he is, in everything but the plumbing."

	"Why didn't you tell me?!" Shiori all but wailed and made him wince
with guilt at his deception. But if this worked as he hoped it was going
to, then Shiori wouldn't have any more cause to be displeased with her son
in any way.

	"I couldn't! I swore I wouldn't! But now, with the pregnancy, the
situation has changed drastically. Hiei's family has disowned him. Everyone
but his twin sister refuses to acknowledge that he even exists. He's all
alone now except for Yukina and me. I love Hiei, Mother. More that I love
my life. And now he's carrying my babies and your grand-children and I hope
you might be able to accept him."

	Shiori cocked her head at him as her eyebrows raised while he
studied her, hoping.

	"Grand...children?" she asked hesitantly.

	He nodded. "Twins. A boy and a girl, we think."

	Her hands tightened on his own.

	"Grand-children...oh, Shuiichi!" she lifted his hands in her own
and pressed them against her eyes. "I'm so sorry...I should have known
better than to think..." she trailed off and he felt the hot moisture of
her tears on the backs of his hands.

	"Mother, it's all right," he freed his hands and put them on her
cheeks and brushed away her tears with his thumbs.

	"And in a way it 'is' true. Like I said, Hiei thinks of himself as
'he'. Please don't call him 'her', it would offend him terribly and he's
acting strange enough as it is..." he let that hang with a smile.

	She looked confused and he knew it would take a while for her to
settle the whole thing in her mind. But he had held out the lure which he
knew she wouldn't be able to resist.

	"Grand-children...I'm going to be a grandmother..." he watched with
a grin as she explored the word with her voice, tried it on for size...
"Grandmother!" and decided she liked it.

	"When is Hiei due? Does he have a good doctor? Twins can be
tricky," she asked/said in a rush.

	"Yes, we have a very good doctor and she thinks about four more weeks."

	"Four weeks? You waited eight months to tell me I'm going to be a
Grandmother? Shuiichi!"

	"Hiei's had some problems with the pregnancy. We didn't want to get
our hopes up until we were sure that everything was going to be O.K."

	"Is it O.K.?"

	Kurama nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. "Our doctor says
that everything is going well now. Though Hiei thinks he's going to explode
like and over-inflated balloon any day."

	Shiori laughed. "Every pregnant woman in her eighth," she paused
for a moment and gave him a very meaningful look, "in his eighth month
feels that way. And I can imagine with twins it's even worse!"

	Kurama moved around the table so he could give his mother a
relieved hug. "Thank you, Mother. You don't know how much this means to me."

	She hugged him back. "Thank you, Son. For such a wonderful gift. Do
you think I could come by the apartment sometime soon? I would like to
speak with Hiei, it you think he'll talk to me."

	Kurama hugged his mother tighter. "You are welcome at our home
anytime you choose to come by, Mother. You always have been."


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