Some Beach Somewhere by thetroll

Chapter 1

A/N: For a dear friend, who also is in much need of pampering right about now. Hopefully this brings a smile to your face, too.

"Mikia! You put that down this minute! Hiroji! Get that out of your mouth now!" 

Both children turned to give her what Kagome was sure they thought was an innocent smile but really was anything but.

Kagome sagged down in her chair, praying the children listened because she was simply too tired to chase after them. "Six kids," she mumbled to herself. "I must have been insane to have six kids all under the age of thirteen."

At the moment, she blamed Sesshomaru for talking her into six children and then leaving her to go to some big peace keeping meeting with other daiyokai in the area. It was his sperm that caused this mess, after all—and it was times like these that she conveniently forgot that she'd wanted a large family that were close in age to one another, unlike the age gap between her and Sota. She'd wanted her kids to be close to one another.

She rubbed her temples. Maybe she should have agreed to go with him to the summit. At least then, she would have some additional support with the children for the two weeks it was supposed to last.

She sighed as she spotted their oldest daughter, Emiko, trying to sneak past the chaos in the family wing.

Yeah, no. These kids at a peace summit would be the reason for war, she thought to herself wryly. She loved them all with everything they had, but they drove her and Sesshomaru crazy more days than not. At least the summit was almost over, by her calculation, and then she fully intended to have a day to herself while Sesshomaru managed their kids.

Overall, they were good kids, just mischievous, and Sesshomaru swore that all of them seemed to have inherited her penchant for finding trouble.

Well, most of them are good kids, she corrected, sighing as Emiko continued her journey to try and sneak out to go only the gods knew where without anyone to keep an eye on her. Emiko was twelve and wasn't allowed on her own anyway, but with rumors of bandits in the area, it was even more dangerous. Emiko might not live to maturity if she keeps this up, because I'll kill her myself.

She pulled up her weary body and went after her oldest daughter, plotting all the while some sort of horrible punishment. It would probably involve Jaken and one of his horrible lectures.

. 

. 

Kagome finally dropped down into her bed that night, too exhausted to even pull the blankets over her body. I need a vacation, she thought to herself. Preferably on a beach somewhere while someone else watches the kids.

She had barely dozed off when she was suddenly awakened by something.

"Mmhm?" She rolled over wearily, half expecting to see one of her children, but instead, it was her mate approaching her. Before she could even get a greeting out of her mouth, he scooped her up in his arms and took to the air on his cloud.

"Hey! Put me down! Sesshomaru!" she hissed, suddenly wide awake as the night air chilled her. "Who's watching our kids, Sesshomaru?"

"Mother and Jaken. InuYasha will be there as well," Sesshomaru replied, burrowing his nose in her neck and shoulder. "I've missed you."

Kagome gaped at him. "Your mother and InuYasha?" she repeated, alarmed. The last time those two had watched their children together—

Sesshomaru sighed heavily. "Do not worry, Kagome. Nyoko is with them."

She settled back with a sigh of relief. Nyoko was InuYasha's intended and far more capable with Kagome's and Sesshomaru's children's antics in general. Sesshomaru's mother was quite ingenious at coming up with ways of punishing the children, but Nyoko was quicker on her feet with distracting them from getting into trouble in the first place.

Frankly, if InuYasha and Nyoko hadn't been on a trip of their own when the summit had been announced, she would have enlisted their help, sooner. But Nyoko had wanted to go visit her parents to have them approve of InuYasha and Kagome hadn't wanted to intrude on that when Sesshomaru wouldn't be gone that long. 

"You're back early," she said after a moment as he finally lifted his head.

"Hmm." She felt him relax as he carried her. "We were able to end early."

She had the faint suspicion he'd had something to do with that, but she kept her thoughts to herself for now. "I've missed you, too." She reached out to cup his cheek and he leaned into the touch. "Where are we going?"

"It is a surprise," he murmured. "How are the children?"

She waved her other hand. "Fine, mostly," she assured him, "but we might need to chain Emiko's feet to the floor if she doesn't quit trying to sneak out."

Sesshomaru's lips twitched at her half-joke. "We shouldn't have any more daughters. They are too troublesome," he commented, amused. "Takahiro is nowhere near as difficult."

Takahiro was their eldest son and he was determined to prove he would be a worthy heir. As Emiko's twin, however, both were being raised as potential heirs, but Emiko had made it well known she wanted to make her own path in life.

Sesshomaru had claimed more than once that Emiko had inherited her loud mouth.

She snorted. "Like our sons are any less difficult." They had four sons and two daughters, but while their family was lively and rambunctious, it certainly wasn't a peaceful one more often than not. "Besides, I thought you liked the chaos. Something about keeping you from boredom."

She then yawned widely, interrupting any retort he might have offered.

"You are tired," he said with a gentle look. "Sleep. I will wake you when we arrive."

Snuggling against him, she closed her eyes and decided to take him up on his offer. It wasn't often she got to sleep without interruption, after all.

. 

. 

"Wake up, Kagome."

She woke to find herself laying on a blanket on the sand and heard the crash of waves around them.

"The beach?" She turned to her mate, who had produced a basket full of food and drink for them to enjoy. "You took us to the beach?" 

The simple gesture had tears welling up in her eyes. She'd mentioned a relaxing vacation to the beach just once months ago and clearly, he'd remembered. 

He settled down beside her, reaching into the basket to hand her some fresh fruit to snack on. "You wished to go," he said simply.

She put the fruit aside and pulled him into a tight hug. "Thank you, Sesshomaru! This is perfect!"

He glanced to the side, a slight flush of pride at his cheeks. "There is more."

"More?" she repeated, releasing him curiously. What else could he have planned?

"More." His gaze shifted and she followed to see a small home constructed a short distance away, out of the danger of the waves. "It is for our use alone."

"A vacation home," she said, sniffling back tears. "You got us a vacation home, Sesshomaru. Thank you. This is the best gift anyone could have asked for."

But to her surprise, he shook his head, reaching out to cup her chin so he could stare down at her. "You have already given me the best gifts anyone could have given me," he corrected her gently. "Yourself. Our children. Our life together. This," he waved his free hand to indicate everything around them, "could in no way ever replace all of that. It is a small thing in comparison, Kagome. Never forget that I love you."

"Even with all the chaos?" she teased, sniffing back more tears.

"My life would have been all the duller without it," he replied, amused. "The chaos is delightfully entertaining. Otherwise, I would not have mated you."

She wiped away her tears as he shifted to pull her onto his lap. "I love you, too, Sesshomaru."

He held her for several moments but the mood was abruptly ruined when her stomach grumbled.

Blushing, she pushed back as he reached again for the basket. "Didn't get much dinner last night," she confessed, blushing at having ruined the mood. "Hiroji kept trying to lick the floor."

Sesshomaru couldn't entirely stop the laugh at the thought of their eight month old son trying to lick the floor. "Let me ensure that you are well fed," he said then and then his eyes darkened with obvious intent, "and after, well satisfied."

She reached for the fruit he held, laughing. "Food first."

"Of course. I would not want you to expire with hunger." Keeping her in his lap, he fed her and himself.

And then, much later, he kept his other promise.