"Are you sure you're Hiei's kid?" Kuwabara asked, lifting the smiling infant in the air and grinning as her tiny hands reached out for his face.

With thick pitch-black hair that curled at the ends and big bright green eyes flecked with bits of gold; he had to admit that she did look a little like Hiei with a bit of Kurama in there too. Kuwabara was used to Kurama's quiet and controlled chuckling and Hiei's menacing cackling but hers was bubbly and infectious. To say that she was always happy would've been an understatement and even now, she was giving him a big smile as she tried to reach for his hair.

"You smile way too much to be related to that grump." Kuwabara cooed, bringing her a bit closer to his face.

One of her hands grabbed hold of his hair and though she didn't yank it, she did try to pull it closer to her mouth. Kuwabara wrinkled his nose, remembering Kurama's warning about her hair-pulling, and gently pulling his hair out of her grip. It messed up his do but when she gave him that sunny smile, it was hard to be mad at her.

The locks on the front door turned and Kuwabara tucked her close to his chest as he got up, heading to the entry hall. Her fists curled in his shirt as she teetered backward, peeking with him around the corner as the door opened. Yukina walking through dressed in her training garbs, bandages wrapped around her wrists, a bandaid on her cheek and her clothes torn in a few places but otherwise she seemed fine.

"Hey, Aunt Yukina's home!"

Yukina stiffened up and looked over as Kuwabara walked closer.

"Hiei brought Aiko?" Yukina asked, looking from Kuwabara to Aiko, smiling as the little girl reached out for her.

"Yeah, said he had to take care of some stuff for Mukuro and Kurama's at work, so he dropped her off with us."

Carefully taking Aiko from Kuwabara, she held her close to her chest and pressed a kiss to her forehead, nuzzling her head as the girl giggled. Kuwabara was happy enough to wait his turn, a flutter in his chest at watching the two of them. Yukina glanced up at him and shifted Aiko to her hip, crooking a finger and Kuwabara leant down, their lips meeting and he leant into the comfortable chill. Despite the cold, Yukina's lips were soft and smooth, whereas his own were a little chapped. She didn't seem to mind though. A little smile curving her lips as they parted, warm crimson eyes meeting his own and Kuwabara could've sworn that his heart skipped a beat. Her gaze shifted to Aiko as she brushed past, bouncing the little girl on her hip to hear her laugh.

"He did call me but I was driving back so I couldn't answer."

Kuwabara shoved his hands in his pockets as he followed along, making little faces at Aiko as she lit up giggling and swaying in Yukina's hold. The program on the TV looked like another kid's show and Yukina settled down in front of the television with Aiko in her lap. Kuwabara pressed the button to stop the fan. With Yukina in the room, the temperature dropped a few degrees and he didn't need them freezing. Although Aiko didn't seem bothered by the Ice Maiden's body temperature.

"Were you both alright?" Yukina asked, supporting Aiko's back with her arm and letting the little girl toy with her fingers as she regarded Kuwabara.

Kuwabara grinned, leaning closer to them, poking the middle of Aiko's forehead. "Yeah, we were having a great time, weren't we Aiko?"

He wiggled his fingers in front of her face and Aiko looked up, holding Yukina's index finger with one hand and reaching for Kuwabara's with the other. He pulled it out of her reach then inched it closer, trying not to coo over the little furrow in her brow. Eventually he let his finger linger a bit too long and she grasped it tightly, cheering and kicking her feet.

"See?"

Yukina giggled and brushed the tip of her finger against her niece's cheek. "Well that's good."

"How're things going in the Reikai?" Kuwabara asked, settling close to Yukina's side and wiggling his finger to keep Aiko occupied.

Yukina huffed and rolled her eyes. "Fine, the new recruits are learning how to dodge at the least."

Kuwabara bit back a chuckle. Whenever she looked like that, she reminded him a lot of Hiei. Finding out the two of them were twins wasn't as surprising when you looked a bit closer. They had a lot of similarities although Yukina could be a lot colder than Hiei could be. She was also a hell of a lot more polite, although sometimes her politeness could be a little biting. They talked a bit more about the minutiae of their days. Kuwabara explaining all that he and Aiko had been up to from doing some shopping to stopping by Kurama's mother's place so that she could play with the baby for a bit.

All the while, Yukina's eyes were focused on Aiko and she hummed at different points in his story. A snowflake formed in the center of Yukina's palm had the little girl relinquishing the Ice Maiden's finger to watch as the snowflake twirled about and lifted in the air. Aiko's eyes widened and her lips parted, tiny hands reaching for the snowflake and Yukina brought her hand closer. Once it was within her grasp, Aiko held it curiously then brought it closer to her mouth and before Kuwabara could stop her, she stuck it in her mouth with a little wiggle of her legs likely from the cold.

Kuwabara gaped. "H-Hey, don't put that in your mouth."

"It's alright, Kazuma. It's just water and it won't hurt her." Yukina rubbed Aiko's back, shaking her head. "I used to do the same thing when I was younger."

Kuwabara's attention turned to Yukina. She rarely talked about her life on Hyouga or her childhood. Most questions were either deflected or she'd give a slight smile, a curt answer and then continue with what she was doing. He often wondered what life must have been like for her as a kid. His assumption that Hiei didn't have a lot of friends growing up was surprisingly and sadly accurate, but Yukina was the only kid of her generation without Hiei around from what he could understand, so what did that mean for her?

"Have you ever thought of having kids of your own, Yukina?"

The Ice Maiden gently, yet firmly, pulled Aiko's fingers from her mouth. "Actually, yes," Yukina said slowly, quiet for a moment before she looked at him. "I would rather not."

Kuwabara winced and rubbed the back of his head. "Really?"

Yukina hesitated, looking him over as if gauging whether she wanted to have this conversation or not, and he wondered what his expression must've been. It was true that he did want a relationship with Yukina and the idea of having a family with her excited him. However, his "fated love" wasn't a fairy tale experience and he recalled Hiei's warning with startling accuracy.

"I'm not saying it's a bad thing." Kuwabara raised his hand and the tension in Yukina's posture slowly ebbed away. "Just how come?"

Yukina's gaze wandered to Aiko as the little girl rocked back and forth, looking everywhere else but at them, still entertaining herself by holding onto Kuwabara's finger. The ice maiden's features softened and her eyes were warmer, another snowflake forming in her hand and held out for the little girl's interest. When Aiko squealed, Yukina smiled and Kuwabara's heart fluttered.

"Children are wonderful but because of how a koorime is born, there is often pressure for the next generation," Yukina began, shifting her legs and easing Aiko closer to her chest, brushing her lips against the soft messy locks atop the girl's head. "Thinking of how I was raised, I worry over how my own children might fare."

Kuwabara swallowed the lump forming in his throat. "I doubt you'd be the same as the people who raised you, you'd be a great mother!" Kuwabara grinned, hoping that its as reassuring.

Yukina glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "If I am, I would rather be a mother to a child who doesn't have one. My brother was abandoned, he had no one. I had Rui and she wasn't my mother by creation but she was my mother by the love and care that she gave me."

Her voice softened as Aiko's hand pressed against her cheek, crimson eyes lowering to the pair of green ones that looked up at her.

"And the truth she told me."

Kuwabara nodded slowly. The people who raised Yukina were the same ones who decided it'd be a great idea to chuck Hiei off a cliff. Thinking about that, no wonder the shrimp had grown up to be as hotheaded and abrasive as he was. He was literally thrown to the wolves and Yukina had to find that out later. Probably after growing up thinking that she was the only one. He could tell that it cut deep with both of them. Their auras changed when subjects of family were brought up and when Aiko was born, it was like something shifted between them. Like they'd been holding a breath and she gave them a reason to let it go.

They'd been closer ever since she came into the world. More so than they'd been before, and while it made him happy to see them happy, it worried him.

"So, you'd rather adopt?"

"If possible."

Kuwabara turned to look at the television and smiled. "That sounds good to me."

"Really?" Yukina asked, and there's an oddly hopeful tone to her voice that wrenches at Kuwabara's heart.

"Mm!" Kuwabara smiled at her widely. "I don't care how we have a family, just as long as it's together, and we're both okay with it."

Besides, they already had a crazy enough family and he was more than happy to uncle Yusuke and Hiei and Kurama's kids.

"We already have Eikitchi and Eikitchi Jr. so in a way, we're already parents." Kuwabara pointed out, looking over at the older cat curled up on her bed beneath the window. The little kitten with a similar brown coat and white underbelly curled up beside her.

Yukina giggled and Kuwabara looked at her, eyebrow raised.

"What's so funny?"

The ice maiden smiled and Kuwabara felt his face growing hotter at the picture in front of him. Aiko looked up at him and reached out for his face while Yukina's adoring smile matched the brightness in her eyes. He wasn't sure just what he said but it must have been something good. And hell, he'd say it again if it got her to smile at him like that.

Author's Note

Yukina and Hiei had a very tumultuous past and their upbringing is nothing short of a roller coaster ride. I wondered how it would've colored their view of having children of their own and a family. Especially considering that they are repairing their own relationship and their views of their heritage and one another.

At this point, they're working well toward it and Hiei's made his choice and this is Yukina's. Kuwabara is a pretty understanding guy and I think he'd take her thoughts into account when it comes to child-rearing and the like. Just another facet of their relationship that isn't a dealbreaker but a moment of growth.

I do not own YuYu Hakusho. Comments, reviews, feedback and kudos are appreciated!