InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Matter of Trust ❯ Intro to Obstetrics ( Chapter 7 )

A Matter of Trust

By: TuxedoUranus89/InitialA

Disclaimer: I seriously don't own InuYasha!! Just merchandise!! And these Thin Mints!! *munches*

LiveJournal Community: http://community.livejournal.com/tu89_ia_fanfics/

Author's Notes: Hmmm, I'm thinking it's time to make InuYasha uncomfortable again. *evil grin* I should have some fun with this one… Poor man has no idea what's coming to him. *hugs plushie*

 

This morning was ham. Or bacon. Something pork. His stomach growled in appreciation of starting the day off with meat, as he dressed for the day. His eyes moved over to the beads. He hadn't put them away for several days, always debating on whether to wear them or not. He hesitated, and moved to take them, when Kagome poked her head in the room. “Come on, sleepyhead, breakfast is ready!”

He was startled, but before he could snap back at her, she had breezed back out the door. Damn woman… He thought to himself, and looped a tie around his neck, not bothering to fix it just yet.

She was setting the table as he came back with the paper, and he realized, as his heart lodged itself around his Adam's apple, she was wearing only a lavender t-shirt and a pair of panties. She didn't seem to notice her lack of clothing, and sat down, oblivious to his state of distress. “It's getting cold, sit.” She said absently, spearing a piece of ham, and he automatically flinched at the `s' word. Old habits die hard, I guess. He thought, semi-glad he wasn't wearing the necklace: he might have pitched himself forward unconsciously.

He sat, and kept glancing at her over the headlines as he ate. She caught him once, and smiled. He blushed and quickly began reading something about busted sewer pipes in a downtown district. Setting her fork down, she looked at him. “I forgot to mention, I have a doctor's appointment this morning, and then a Lamaze class later this afternoon.”

He looked back at her, thoroughly confused. “Why are you going to the doctor? What's a… Lame-ezzz class?”

She held in a laugh; she was sure it had been a long time since he'd been confused on common terminology. “Don't worry, it's just a routine check-up, making sure everything's going well. And a Lamaze class is to help me be more confident when I go into labor, helps with breathing exercises, et cetera. It's to make the process more natural, so I won't have to ask for so many drugs when I go into labor.”

He was silent. “When's the appointment?”

She looked behind her at a clock on the wall. “Nine-thirty, I still have a few more hours.”

InuYasha folded the paper and groaned a bit as he got up. “I'll call off today, alright?”

She looked at him with mild alarm. “InuYasha, you don't need to, I can get there fine!”

He silenced her with a look. “I want to be there.” He stated simply, and walked into his office.

She was still staring after him when he came back. He gave her a bemused smile. “Hey, all I said was that I wanted to be there. It's not like things will fall apart if I'm not at work. I'm trying, ok? And you're not going out like that, are you?” He switched subjects, and she blinked, looking down at her outfit.

“Oh, no; I'm not done getting dressed yet.” She remarked casually, and began clearing the table.

He watched her head into the kitchen when there was a loud knock at the door. It's not even seven… who the fuck is it? He wondered, cautiously heading for the door. “Who is it?” He called irritably.

“It's Shippou and Itazura, dimwit!” The kitsune called back, sounding just as grumpy.

Opening the door, the two kitsune were looking disheveled and tired. Surrounding them was luggage. “What's all this?” He demanded.

“We need a place to stay. A bunch of sewer pipes burst under the hotel we're at, it's a mess.” Shippou said tiredly.

Itazura nodded. “We're sorry for disturbing you, but we thought…”

Kagome had come up behind him, and had heard everything. “Oh, you poor things!” She exclaimed. “Come in, of course you can stay.”

InuYasha frowned. “Oi, wench!”

She frowned right back. “It's my place too, they can stay!”

He was about to snap back at her, but her frown deepened, and he could have sworn she was growling at him. Part of him wanted to submit to the pupped bitch, and the other part wanted to duke it out. His internal conflict stalled him long enough for the two kitsune to make their way inside with their luggage before he protested again. “Where are they going to stay then? And you're still in your underwear!!”

Kagome turned and gave him such a look of irritation he backed down, feeling his ears pressing flat against his skull. Shippou looked on in fascination. “Wow, I don't think I've seen him submit like that in years… Not even to Rin when she's on her high horse.”

Itazura smacked him on the arm. The raven-haired woman sighed. “You can stay in my room. I've been falling asleep on the couch most nights anyway, I'll be fine out here.”

Her mate balked. “Not happening. You'll stay with me, like you should be anyway.”

She paid no attention to him, and walked into her bedroom, saying she'd just get dressed quickly, and then they could take a well-deserved nap. He wasn't happy about being ignored, and Shippou patted his shoulder. “You're forgetting they're that moody when they're with kit.” He stated matter-of-factly.

He growled softly. “I'll talk to her later about it… It's fine with me, if she's giving you her room.”

Kagome returned several minutes later, wearing a denim jumper dress, a simple locket around her neck, and gold studs for earrings. She smiled and told the pair she'd turned down she sheets for them, and to go get some sleep. As they gratefully retreated, she spotted him sulking in a chair. “I'm dressed now, happy?”

His eyes flicked over at her. She suddenly felt a pang of longing for his intense amber gaze; this cool violet one wasn't quite the same. Her own eyes drifted to the silver ring glinting on his finger. “What's that locket for?” He asked.

She opened him, showing him it was empty; one half had a clip instead of a spot for a picture. “I was going to use it for the baby…” She said softly. “First lock of hair, picture…”

His anger faded somewhat. His thoughts flicked back to his own locket, old and battered in a drawer not far from where he sat. He stood up and opened its drawer. She watched him bring something over to her, and gasped at the old locket she'd made for him, just before their fight with Kaguya. “That was years ago…” She whispered. “You… you kept it?”

He flicked it open with a fingernail, and caressed her cheek with one hand. “It was… the only way I could see you… remind me of how vibrant and alive you always were… are…”

He was making her tremble again. He could feel it as his fingers lingered on her face. A warm tear slipped between his fingers, and she buried her face into his shirt, weeping quietly. Alarmed and confused, though that state of mind was never very far these days, he hesitantly wrapped his arms around her, stroking her hair soothingly. Breathing deeply and trying to calm down, she was quietly surprised at the soothing, low rumbles coming from his chest. She also realized that he was taller; she supposed that she should have noticed before, but with the lack of close contact until recently… She supposed he was around the same height as Sesshou-maru now, if not a little taller. She felt very small and sheltered like this, the top of her head barely reaching over his shoulder, cocooned in his strong arms. He tilted her chin up to look at him. “Keh. What was that for?” He asked, probably more gruffly than he would have originally intended.

She shook her head. “Just a little emotional… I never saw you wearing it after we finished that battle, so I thought maybe… you'd gotten rid of it…”

He continued to stroke her hair. “I kept it in a sleeve pocket. You sat me so much, I was afraid it might get damaged…”

She hit his arm. “Jerk… I'm sorry… I was cruel, wasn't I?”

He shrugged; whatever he'd thought at the time was different now. “I did deserve it sometimes. And sometimes I provoked you to, how cute you are when you're mad; sometimes to make you get angry and leave, so I wouldn't hurt you…”

She looked at him questioningly. “You're extremely attractive when you're in heat.” He told her dryly. “Moreso than usual.” He added quickly. “I wasn't sure if I could control myself sometimes, and made you want to go home…”

She nodded. “But a part of you wanted me to stay too, the part that always made you come after me.”

He nodded. She suddenly laughed. “Oi, what's so funny?”

She smiled, shaking her head. “Just thinking… how dumb we were…” And how dumb we still are…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The chairs were uncomfortable to him, so he could only imagine how she felt. She appeared fine, however, patiently waiting for her turn. She played with the straps of her purse absently. He reached over and covered one hand with his own. She smiled brilliantly at him, touched by the simple show of affection. “We're going to have to call you my boyfriend.” She told him quietly.

He raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

She raised one of her own in reply. “Because I told them you were dead when I thought you were.”

He shrugged. “Keh.”

He was still a bit sore at that, that she hadn't thought he'd live so long; then again, he'd never thought he'd live to be this old either. “Higurashi, Kagome?” A voice called out. She stood, and he followed suit.

They were led to a small examination room, and the nurse proceeded to take Kagome's vitals. A silver ring winked at her from the nurse's hand, and her eyes widened. The ring was the exactly like InuYasha's. He noted her surprise, and followed her gaze. His eyebrows rose. Perhaps it wasn't a coincidence that Kagome, giving birth to a quarter-demon who might have demon-like qualities, was in the care of a practice that staffed demons. He got up to follow when she was taken to be weighed, but she held up a hand to make him stay. His eyes wandered around the room. There are way too many pictures of boobs for this place to be for straight women… He thought with a smirk.

Glancing at the counter, he was intrigued by what looked to be a small breast on a plate. Ears strained towards the door, he picked it up. What the fuck is this?

He poked it; it was more of a model than a real breast. There were hard spots inside. Thoroughly confused, he inspected it, but there was no writing on the plate to tell him what the hell this thing was. Hearing footsteps, he threw it back on the counter and tried to look like he hadn't been doing anything. Only Kagome entered, and he heard the nurse say that the doctor would be in shortly. She almost laughed at the too-innocent look on his face. “What did you do?” She asked, sitting back on the examination table.

He looked guilty, and grabbed the model. “What the fuck is this?”

She laughed. “It's a model. It shows you how to check for breast cancer, and the areas that are most prone to have the cancerous cells.”

He looked at it, still perplexed. The door opened, and he whipped it back on the counter. The doctor, a taller woman with short black hair cut to frame her face, raised her eyebrow in amusement. “Well, well, it's been a while, InuYasha.” She said.

Kagome blinked. “Y-You know him?”

He was surprised. “ Kiyomura Miyako. The last fundraiser, right?” S

he nodded, smiling serenely. “Of course. And your brother's lovely mate has invited me to another one of her grand galas this weekend. And… I'm surprised to see you with Kagome here. She informed me that her husband had died.”

Kagome was blushing, and wasn't surprised to see an ornate silver ring on her doctor's finger. “It's kind of complicated…” She said.

“I'm her mate; some odd circumstances caused us to meet a long time ago, and when she came back to this time, she believed I might not still be alive.” He explained.

Dr. Kiyomura was helping Kagome lay back on the table. “Well, that must have been exciting, to find your husband after so long!” She exclaimed.

“It's been a very… overwhelming few weeks…” The pregnant woman sighed.

“Well, let's see how all the excitement has affected the baby then.” The doctor said soothingly. “You still don't want to know the baby's sex, I take it?”

Kagome nodded. InuYasha frowned slightly; he was dying to know, but he wanted to respect her wishes. He watched as Dr. Kiyomura pressed lightly on Kagome's stomach, and listened with the stethoscope. “Active little thing.” She commented, writing something on the charts.

The other woman laughed, shifting to be more comfortable. “Very. Keeps me up at night, and then wakes me up early.”

Dr. Kiyomura chuckled. “Well, it'll stop soon. Most of the growth now will be focused on putting on more weight, and he won't have so much room to move around in. To help with the sleeping, I suggest getting a lot of pillows to support your upper half; that seems to be a more preferable sleeping position at this stage.”

InuYasha made a mental note to buy more pillows. A machine was rolled out as the doctor put gloves on. “Alright, you know the drill. Clothes up.”

He looked away, blushing. When he looked again, she was putting a clear gel solution on Kagome's swollen stomach, and a blanket covered her lower half. “Come over here, InuYasha. You can get a better look.”

Cautiously he walked over, as Dr. Kiyomura turned on the ultrasound machine. He watched with fascination as a blurry picture appeared, and slowly took a more defined shape. “See that?” Dr. Kiyomura outlined a shape, explaining quietly. “Right there is the baby's head. It's normal that it's much bigger than the body at this stage; we'll see in the last ultrasound in September that he'll have grown so that he doesn't look so oddly-shaped.”

He grabbed hold of the counter, staring in awe at his unborn child. “You keep calling it a `he'.” He told her.

She smiled, and took another strange-looking instrument off of a hook. “It's much more humane to call the child a `he', instead of an `it'. The baby is, at least in terms of a beating heart and mostly-functioning organs, alive. As my patient here wishes the sex of the child to remain unknown to her, I cannot tell you if I'm saying he is actually a boy or a girl.”

Kagome smiled. “And here…” Dr. Kiyomura pressed the other instrument against the swell. A faint, rapid `thump-thump' sound filled the room. “…is the baby's heartbeat. Good and strong, it looks like everything's going very well.”

InuYasha now had to lean against the counter for support. “Is it… is it supposed to be that fast?” He asked, sounding shaky.

She nodded. “Yes, that's normal. It'll slow as the baby grows more, but at this stage it's normal for about 130 beats per minute. It varies of course.”

He had to go and sit down as she wiped the gel off of Kagome's stomach with a damp cloth. “Everything looks like it's going very smoothly, which makes me very happy, and you even happier. Now, I see here you were admitted for some mild dehydration and too much sun and heat exposure a few weeks ago?”

Kagome blushed. “Yes… I was just trying to get the regular exercise you told me to. I was stopping every other block or so to rest and cool down, and I was going to stop again just before I fainted…”

The other woman gave a wry smile. “When I mean exercise, I don't mean straining yourself in the heat of the day, especially this time of year. However, it looks like there was no damage done; keep active, but not so active as to overly wear yourself out, and stay indoors during midday. No mishaps before this last one, so I'll chalk it up as purely an accident. You've been a lot more careful than some of my other patients this summer.” She turned her attention to InuYasha. “I know you're busy running the world, but do remember to help her out. We don't want another accident, especially when anything at this stage could cause premature labor.” He nodded meekly.

“Well, if there aren't any questions, I'll see you formally sometime next month, and we'll talk some more about your plan for the delivery. And don't overdo it at the party this weekend.” She winked and left the room.

 

((In the book `The Art of InuYasha' (which is a handy little thing, nice art too), there's a height chart of sorts with all the characters; InuYasha is only about two inches shorter than Sesshou-maru in the original series, so now he's around the same height as Naraku, who is the tallest of the main characters. And is any other woman ever really uncomfortable by all the diagrams and pictures of boobs and uteri in your gynecologist's office?! Seriously!! I have them, I don't need to see pictures of them!!! Also, please forgive my personifying the unborn child, I know it's a touchy subject with many people. I just get weird calling the baby an `it', especially with Kagome not wanting to know the sex. So I get it out of my system with Miyako. =3 From my experience, most babies are referred to as `he' if the child's sex is unknown.

Mia~ Yes, uber-drama can get a little too… tiring at times. I didn't want to do that “OH WOE IS MEEEEEEE” aspect of it, and kind of turned it into a bit of a wry look at two people who are too thickheaded to do what they know they need to. Thanks for reading, I hope you stick with it!!

Xagzan~ Yep, Shippou had a bit of a trip down commie lane. Politics, politics, but if he's hanging out with the artist crowd… they tend to have different ideas about the world. Fascinating, I think. =3

CatLover260~ I claim a little bit of artistic freedom to make him filthy rich. =3 He's used to it, Kagome's just not used to such extravagance, living on a shrine her whole life. Besides, isn't it a fantasy we all have at one point to just go through a fancy store, pick out what you like, and then be like “Oh, dearie me, it costs $10,000? I'll actually have to use the credit card, I only have $9000 on me…”

Unistar~ They're going to start here soon. Circumstances will make it inevitable here soon. (I know, you're thinking, “Haven't circumstances already made it inevitable!?” Well… this one will start to seal the deal)

Thank you so much everyone!!! Next chapter, InuYasha is introduced to the world of baby-birthing classes? Oh dear. *giggles* Some drama or other may also occur, but we'll see how dramatic I feel… I've been watching Comedy Central all day and feel giddy. And now to watch Dane Cook! Thank you!!!! Please leave a review!!!!))