�Josh, stop being a baby & let me help you put up your bed,� Catriona said as she pushed her brother out of the way & began screwing into place, the peg that would hold his bed leg straight.
Joshua Delaney watched as his sister set up his bed for him since he had been having trouble getting the frame to go straight. He looked around his room, set up as best as he could set everything up, & wondered if he would be able to get used to this much space for one room.
�Now Cat, are you sure we can do this?� He questioned.
Catriona let out a sigh from her spot under one of the beams for the frame. �Joshua Alan Delaney, why do you have to complain so damned much?�
Josh chuckled at his sister�s frustration. �I�m sorry to annoy you so much sis, but I can�t speak the language here� I don�t know customs; I don�t know anything about this place� What do I do? Who�s going to help me learn the language?�
When she finished connecting the beam to the frame for his headboard, she sighed & lay on the floor for a moment before she slid out from under the beam & into the open space of the bed frame itself. She looked at her brother with a raised eyebrow, silently wishing she could staple his lips shut at the moment.
�Joshua, I won�t mind teaching you the language. I took how many years of it?� She questioned before she rose to her feet & motioned to his box spring. �Help me put it in place to see if I got this right��
�You have a point sis, but have you been here long enough to know customs?�
When her brother made no move to get the box spring, her eye twitched & she went over to it herself & began to lift the edge of it; her plans were to drag it across the floor. But when Josh saw what she was about to do, he went over & lifted the other edge & helped her lift it & move it over to the frame.
Catriona smiled & jokingly puffed out her chest when she saw the box spring fit the frame perfectly. �There, now all we have to do it put on the two mattresses.�
The small sound of the door to his room being opened caught Josh�s attention & made his body tense up as Sesshomaru walked into the room & looked at Catriona, who Josh watched as she smiled at the youkai whom they had been staying with for the past three days.
�I can hear him complaining on the lower level,� he spoke in his language, a hint of laughter glinting in his eyes as he looked at his mate.
�I was getting frustrated with it as well, my love,� she replied in Japanese.
�Can I speak to you alone, in our bed chamber?� Sesshomaru requested.
Josh looked back & forth between them. �What are you two saying?� He asked, looking at Catriona.
She rolled her eyes & smiled as she walked over to her mate & wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest; long enough to inhale his masculine scent, then looked up at him. �Thank you for allowing me to bring my brother, & our belongings to your time,� she whispered in Sesshomaru�s language, before she looked at her brother. �He was saying that he could here you complaining all the way on the lower levels & I told him how I felt of it,� she spoke in English. �Do you mind if I leave you on your own to finish setting up your room the way you want it?�
�Do you mind helping me get the mattresses on the box spring evenly? I can�t lift two heavy things on my own,� he said with a slight frown. From the moment they arrived, the youkai Lord had been clingy to Catriona & Josh wasn�t particularly thrilled with it since he was scared of the powerful being. He trusted him enough to be around his sister, because the youkai was the father of his late nephew, but that was it since he still had to get used to Sesshomaru himself.
�What is he saying?� Sesshomaru questioned.
�He wants me to help him put the last two parts of his bed together before I leave the room,� she answered in Japanese. �Is that okay with you?�
When Sesshomaru nodded, Catriona pulled away from her lover & walked over to the first of the two mattresses, & with Josh�s help, moved the first one onto the box spring, & then moved the second of the two onto the first one. �Do you need anything else bro?� Catriona asked in English.
�No, I think I can move everything else around & put stuff up on my own,� Josh answered, sitting down on the top mattress. �Thank you for the help sis� And thank him, for letting us stay here.�
Catriona nodded, & then closed the distance between her & Sesshomaru. �My brother says he thanks you as well, for letting us live here with you.�
Sesshomaru looked at the other male in the room & nodded at him slightly, his amber eyes showing no emotion towards the male. It was not in his youkai blood to trust males around his mate; & so far his blood had no proved him wrong.
Catriona & Sesshomaru left the room quietly, shutting the door behind them, & walked down to their bedchamber that was now home to some of her stuff. The things included her dresser & armoire to hold all of her clothing from her old time & her new time, several books that she brought with her, & on top of the dresser, were photos of her family when she was younger, before things got bad for them, her brother & Isamu playing in her son�s first snow, & some others that were taken for laughs.
One thing he even said she could bring with her, after she mentioned it once, was a bed from her time, if it would bring her more comfort than sleeping on a bedroll with him. The previous night, the first night they had it set up, he slept on it with her, trying it out to please her curiosity on if he would like it or not. To make sure that she & her brother would be able to set up the beds right they made sure to bring tools from their time.
�Catriona, how can you stand switching back & forth between languages so frequently?� Sesshomaru questioned. �It might drive you mad having to translate for him until he can speak my language fluently.�
�I�ll get used to it,� Catriona answered as she wrapped her arms around his waist & held on gently, resting the side of her head on his chest. �I had to do the same thing when I was teaching our son his birth language.�
Sesshomaru allowed a smile to come to his lips as he embraced his woman & rested his chin gently on top of her head. �I am glad you chose to stay with me, in my time, Catriona,� he muttered softly as he inhaled her sweet scent, allowing his senses to swim in it. �I do not know how I would have felt if you had told me you refused me.�
�I could never refuse you, great Lord Sesshomaru, ruler of the Western & Eastern Lands,� she smiled as she moved her head & looked up at him when he removed his chin from her head.
Sesshomaru met her smile with his own smile. �I am sorry I had you stay here an extra week before I escorted you to the well to get your brother,� he spoke, looking at Catriona�s face.
�I have no problem with that,� Catriona replied, rubbing her nose against his. �You had perfectly good reason to hold me back,� she said as she brought her knee up slowly to nudge her mate�s phallus through his hakama. She grinned when she heard him inhale through his teeth. �I�m glad you wanted to reclaim me before you let me return to my old time to get Josh.�
Sesshomaru placed his hand on her shoulder when she placed her hand on his hip.
�I just have one question for you though,� she spoke softly before she looked at his face. �Why did you tell me to keep your brother�s pup?�
Sesshomaru moved away from her & moved across the room to sit on the edge of the bed, mentally hesitating before doing so. �Come, sit with me & I will explain myself to you.�
Catriona moved from her spot & crossed the room, sitting next to her lover, sitting with her legs crossed on the bed. �Okay, I�m comfy, explain.�
�I asked you to keep the pup growing inside of you because I knew of a way to make the pup mine. Before unborn pups reach the halfway point in their development, they are vulnerable to be turned full youkai or ningen, if they are not full youkai blood. To change the blood of a pup, the male youkai wishing to change the pup full blood must mate with the carrying mother as much as possible.�
Catriona listened carefully as Sesshomaru explained this process to her, trying to understand it all as he spoke.
�During each of the following mating sessions, he must bite her somewhere, exposing her blood to him. When he has drawn her blood, during the mating, he must then find a way to mix some of his blood with hers. The way I have found most effective, & less detectable, is to bite my tongue until I bleed & lick your wound,� he continued.
�That would explain all the fucking we did & why the sides of my neck, & my shoulders, were hurting like Hell until I went there to get stuff ready,� she spoke when he took a moment to think his words over. Her comment was rewarded with a hint of a sly grin on her lover�s lips.
�Yes, it would. As I was saying, the youkai continues to do this with the mother of the still unborn pup until he can smell the blood change himself. The pup, at that point, now carries the blood of the new youkai & is full-blooded youkai.�
�So he stops when he can smell that the pup is his?� Catriona questioned & watched as Sesshomaru nodded. �So does that mean that pup inside me is yours?�
Sesshomaru nodded. �If, of course, you are fine with it.�
�I�m perfectly fine with that. I�m just trying to register all of this process in my mind to fully understand it. So, I�m no longer carrying your brother�s pup, but instead, I�m not carrying yours?� Her mate gave another nod. �And the pup is?�
�The pup is a full blood youkai, but being in your womb, developing, he may or may not become a hanyou.�
�He? I�m carrying a male?�
Sesshomaru nodded. �Yes. And from what I can smell from here, he�s healthy as can be.� He looked at his mate before he gently pressed her back against the headboard of her frame, so her body was tilted, almost lying down. He gave her a small smile & turned his body so he could crawl halfway on top of her before he pressed his nose against her belly.
�What are you doing?�
�Saying hello to our pup,� he answered before he made a soft rumbling sound deep within his throat & closed his eyes, rotating his head slowly from side to side to evenly distribute the sound so it could reach his pup.
Catriona felt warmth spread in her belly from the level of sweetness of what she watched. She slowly reached down & ran her fingers through the silver hair, belonging to her youkai Lord, & caressed the soft flesh of his face.
Sesshomaru paused his head motions long enough to rub his cheek against the palm of her hand before he looked into her eyes & the rumbling sound stopped. Slowly he moved up her body, being careful not to put too much of his weight on her belly, being careful of their pup.
�Are you truly happy to have another pup growing inside your womb?� He questioned as he played with her hair ends, his eyes gazing into her.
�As long as the pups are from you I�ll bare you as many as you wish for me to,� she answered, smiling as she returned his gaze. �I only want to make you happy & to be happy with you.�
Catriona saw a smile cross her lover�s lips before he pressed a soft kiss to her lips. �Sesshomaru� Why do you show so much emotion now? I really don�t mind, I love it in fact, but I�m just curious as to why you show it more than ever.�
�I have decided that I will allow myself to show emotions only to those who are in my close circle. You, your brother, Rin, & my future heir are the only ones there right now� Hopefully we will end up with one or two more heirs before I leave this world.�
�That can be arranged Sesshomaru,� Catriona said with a smile before she pulled his face down to hers & kissed him deeply, delving her fingers into his hair.