InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ As Fate Would Have It ❯ Chapter 14

Chapter 14

 

“Aishiteru, Kagome.”

 

Kagome gasped at his words. Oh, how she had longed to hear those words from his mouth! Her heart caught in her throat and tears filled her eyes. She sniffed.

 

Inuyasha blinked at her. “Oi, woman! I tell you that I love you and you cry on me?”

 

“O-oh, In-Inu-ya-sha…” she stammered out as tears spilled out of her eyes and down her cheeks. She threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly. “Aishiteru…!” she sobbed.

 

“Emotional wench.”

 

“Stubborn b-baka.”

 

He pulled back to look down at her. He smeared a tear off her cheek, and then leaned down and kissed her as he had that day at Kouga's den. Sweetly, passionately, and full of all the love he had for this miko. Not just any miko- his miko.

 

Minako ran up and squeezed her parents' legs in a big hug. “My mama! My baka papa!”

 

Inuyasha choked on the kiss. Kagome blushed. He sighed and leaned his forehead against hers, simply enjoying having his mate in his arms again.

 

As he held her tight to his body, he felt something strange against his abdomen. He looked down. He grinned as his unborn pup thumped him again. “Pretty strong, isn't he?”

 

“She isn't usually so rough. Mostly it's been fluttery-feeling, like I swallowed a butterfly.”

 

“Keh! My pup isn't `fluttery.' He's a fighter, like his old man.”

 

Inuyasha placed his hand on the front of her belly, hoping to feel the baby moving again. Minako mimicked him, placing her smaller hands next to his. He grinned at the little hanyou, who smiled back, showing her tiny fangs. He looked back at Kagome's belly and he was rewarded with a fainter squirming sensation on his palm. He grinned again and stood up. “That's my boy!”

 

“Girl!”

 

“Boy!”

 

“Unreasonable baka!”

 

“Ignorant wench!”

 

“My be-be!”

 

Both adults looked down at the little black-haired hanyou, who scowled oh-so-menacingly at her parents. Kagome chuckled.

 

“Yes, Minako. Your baby. And Papa's and Mama's.”

 

“Mama be-be?”

 

“Yup.”

 

“Baka papa be-be?”

 

Inuyasha grunted. Kagome tried to hide a smile. “Yup.”

 

Minako looked thoughtful for a moment. Then she brightened, flicking her little black ears. “Mina mama be-be. Mina baka papa be-be. Okay?”

 

Inuyasha knelt down next his daughter. “Minako, you'll always be our pup. But we're gonna have another pup now too. It doesn't mean we love you any less.”

 

She scrunched up her little face in disgust. Kagome tried not to laugh. “Mina be-be. No baka papa be-be.”

 

Inuyasha looked at Kagome. “Translation?”

 

Kagome's face was turning red with her struggle not to giggle. “She said that this baby is her baby, not yours.”

 

“Oi!”

 

“Oi!” echoed a little voice.

 

“Inuyasha! You're really going to have to watch what you say around her!”

 

“I'm not the one who taught her to say `baka papa'!”

 

“Baka papa!” Minako attacked Inuyasha's leg and clung.

 

Kagome couldn't help herself. She laughed, long and loud. Soon, Inuyasha was grinning like a fool as well. His family was finally home, where they belonged.

 

-------------------------

 

“Do you think she killed him?”

 

“Shippou! What would make you say a thing like that?” Sango glanced at her adoptive son in shock.

 

The kit shrugged, acting entirely too adult-like for Sango's peace of mind. “He did call her fat, you know. I'm surprised she didn't kill him with that `osuwari' spell.”

 

“I highly doubt that the subduing spell would be strong enough to kill a hanyou, let alone one as strong as Inuyasha,” Miroku replied. “And if it had been her intention to knock his pride down a few notches, I can see her doing it. But in this regard it was simply a case of ignorance on Inuyasha's part.”

 

“As usual,” Shippou said dryly. Miroku eyed the kitsune in concern. He was acting much older than he usually did- in fact, for the last month or so, he had not been behaving like his carefree, playful kit-self. Was it Kagome's long absence or the fact that he now had two parents to answer to?

 

Miroku's thoughts were interrupted as the doorway mat was pushed aside to allow Kagome and Minako entrance, with Inuyasha right behind. Kaede looked up from the herbs she was crushing.

 

“Kagome! Ye have returned!” the older miko exclaimed happily. Kagome embraced the shorter woman, who smiled warmly with a twinkle in her eye. “And I see ye are not alone… neither in company nor in your own flesh.”

 

Kagome blushed as Kaede made a questioning gesture towards Kagome's slightly rounded belly. She nodded and Kaede placed her weathered hands on the small mound.

 

“Ah! A healthy babe. Ye are truly blessed, Kagome,” she said, the twinkle still in her eye. She turned to Inuyasha with a mischievous grin. He immediately went on guard.

 

“What, old hag?”

 

Kaede shook her head. “Ye will have to wait and see, Inuyasha. I promise ye will be pleasantly surprised.”

 

His jaw dropped for a moment before he recovered. “Wait! It's a boy, isn't it? I knew it! It's a boy! I've got a boy pup!”

 

Kaede merely shook her head in disbelief. “I can't tell ye what ye're having, Inuyasha. I can just tell that ye'll be the happiest hanyou around.”

 

He scowled at her. She was being deliberately vague. “Keh! I already know I'm having a boy!”

 

“Inuyasha!”

 

He winced. “What?”

 

“Osuwari!”

 

“Osuwari!” Minako echoed.

 

Crash! The hanyou ended up with a mouthful of floor dirt. Minako looked at her father in dismay.

 

“Oooh, baka papa! Yoo okay?” She patted Inuyasha on the head between his ears with a little hand, looking very concerned.

 

“Keh! Don't worry, pup. I'm fine.” He spat out some dirt and glared at Kagome. “What the hell was that for, wench?”

 

“You are not having a boy, Inuyasha. I am having a girl!”

 

“The hell I am!”

 

Miroku stepped between the arguing couple. “Now, now. No reason to swear, Inuyasha. We don't want the children to pick up bad habits.”

 

“What bad habits? I ain't got no bad habits.”

 

“You are a bad habit, Inuyasha.” Kagome grinned.

 

He grinned right back. “Damn straight.”

 

Kaede cleared her throat. “So, Kagome. Why did ye decide to come back to us?”

 

Shippou jumped up and ran to her, giving her a tight squeeze. Minako grabbed onto Kagome's other side, eyeing Shippou critically. “Yeah! Did you miss us?”

 

She smiled. “Of course, Shippou. I had planned to come back sooner, but…”

 

“But? But what? As soon as you knew you were carrying my pup you should've come back!”

 

Rather than getting upset, Kagome saddened. “I couldn't. I wanted to, but I couldn't.”

 

Sango stepped forward and put her arm around her friend. “Couldn't? What happened, Kagome?”

 

She allowed Sango to guide her to a seat around Kaede's fire pit. She sat down, her face clouded in sadness. Minako stepped closer to Shippou, her finger in her mouth as she examined the kitsune. Shippou stared back.

 

“I was in the hospital.”

 

“Hospital? What's that?” Shippou looked at her, confused. Miroku and Sango looked bewildered as well, and Inuyasha racked his brain as he tried to remember where he had heard that term before.

 

“A hospital is a giant building where really, really sick people are taken care of by doctors and nurses. Many people who would normally die are saved by doctors and nurses in these hospitals.”

 

Kaede looked thoughtful. “These doctors are similar to village doctors, then? They heal the sick?”

 

Kagome nodded. “I've been in the hospital for the last two months.”

 

“Two months?!” Shippou, Sango, and Miroku all cried out together in shock. Minako jumped and ran to Inuyasha, who scooped the little girl up and set her up on his shoulders, where she immediately began playing with his ears.

 

“Hai. I… I almost…” She broke off, choking on unshed tears. Sango gave her an encouraging squeeze. Kagome took a deep shaky breath.

 

“I almost lost the baby.”

 

Inuyasha almost hit the ceiling, which would've been tragic with Minako on his shoulders. “You what?!”

 

She took another deep breath. “I almost miscarried. I started bleeding during my eighth week and Mom took me in. They ran some tests, and apparently I wasn't producing enough of a certain chemical in my body. So they kept me for observation and on strict bed rest, constantly checking my hormones and giving me medicine when I needed it.”

 

Inuyasha stepped forward, fear and concern (two emotions she was sure she had never seen before either) evident on his face. “You… almost lost… our pup?”

 

“Hai.”

 

“And now?”

 

She smiled. “Everything's fine. My doctor says my body has finally balanced itself out and I'm past the major threat of miscarriage stage. I'm supposed to go back in a week for a recheck, but I knew I had to get back here to help look for shards.”

 

“Dammit, woman!” Inuyasha roared, making Minako jump, gripping his ears tightly. He winced at her strong grip. He lowered his voice. “The fucking shards can wait! This is our pup you're talking about here!”

 

Everyone turned to look at him, blinking. Kagome recovered first. “Our pup? I thought it was just yours.”

 

“Keh! You know what I mean!”

 

“I'm only staying a week, Inuyasha. We'll search for shards, then I'll go back home for my checkup. Okay?”

 

Minako whimpered. Inuyasha lifted her down and held her to his chest. “Mina no go bye-bye. Mina baka papa be-be.”

 

Sango and Miroku choked. Shippou laughed out loud. Inuyasha simply gave the little girl a small smile. “That's right, pup. Minako will stay with her baka papa forever. Okay?”

 

She grinned up at him, showing off her little fangs in the process. “Okay, baka papa!” She flung her little arms around his neck in a fierce hug and planted a resounding “smack!” on his cheek, right below the tip of his crest. The purple marks had darkened ever since Kagome had returned to him, proving the fact that she was, indeed, his chosen mate.