InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Lucky Ones ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter Three

The Lucky Ones

By Terri Botta

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Sole copyright belongs to Viz and Rumiko Takashi. I'm poor so don't sue.

Rating: R for later chapters.

Pairing: Inuyasha/Kagome, Miroku/Sango

Summary: Sometimes Fate hands you a gift you never thought you'd ever get, and it's up to you to accept it for what it is.

Email feedback to: tci100@psu.edu

Webpage: http://www.wordsmiths.net/Botta

*******

Chapter Three

Two days later the still nameless baby was starting to associate his new adoptive family with food and safety. His primary caregivers were Kagome and Inuyasha, although Sango sometimes took a turn for "practice." Being four months pregnant, she felt she should probably start getting used to the idea of caring for an infant. Kaede showed them how to use moss to line the baby's cloth diapers to keep moisture away from his tender skin, and how to make the rice gruel that was his primary food. He started responding to their scent and voices, opening his huge eyes and looking their way. He didn't cry much after that first terrible day; mostly he would just whimper and squirm when he was hungry or needed to be changed. Although sometimes he fussed and fretted, but that usually meant he just wanted attention. Kagome discovered that rubbing the baby's puppy ears worked to satisfy him most of the time.

At night, he slept with her in her sleeping bag, tucked against her chest. If he moved, she was awake immediately and seeing to his needs- before he sought to see to them himself, as was evidenced by the number of times he'd wormed his way under her shirt and tried to latch onto a nipple. He'd managed to do it several times, waking Kagome when he began to suck. Poor little baby was so distressed when no milk was forthcoming from a place where he had begun to expect food.

On the fifth day, rumors reached them of a possible shard sighting, and they made preparations to go check it out.

"You aren't going to bring the baby, are you Kagome-sama?" Sango asked worriedly.

"Of course. Kaede is too busy to take care of a baby and I'm not leaving him with one of the villagers," the girl replied, packing her bag with lots of extra moss and rice.

"But is that wise?" Miroku questioned.

"Probably not, but I don't think we have much of a choice."

"Oi! Stop worrying! We'll keep the pup safe. Let's go."

Kagome nodded, adjusting the baby sling so that the baby was securely fastened to her back, and climbed onto Inuyasha. Miroku and Shippo and Sango all rode beside them on Kirara, and Sango had a wistful look on her face as they traveled.

"Soon we won't be able to do this, eh, Kagome-chan," the taijiya commented.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Kagome asked.

The woman placed a hand on her lower abdomen where she was just starting to show.

"Well, I'll have to stop traveling within the next month or so, and once that baby reaches a certain size, he won't be so easy to carry. We'll have to stay behind while the men go to have all the fun."

"Keh! I won't leave the pup unprotected," Inuyasha snapped irritably. "Now that he's with us, every hanyou-hating youkai within sensing distance is going to come after him. Until I kill a bunch of the bastards and scare the rest off, they're going to keep coming back."

Kagome frowned and snuggled into Inuyasha's shoulder.

`It's so horrible. Humans and youkai alike hate this baby just for being born. It's terrible. He didn't ask to be brought into this world. Now he's lost both his mother and father, and is in constant danger of being killed. This time is so cruel…'

The baby stayed quiet as they traveled and Kagome wondered if he had learned to be still during his mother's last desperate journey. She could imagine that any noise he made would have given away his mother's location to anyone who was hunting her, and she probably tried to keep him as silent as possible. Knowing what she knew of the baby in the three days she had been taking care of him, she knew he was a quick learner and highly reactive to the moods of his caregivers. Inuyasha had explained that it was a survival technique. Stupid pups died quickly, but the smart ones who could adapt were the ones who had the best chance. Kagome had to admit the baby was the smartest baby she'd ever known.

They stopped for a rest late in the afternoon. The baby had been so quiet and still that Kagome was certain he was sleeping, but when she pulled away the blanket two golden eyes were looking back at her and they didn't look like `just woken, sleepy eyes.' No, he was alert and aware.

Inuyasha gathered wood and they started a small cooking fire to heat up the baby's gruel and also to boil the surgical glove they used as a makeshift bottle. While they were waiting, Kagome checked the baby's diaper and gasped.

"What is it?" Sango asked, seeing Kagome's surprised face.

"He's soaked. I don't understand. He didn't fuss at all this whole time."

"He wouldn't," Inuyasha broke-in. "Pups stay still when the mother moves. If a pup moves when the mother is traveling it can become separated and left behind."

"How is it that you know so much about inu-youkai offspring, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked placidly.

Inuyasha looked away, his eyes distant. "It was a long time ago," was all he said.

Kagome gave him a concerned glance but he wouldn't meet her eyes, so she returned her attention to the baby, getting him out of his soiled diaper and cleaning him up. She laid him on his blanket by the fire so he would be warm while his skin dried and kept a close eye on him as she fished a clean diaper from her bag. He didn't move from his spot, but did look around some, his huge eyes blinking slowly. Inuyasha moved closer and the baby immediately turned his head towards him.

"Hmm, pup tracks well," the hanyou commented. "He's smart, this one. Very smart."

"Unlike you, Inuyasha," Shippo replied. "If only the smart kits live, how'd you survive?"

"Why you!!" Inuyasha growled, moving to whack the kitsune on the head.

"Kagome!" Shippo cried, running for her.

At the sound of the commotion, the baby began to cry.

"Peace! Peace," Miroku pleaded, trying to keep the hanyou from pounding the kit.

"Stop it! You're upsetting the baby!" Kagome scolded as picked up the infant and rocked him. "Hush baby, they're just being immature."

"Oi! Who you calling immature?" Inuyasha yelled.

"You, baka! And stop yelling. You know how it upsets him. Here, take him while I get more moss and the new diaper ready," she said angrily, handing him the baby.

Inuyasha took the naked pup and immediately tucked him into his haori for warmth.

"Careful, he might piddle on you," Sango warned.

Inuyasha cringed and grabbed the pup's blanket, wrapping him in it instead.

"Here, his food is ready," Sango said, offering Inuyasha the surgical glove filled about one third full of rice gruel. One finger remained as a nipple while the other four had been tied off to make sure no gruel went down into them.

Inuyasha accepted the glove and offered the `nipple' to the pup with practiced ease. The pup latched on and began to eat, his eyes open and staring up at the hanyou.

"Well, at least he eats well," Inuyasha commented.

"Yes, he has a good appetite, but I'm worried that rice gruel isn't giving him all the nutrients he needs," Kagome said. "I'm sure it isn't nearly as good as his mother's milk, and I know it doesn't have as much protein."

"You could chew up meat and feed it to him," the hanyou suggested.

The others stared at him.

"What?" he snapped. "It's not like he can chew it himself. He hasn't got any teeth!"

"Inuyasha…" Miroku began.

"Ewwwww," Kagome interrupted.

Inuyasha just shrugged.

"Maybe we could boil some meat and mash it up for him, Kagome-chan," Sango offered.

Kagome nodded. "That would work."

"I think he's done," Inuyasha said, putting down the glove. Most of the gruel was gone and the pup had stopped eating.

Kagome took him from Inuyasha, covered her shoulder with a towel and burped him. When she heard his little belch, she laid him back down on his blanket and began putting on a clean diaper with fresh moss. Wrapping him back up, she held him in her arms and rubbed his puppy ears. He gave a little sigh and closed his big eyes.

"We still don't have a name for him," she said.

"Typically, a child's father has the right to name him, but in this case, the baby's father is dead," Miroku answered.

"And his mother didn't say that he had a name," Sango added.

"He was probably waiting to see if the pup would live, and got killed before he had a chance," Inuyasha commented.

"Well then I guess naming rights go to you, Inuyasha," Miroku noted.

"Huh? Why me?"

"You are the male caregiver here. I certainly haven't been feeding and carrying him," Miroku clarified. "It stands to reason that you have become the closest thing to a father the infant has, therefore his name is your choice."

"What do you think we should call him, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha looked at the pup in Kagome's arms and huffed. "I'll have to think about it." He stood, rolling his shoulders. "In the meantime, let's get going."

The others didn't move and he scowled.

"What? Haven't you humans rested enough? The pup's fed and changed. There's no reason to stay here and we still have a shard to track down."

Miroku looked to his wife. "Are you ready to continue, Sango?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Very well then, we will go," he replied, standing up and offering her his hand.

Inuyasha gave them another scowl and doused the fire while Kagome put the baby back in his sling. In a few minutes they were ready to go, and off they went. They didn't stop again until they made camp for the night. While Inuyasha and Shippo went to fish for food, Sango and Miroku built a fire and Kagome cared for the baby. She was just finishing feeding him when Inuyasha and Shippo returned with fish for dinner. It amused her to see what the extra incentive of the baby and Sango's pregnancy did to Inuyasha's hunting skills. With the added responsibility of making sure he provided for the `breeding' females, he didn't return until he had caught enough fish for all of them to eat well.

`Hmmm, no more `one fish is good enough. How much food do you humans need anyway' grumping,' she thought with amusement.

After dinner, Kagome rolled out her sleeping bag and settled into it, tucking the baby against her chest as she usually did. Shippo climbed in with her, curled at her back, and they went to sleep. Kagome was awakened some hours later when the baby had once again made his way under her pajama shirt and started sucking on her nipple. She sighed and gently pulled him from her as she sat up, thankful that Shippo was so used to her moving at night that he didn't even stir. The baby gave a little whimper and she patted him, cooing.

"I know. Gimme a minute. I have to boil water."

They'd taken to leaving a pot with water in it just at the edge of the fire's coals so all someone had to do was put the pot directly on the fire and the already warm water would boil quickly. She looked to the tree where Inuyasha was perched, keeping vigil as he always did, and he looked down at her. She flushed, knowing that he knew what had woken her, and for some reason, his knowing that the baby was nursing at her empty breast embarrassed her, although she couldn't understand why. It was perfectly natural for a baby to seek a nipple and there was nothing perverted about it.

The baby whimpered again, and she checked his diaper and changed him as she waited for the water to boil, the glove and gruel ready to be heated. Sango heard her moving and sat up from the bedroll she shared with Miroku and Kirara.

"Did he do it again?" she asked.

Kagome nodded. "I think he's figured out that I don't have anything for him, but he still does it because he knows that I'll get up and feed him. He's not sucking quite so strongly as he used to; either that or I'm just getting used to it. They do still hurt a little bit though. I hope that it's because he's a hanyou, but he sucks hard. Hopefully your baby won't suck so hard when he or she nurses."

The older woman flushed at Kagome's candor but she didn't notice. The water had boiled and she tossed the glove in to sterilize it before using the water to heat the gruel. A few minutes later, she was feeding the baby and rocking him.

"You seem to have taken to mothering him rather easily, Kagome-chan," Sango mused.

Kagome shrugged. "I like babies, and he's really cute. I love his little puppy ears."

"Keh," Inuyasha sneered, hopping down from the tree. "Those little puppy ears are what marks him as a hanyou. They're why youkai and human alike are after that pup's death. There's nothing cute about them."

"Inuyasha," Kagome scolded gently, then she handed him the baby in his blanket. "Here, I have to go the little girl's bush."

He gave her a little chuckle at her term for having to urinate, and took the pup from her, placing him in his lap. The pup reached out one clawed hand and snagged Inuyasha's finger in a tight grip. The adult hanyou didn't seem to mind, and bounced his leg gently.

"And you, Inuyasha, you seem to have no troubles taking care of him," Sango noted. "Could it be you're practicing for when you have your own pups?"

He blinked at her in surprise. "You're joking, right?"

"Don't you want to find a mate and have a family?"

"Keh! Hanyous don't mate and have families. They live lonely lives, most of which they spend running until they're strong enough to start killing the bastards after them. This pup here, he'll probably spend his whole life alone with no one," he replied, acid in his voice.

"He has you and Kagome-chan. And if he's raised in Kaede's village, Miroku and I will make sure none of our children grow up hating hanyous," she pointed out.

"Feh. Then he'll be luckier than every other hanyou I've ever known, including myself."

"You have us too, Inuyasha, and Kagome-chan. You know she loves you very much. I'm sure she would have no reservations to becoming your mate if you asked her," Sango told him, pushing just a little. She knew her dear friend's heart and was tired of seeing Inuyasha's insensitivity hurt her.

"As if I'd do that to her! Have her end up dead with an arrow in her back from some bastard who didn't like the fact that she mated with a demon, maybe leave our pup orphaned and at the mercy of strangers…" He stopped and looked down at the pup, his finger still caught in the tiny hand.

"You were going to do it for Kikyou."

He rounded on her, eyes flashing rage. "Kikyou wanted me human. She wouldn't have me any other way."

"Are you saying you wouldn't make the same choice for Kagome?"

"Kagome would never ask that of me. She's spent the last two years telling me she likes me as I am. She'd never tell me I had to give up being a hanyou in order to be with her."

Sango gave him a measuring glance. "Then what does that tell you about Kikyou and Kagome?"

He huffed and moved away from the fire, going to the base of the tree he had been perched in and putting his back to it.

"That Kagome has more guts than brains," he replied, then grew very quiet, his attention focused entirely on the pup in his lap.

Kagome returned a few moments later and sat next to him. She opened her arms and he gently placed the pup in them, his eyes down. She gave him a questioning look, then glanced at Sango who shook her head and motioned towards Inuyasha. She looked back at Inuyasha and could almost feel the stress radiating off of him. Taking a chance, she edged closer to him and leaned into his shoulder, seeking to comfort.

At the feel of her touch, Inuyasha let out a long sigh and did something he rarely did when they weren't alone. He wrapped his arms around her, covering both her and the baby with the sleeves of his haori and drew her close to his chest. She gave him a little nuzzle on the chin with her nose and tucked her head under his jaw, snuggling into him. He rested his cheek on the top of her head and breathed into her hair. They fell back to sleep nestled together with the baby curled in their combined embrace.