InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Miracle ❯ Chapter 4

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Alrighty, so I read recently in another story that, at least in the Warring States period in Japan, twins were seen as bad luck.  We saw in the end of the cannon story that Sango and Miroku's first were twins, so I'm going to go with either this is not the case or that at the very least Sango and Miroku don't believe in this idea.  Also, as I mentioned right off the bat, this is a divergent plot and so the monk and slayer having trouble starting a family is clearly off-canon.  Miroku + Sango = bunnies.  Let's all be honest.

“No wonder you smelled the same.  Huh.  You sound different.  I didn't even realize it until now.”  The kitsune's musings when they gathered everyone to tell them the next day filled the silence as Miroku and Sango stared almost gape-mouthed.  “So you're completely back to normal?”

“Keh.”  Kagome gave him a look that encouraged him to elaborate.  “The other me, both of them, their voices are gone, but their memories are still there.  It's... confusing,” he admitted.

“Inuyasha, I am amazed you remained so long without succumbing to the other personality.”  Kagome flinched at Miroku's words, gaining Inuyasha's attention.  She hated that they were calling the other Inuyasha a personality, as if he hadn't been real.  He had been real to her, he'd cared for her, been there for her.  She couldn't so easily forget his easy affection with her once it became clear that he intended to treat her as a proper husband.

Not that she wasn't glad to have her own Inuyasha back, the one she had known all along, the one who had pulled her back through the well the first time.  He was less afraid to show his attention to her than he had been in the past, but it was stiff, nervous, as if he didn't know how to do it.  He was less open with her than the Inuyasha of the last few months.  She knew they had to give it time.  Inuyasha was still sorting through the jumbled memories of the other parts of his soul, trying to establish lines in the sand, so to speak, where his memories began and theirs ended.  If things were to move forward between them, he had to be sure of his own feelings, not be influenced by the others.  “I had something important to get back to.”  While he might have sounded like he could be talking about their mission, or his body for that matter, Kagome couldn't help the glimmer of hope that he really had been fighting to get back to her.

“How fortuitous for you two.  Twins,” Sango said brightly.  Kagome knew it was too bright, but didn't call attention to it in front of the others.  She knew that, despite her support, Sango was still upset that she and Miroku were childless while now she and Inuyasha were expecting two.  At least she knew why she felt like she was carrying a baby the size of a beach ball around in her belly.  She made a mental note to talk to her friend later when it could be just the two of them.  Kagome also made a note to talk to Inuyasha about possibly using his nose to help the couple out.  She knew that he was aware of more than he let on, a fact that she'd had to get over very quickly when she knew she'd be traveling with him all over Japan.  He'd know when it was best for the other couple to go about their business.  Getting the shy hanyou to discuss it with his friend might be another matter entirely, but she could always demand he tell her and she'd relay the information to Sango.

“It will feel more fortuitous after they're born.  All I hope is that they're healthy and stop kicking my bladder,” Kagome said with a grumble, tossing her friend a soft smile to thank her for her well wishes.

“No one can blame you for that.”  Sango's own grin cleared some of the tension from her face.  The rest of their time was spent with Miroku and Sango questioning the hanyou about how it had felt to be a prisoner in his own body, getting vague answers at best.  Kagome tried to add in her perspective from having been possessed and found Inuyasha explaining it hadn't been quite like that.  He was aware of everything going on, but it felt like he was sensing and feeling through a thick wall.  He could hear and smell and taste but he couldn't really feel much.  The other Inuyasha's thoughts had rung clearly in his mind as if he'd been thinking the thoughts himself, but for some reason the Inuyasha in control hadn't been aware of his presence.

That evening Inuyasha tried to make a concentrated effort not to be nervous about climbing into bed with Kagome.  He'd been far too exhausted the night before to think much of it, but tonight he was wide awake.  “You don't have to if you don't want to,” her voice came up behind him.  Inuyasha turned from where he was staring at the futon.  Kagome's smile was soft but sad.  “There's another futon in with Shippo-chan.”

“Keh.”  He helped her down onto the bedding, not wanting her to fall, then knelt beside her for a while.  “It's just new,” he finally whispered.  Kagome nodded but said nothing.  Not that he needed her to say anything, her scent was telling enough.  She was hurt that he had such a hard time being openly affectionate with her even in the privacy of their own room.  He couldn't blame her.  He'd been so jealous of the other part of him sleeping beside her, touching her, kissing her.  Kagome was his mate, his wife, the mother of his child.  At least, his memories told him so.  Of course, in his personal reality, they had only kissed a few times, mostly by accident, and had never been able to confess their feelings to one another before.  Kagome was his best friend, that had never changed, but now she was so much more.  She was his wife, his true love, the mother of his children.  In a way, he was glad for the opportunity to know how Kagome felt about him without the daunting prospect of having to admit his feelings aloud, but knew that at some point she was going to need to hear the words from him.  “Keh, get over here,” he whispered, finally laying down and tugging on the back of her yukata.  Kagome rolled over as best she could, a tentative smile on her lips.

His arms around her and her very large tummy between them, Kagome released a tiny sigh of contentment.  He was trying.  She had been afraid that everything would change completely, that he would revert back to the shy and surly hanyou she'd always known.  But he was honestly trying to show her how he felt, that he wanted her near.

The strange sensation of tiny kicking feet made her gasp, still not completely used to it.  Inuyasha made a similar sound of surprise, having felt it where he was pressed against her.  “My own pups telling me to back off from my wife.”  Kagome's eyes widened in surprise, taking in the slight curve of his mouth and the light in his golden eyes.  She smiled widely as she reached for the hand on her waist to press it more firmly where the babies were kicking.  His mirth became awe, his eyes staring down at her stomach.  “They've been doing that more the last few weeks.”

“Yes.  More even since last night,” she admitted.  Their eyes locked and they shared a look of happiness.  “They recognize you.”  Inuyasha's eyes flitted from the babies to her.  The wonder she saw there made her heart feel almost too full of love for this man, this man who never thought he would have friends, a wife, a family.  He was gruff about it most of the time because he didn't want to appear too attached, too open to getting hurt.  But Kagome knew that it was things like this, things he'd never allowed himself to dream of, that made him the most happy.

“I heard once...”  He paused, clearly unsure if he should share the information.  Kagome gave him a tiny nod of encouragement.  “I heard that pups can hear the outside, that they can hear people talking to them.”  Kagome's smile grew wide and she nodded enthusiastically.

“They've more or less proven that in my time.  A lot of parents play music to their unborn babies, or just talk to them.”  A light in Inuyasha's eyes made her pause.  “Did you want to try?” she whispered, as if making the suggestion quieter would make it easier for him to accept.  He hesitated, staring at her stomach with a contemplative twist to his mouth.  He seemed to consider it for several moments before slowly moving down her body and pressing an ear to her stomach.  She giggled softly as the fur of his ear brushed her.  “Sorry, tickles,” she said with a smile when he glanced up at her.  He grinned back, but was more careful about placing his ear.

Heart beats surrounded his thoughts as he pressed his ear to his wife's belly.  Kagome's, strong and calm, and the almost fluttering sound of the two small heartbeats of his pups.  Alive, healthy, that was all he could truly hope for when it came to his wife and pups.  For now they were all safe, but who knew when that would change.  For now they had a home and friends who would stand by them.  Pushing aside his paranoid thinking, he listened for any other sounds.  Could the pups respond to him in any way if he tried to talk to them?  Not likely, but he just didn't know.  His mother had told him once that his father talked to him when he was still within her.  As a child, the idea had fascinated him, that his father, whom he'd never met, spoke to him before he was even aware.  He'd asked what the taiyoukai said, but his mother only smiled and told him that maybe some day he would remember on his own.  As he lay there with Kagome, listening to her calm breathing and the heartbeat of their children, he thought he had a pretty good idea.

Growling softly to the pups in the inuyoukai tongue, he told them how pleased he and their mother were that they were strong and healthy.  He told them that they were looking forward to their arrival.  He smiled as he told them to stop kicking their mother's bladder, that it was uncomfortable for her.  He told them that their mother was beautiful and that they were already so lucky to have her.  He paused before telling them that he couldn't be more proud to be their father.

“They're quieting down,” Kagome whispered.  “I think they're focusing on listening to you.”

“I don't think they know what I'm telling them.”  Kagome only gave him a soft smile, motioning for him to come back to her.  He gave one last soft growl to the pups before scooting up the futon to hold his wife.  She snuggled as best she could into his warmth, her right hand brushing up and down his side as she slowly drifted off to sleep.  Inuyasha fought down any arousal at her touch, trying to just take comfort in her presence.

“Yasha?” she murmured drowsily.  He hummed to let her know he was listening.  “What did you tell them?”  He smiled softly down at her nearly sleeping face.  Knowing she was barely aware as it was, he softly repeated what he'd told the pups in inuyoukai, translating it so she would understand.  The smile on her lips as she finally fell deeply asleep made his own smile broaden.
****

“Inuyasha,” the whisper didn't register at first.  “Inuyasha.  I need you to go get Kaede-obaachan.”  Inuyasha's eyes slid open groggily, staring at Kagome's pinched face for a moment before he realized something was wrong.  He hadn't even realized he had fallen asleep!

“Kagome?  What hurts?” he questioned her frantically, wanting to touch her but afraid to cause more pain.  His hands hovered over her as she breathed heavily, sweat breaking out along her hairline.

Kagome had to take several deep breaths before she was able to respond.  “Labor,” she whispered, winded from the latest round of contractions.  “You need to go get Kaede-obaachan and tell her I'm in labor.”  The hanyou's eyes widened in a panic and he flew from the futon without another word.  

“I'll go, you stay with her!” Shippo called, already almost out the door.  It was barely dawn, but there were several people out and about, staring after him with worry in their eyes as he flew toward the old miko's hut, loose red hair streaming behind him like a banner.  She was already awake, but clearly not as alert as he needed her to be.

“Kaede-obaachan!  The kits are coming,” the kitsune told her breathlessly, “Now!”  Her one eye widened and she moved faster to gather supplies, sending him to get water at the river and telling him to set it to boil when he returned  to Kagome and Inuyasha's home.

“I will meet you there,” she told him, surprising him with how fast she was moving at her age.  He took off with the buckets she had provided to the river, filling them and making it to the hut just as she was getting ready to enter.  “Very good.  It needs to boil first, then you both may go.”  She made her way in, taking in the hut Inuyasha had built for the first time.  

Inuyasha had already stoked the fire, ears perked to where Kagome seemed to be resting for the moment.  “Go?  Go where?  I'm not going anywhere,” he told her firmly.  He set their stock pot on the fire and poured the water Shippo had brought in, taking the towels Kaede offered to soak in the hot water.

“Inuyasha, a birthing room is no place for men,” she said gently, not wanting to offend him, but feeling he needed to at least hear the protest.  Kaede didn't think he would agree to leave Kagome's side, but she had to say it anyway.

“I don't care about all that traditional shit.  Kagome needs me and I ain't going to leave her to do this on her own,” he told her firmly, leaving her and Shippo to stare after him as he went back into the bedroom.  “Kagome, how you doing?” he whispered, kneeling beside her and helping her sit up when she reached for him.  She seemed alright, perhaps a little stiff in her movements, but she wasn't pale or breathing too heavily at the moment.

“I'm alright.  They come and go.”  She looked up at him, studying his face.  “You don't have to stay Inuyasha.  It's going to be... messy and it could take hours.”  He was already shaking his head at her words.  “I mean it, it could get rough in here.”

“Rough?  You think I can't handle rough?” he said with a smirk.  Kagome grinned a little.  She grunted as she moved to stand, grateful for Inuyasha's hands under her elbows.  “Should you be standing up?” he asked worriedly.

Nodding, Kagome shuffled out to the main room where Kaede was praying and blessing the house.  Shippo had left, making Kagome sigh in relief.  She didn't fancy him sitting through what might prove to be a traumatic experience for him.  “Kaede-obaachan, thank you for coming so quickly.”

“Of course, child.  How far apart are your pains?”  She glanced at Inuyasha, seeing that he was indeed determined to stay by his wife's side.

“Five to ten minutes still.  Some are worse than others.”  As if to prove her point, she hissed, leaning more heavily on Inuyasha when her knees went weak for a brief moment.  The inuhanyou tried not to panic, knowing that this was natural.  Pain was part of the birthing process, he wasn't an idiot.  That didn't make it any easier to stand by, helping Kagome slowly pace the room with periodic spikes of pain in her scent and face, unable to do anything to ease her suffering.  “Stop looking at me like that,” she said with a chuckle, startling him.  “It hurts, but it's ok.  It means we'll finally get to meet them.”  Her soft smile, the gentle whisper of her words soothed him a great deal and he was able to quirk a little smile at her in return.

The next several hours were nearly excruciating for Inuyasha, and he wasn't the one in labor.  His ears remained flattened to his head to try and muffle the sound of Kagome's groans and cries of pain.  All he could do was sit by her, hold her hand and softly murmur words of encouragement to her.  She told him between contractions that she was alright, a lie he let her tell to help her.  He knew the pain was far more than she wanted to let on.  His hand might have actually broken by this point were he human.  “Kagome-chan, you must push now,” came Kaede's calm voice from near Kagome's feet.  Kagome grunted but nodded, sitting up some on her elbows.  Without any direction from her, Inuyasha slid in behind her back to support her, holding both her hands and allowing her to push, pull and squeeze as needed.  “Very good, very good,” the old miko encouraged.

Kagome's body was covered in a sheen of sweat as she struggled, her hair sticking to her neck and face.  She was breathing harder now than before, a strange pattern to her breaths.  It seemed to be helping her concentrate so he didn't ask what it was about, simply trying to hold on as she writhed and cried.  “Come on Kagome, you can do this,” he murmured in her ear.  “You're the strongest woman I know.  Two little pups aren't going to stop you, are they?”  She actually chuckled at his words, a little smile on her strained mouth.  She took a deeper breath and at Kaede's command, pushed again.  Inuyasha felt the release in her body almost at the same time that he saw Kaede slip the blanket under and around one squirming, wailing body.  Her efficiency as she cleaned the pup amazed him.

“Let him do it, please?” Kagome called from against him.  He wasn't sure what she meant until he saw that Kaede was about to cut the cord tying the pup to Kagome.  “Leave enough to clamp, alright?” she whispered to him.  His eyes grew wide in his face, his jaw dropping slightly.  “You can do this.  It's... tradition in my time for the father to cut the cord.  Please?”  He nodded, gently sliding from behind her and taking the pup in one arm and holding the cord in the other.  The tiny body trembled slightly in his hold but he knew it was the newness of life and not fear of him that cause it.  He rumbled softly to the pup, calming him as he severed his tie to his mother with a claw.  Kaede quickly applied what looked like a clothes pin and wrapped the pup up completely so he could be placed in the basket waiting for him.

“The second should come easier, Kagome-chan,” Kaede said softly as another contraction seemed to start the process all over again.  Inuyasha hesitated to leave the pup but knew that he was safe for now and that Kagome needed him.  He resumed his position, feeling how drained she was.  Luckily Kaede was correct and the second birth was easier than the first, the second pup quietly entering the world a few minutes later.  Kaede brought the pup to him long enough to allow him to cut the cord again and wrapped him up to lay beside his brother.  The last of the birthing was almost worse than the pups, but it too was finished quickly, Kagome collapsing back against his chest in pure exhaustion.

“You did really good, Kagome.  You did good,” he told her, carefully smoothing her hair away from her face and smiling down at her.  Her eyes were closed but she was grinning, her breathing calming as they lay there.  Kaede finished cleaning up as best she could manage while Inuyasha continued to hold his wife.  The elder miko finally returned, hands clean and a smile on her face.  She took up one and then the other tiny pup to give to Kagome before going to make the new mother some revitalizing tea.

His arms around her, Inuyasha was able to hold all three of them at the same time.  The pups both seemed to be sleeping, their eyes closed, little mouths frowning and moving like tiny grumpy men.  A little red still, they were a bit splotchy.  As neither Kagome nor Kaede had seemed concerned, he had to assume that was normal for newborns.  He'd never seen one himself before.  His sons were both dark-haired, abundant tiny curls drying on their scalps.  The elder of the two, by minutes, was still grunting and making upset noises as though he didn't want to be there.  The second-born seemed to be taking the change in environment a little more stoically.

Hanyou, he thought in wonder.  The pups were hanyou... or at least had enough youkai blood in them to have ears like his, just like Kagome had hoped they would.  Inuyasha stared for a long moment, unsure if he was pleased or terrified.

“They're perfect,” Kagome whispered, as though reading his thoughts and reassuring him.  But she only had eyes for her sons at the moment.  “Look, they're almost identical except for these.”  She nuzzled her nose against one set of black ears and the other set of silver.  “What... what will you name them?”  Her question startled him sharply.  She was giving the honor of naming them to him?  He knew it was traditional for the father to name the children, but he hadn't given it much thought before now.  Stupid on his part, now that he thought about it.  Of course, he had been busy trying to get his own body back for the last couple of months.

“Would... would it be alright to name one of them after my old man?”  Kagome's face split in a wide grin that let him know she loved the idea.  He looked between the two pups, the first-born still fussing quietly while the second still had barely made a sound.  “Toga,” he whispered, tracing a fingertip against the black ear of his first-born.  “Kagome?  What was your father's name?”  He realized he'd never asked her that before.  She quirked a little smile at him, resting her head against his shoulder.

“Seichi.  It doesn't really fit him,” she replied, nuzzling the silver ear closest to her.  The pup made a soft noise of comfort, clearly recognizing his mother already.  “What about... Yoshi?”  Inuyasha's nose wrinkled slightly.  “No?  Alright.  Sesshomaru.”

“Wench, that ain't funny.”  She chuckled at his response, obviously not agreeing.  “Eiji?”  She shook her head.  “Hitoshi?”  She looked down at their second son, watching his little upturned nose twitching as he tried to scent them.

“Hitoshi.  I like it.  Let's hope he stays that way or we're going to feel very silly when he's older.”  Inuyasha grinned, taking in his family.  A family.  He'd never really allowed himself to even dream of this, but here he was, holding the mother of his pups as well as the tiny bodies of his children.

“Kagome?”  She hummed to let him know she was listening.  “Thank you.  For this... for everything.”  The young woman tilted her head so she could try to get a look at his face.

“No thanks necessary Inuyasha.  I would...”  She took a deep breath.  “I would do it all over again without hesitation.”  His heart dropped to his stomach before leaping into his throat as though too excited to be contained by his chest alone.  He let his forehead rest against her temple, closing his eyes and slowly breathing with her.  That's what makes it even more special.  You don't even think twice about what this could mean for you.  Inuyasha felt Kagome's exhaustion, the weight of her against him too telling.  He gently scooted back until she could lie down completely before taking each pup to the basket which would be their bed for the next few hours at least.  “Don't let me sleep too long, they'll be hungry,” she murmured, eyes barely able to stay open.

“Sleep Kagome, you're going to need your strength.”
****


Little Hitoshi proved that his name was not given in vain, remaining quiet and calm even as his brother started fussing and squirming to be fed.  Toga made sure everyone knew that he was hungry, including Kagome who had been sleeping quite heavily.  “Huh?  Oh, Inuyasha, bring them here.”  The hanyou, who had been trying to quiet his squalling child but was clearly unsure how one went about it, reached down as gently as he could to lift Toga out of the basket.  Cradling him in one arm, the other hand resting on his little belly to make sure he didn't drop him, he brought him to his mother.  Inuyasha grabbed a few extra blankets and his own pillow and helped prop Kagome up so she could hold the pup more easily.  “Alright, alright,” she murmured to Toga who had stopped crying but was definitely snuffling at her in hopes of food.  Inuyasha flinched, turning away when Kagome glanced at him before opening her yukata to bare one breast.  “You... you don't have to turn away if you don't want to,” she whispered.  Inuyasha felt her words like a physical blow.

Not turn away?  She didn't mind if he looked at her?  Granted she was feeding their child, a completely natural act that he shouldn't feel ashamed to see.  It was just...he had never been allowed, nor allowed himself, to see Kagome's body in this way.  Not true, you've been with her, tasted her...  The memories of the Inuyasha who was the real father of those pups whispered across his mind, his skin, his tongue...  No, that wasn't him!  But Kagome was offering for him to be a part of this with her.  Slowly, to give her time to change her mind, Inuyasha turned back to face her.  No longer looking at him, Kagome was focused solely on the tiny form cradled against her, hungrily feeding from her breast.  He couldn't really see much with Toga's head in the way, but it was the most beautiful thing Inuyasha could ever remember seeing.  This young woman, this young priestess, was cooing and singing to a hanyou infant while she fed him from her very own body.  His mate... soon to be mate... His Kagome was meant to be a mother, he could see that without a doubt.  It made him glad that somehow, even if it hadn't been him directly, he had been able to give this to her as well.

“You don't have to sit all the way over there,” she told him without looking up.  Inuyasha hesitated for a just a moment before scooting closer.  “I'm surprised he's doing so well.  I read that a lot of babies take a while before they get the hang of breast feeding.”  Inuyasha could only nod a little dumbly.  He had a feeling that these two would never have a problem eating.  Not if they had appetites like his.  “Can you get Hitoshi?  He should be almost done,” she said, brushing a thumb across Toga's little cheek.  Inuyasha nodded, leaning over to pick up his son.  Hitoshi's eyes opened for a brief moment as he lifted the warm little bundle and Inuyasha frowned.  His eyes were blue.  Was that right?  He asked Kagome and she just smiled.  “Most babies are born with light eyes.  They'll change as they grow in the next few weeks.  I'm actually really excited to see what color they'll end up.  Do you think they'll be like yours?”

“I... I don't know.  I guess they could be.  They... they have my ears,” he whispered the last, staring down at the tiny silver ears on Hitoshi's head, reaching up to brush one with a fingertip.  It was still pretty floppy, but it twitched at his touch as if to avoid the tickle.  A tiny grin kicked up the corner of Inuyasha's mouth at the familiar reaction.  His own ears twitched slightly, a sympathetic response.  “I can't believe they're really here, that we're holding them,” he whispered, almost more to himself than to Kagome.  He felt her hand on his arm.  He looked up, blushing slightly.

Kagome smiled at the open look on her hanyou's face, the wonder he felt at seeing and holding their children making his eyes practically glow with the emotion.  “What do they smell like?”  His head popped up at the question, a confused frown on his face.  “You can identify all kinds of people by their scents.  Do they smell the same?”  He seemed to think about it for a while, helping her switch pups and trying not to blush when she opened her yukata to bare the other breast for Hitoshi.  Despite his calm, the pup took to feeding just as enthusiastically as his brother had.

Did they smell the same?  Inuyasha tried to focus on each pup individually and found that they did smell a little different.  Barely, since they both still smelled so strongly of Kagome, but there was a slight difference.  “Not exactly the same.  They smell a lot like you still.  I can tell they're inuhanyou and that they're mine.”  He looked down at Toga in his arms who had fallen happily asleep after eating his fill.  Just saying that they were his aloud made his heart swell.  “I think they'll have to be a little older before they start smelling different enough from each other to tell them apart by scent.”

“I wish I could smell things like you do.”

Inuyasha chuckled.  “No you don't.  You'd never want to go home again.  All the smells of your time would make your head hurt.”  Kagome gave him a startled look.  “Keh.  I'm used to it.”

“Why didn't you ever tell me it made you feel that way?”  He just shrugged.  “I wouldn't have forced you to come with me all those times.”

Placing a hand on hers, he gave her a look.  “Don't worry about it.  I'm gonna have to learn to deal with it somehow if we're gonna live that long.”  Kagome blinked at him, her mouth falling slowly open in awe.  “What?  I mean, I don't know how long for sure, but I bet we can make it five-hundred years.”  She snapped her lips together, a wide smile lighting her mouth.

Hitoshi quietly finished, simply turning his head away when he was done.  Kagome pulled him up to her shoulder, gently patting his back like she had Toga, to burp him.  Inuyasha was again impressed by how naturally Kagome took to being a mother, as if this was what she was meant to do all along.  It seemed to only enforce what Midoriko had tried to explain to him.  They were meant to have these pups.  He didn't know about the Shikon no Tama, but his world certainly felt more balanced holding his child in his arms.
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