InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Torrent ❯ Mistakes ( Chapter 14 )

~~Chapter 14~~

~Mistakes~

 

“Come away from that window before you catch a cold.”

 

“But it's so beautiful,” Kagome remarked, a soft smile toying at the corners of her lips. “Besides that, it's plenty warm in here. You made sure of that.”

 

“Keh!”

 

She didn't miss the slight reddening on InuYasha's cheeks as he turned his head away. He was always embarrassed with her praise, and truthfully, she liked to see him out of sorts that way. She had told him before how men of her time used stuff to insulate walls to keep warmth inside. He and Miroku had come up with their own version of that and had filled the walls with dirt as they'd built up. The effect was the same even if the idea that she was living in a cave had occurred to her more than once, but dirt was readily available, and it did its job, keeping the house snug and warm with the small metal braziers InuYasha had brought back from her time. “And,” he had explained as he had proudly showed her the new additions to the hut, “if the hut catches fire, the dirt should help to put it out.”

 

Her smile widened. “Surprised no one has come by today,” Kagome mused as she did as he asked, wandering over to him and letting him pull her down into his lap.

 

“Dunno. Maybe they knew better.”

 

Her eyes narrowed as she considered his innocent enough words. Turning to stare at him, Kagome just knew he had something to do with that. “You threatened them?”

 

“Door to door,” he admitted easily enough.

 

Kagome's mouth dropped open. “What if there's an emergency? What if-----”

 

“Then they can come get you. You're not needed to rid the huts of mice. They've got Sango for that.” Hands splayed on Kagome's belly, InuYasha grinned as the pup protested the confined space.

 

Kagome moaned miserably. “Three more weeks,” she said with a sigh, her hands covering his as he continued to stroke her belly. “Seems like forever. It'll be nice to be able to see my feet again.”

 

Smiling at her complaints, InuYasha kissed her forehead and then her belly. “You're not that big, wench,” he growled, teasing. She really wasn't. Sango, who was just now reaching her fifth month of pregnancy, was already nearly as large as Kagome, who was almost finished.

 

“Mama said she's still having trouble getting paperwork for you so that we can be married in my time,” Kagome remarked with a sigh. “That is, if you still want to be.”

 

“Stupid girl,” he remarked, nuzzling against her neck the way he knew Kagome would be powerless to stop him.

 

“That's . . . un . . . fair,” she gasped out, eyes drifting closed.

 

“Keh!” He sat back and pulled her a little closer. “Unfair is that you still make me crazy, and I can't have you.”

 

The pouting tone behind the last statement drew a smile from her as she leaned up to kiss his cheek. “The doctors said that it isn't a good idea until after the baby comes.”

 

“I suppose,” he grumbled.

 

“Come on, InuYasha. You ignored me for the better part of three years. I don't think a few weeks will be that big a deal.”

 

“I never ignored you,” he argued.

 

She giggled. “You did. You rarely showed any interest in me at all until---”

 

“I showed you interest all the time,” he cut in, indignant color rising in his face. “You just never noticed. Everyone else did, and you think I'm dense. Keh!”

 

She shoved at him playfully. “You're horrible, dog-boy.”

 

He chuckled. “Why don't you lie down awhile? You're tired.”

 

Kagome was going to argue with him on general principle since he was always telling her to lie down, but her wide yawn thwarted her, and she sighed as he carried her back to the newly finished bedroom and set her down. “Now get some rest, will you?”

 

She did as he asked her to but frowned as he pulled the covers up for her. “Where are you going?”

 

“I didn't say anything about going anywhere.”

 

She started to sit up. “InuYasha . . .”

 

He relented. “I was going to go check the villagers and make sure everyone's safe.”

 

She smiled. “You're such a softie.”

 

“Keh!” he called over his shoulder as he marched out of the room.

 

She closed her eyes then flinched. A sharp tightening around her belly pierced through her idyll. `Must be fake contractions,' she thought with an inward shrug. The slight pressure-----it wasn't really painful---was gone before she had time to think it over too long.

 

She was asleep by the time InuYasha poked his head in moments later to tell her he was leaving. He watched her sleep for a minute, a lazy grin lighting the depths of his gaze.

 

 

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The unnerving sound of scraping awoke Kagome from an otherwise blissful sleep. She frowned. Her bedroom was dark. Another pain tightened around her, and Kagome flinched. This one was far worse than the one earlier had been. Something shifted beside her, a whisper of movement. She opened her eyes only to find Shippou snuggled up next to her with Kirara on her other side.

 

As though sensing that she was awake, the kitsune sat up, rubbing his eyes, and he grinned at her. The moonlight filtering through the rice paper covered window bathed him in enough light to see his shining eyes. “I'll go tell Sango you're awake!” he exclaimed, hopping down from the futon with a child's energy. Kagome smiled wanly as he disappeared through the doorway.

 

Kirara mewled and stretched then rubbed against Kagome's arm before she, too, hopped down and ran out of the room.

 

With a sigh, Kagome pushed back the covers and swung her legs off the side of the bed. She stood up only to fall back again as another painful tightening came, this one accompanied by a sudden hot gush of fluid.

 

Her mind slowed as it dawned on her: what had just happened. Staring at the shadows of the floor with a sense of rising hysteria, she refused to believe what her mind screamed was true. `Oh . . . oh . . . no . . . That couldn't be . . . it wasn't just . . . my water . . . broke?' Still she couldn't quite believe it, tried convincing herself that it wasn't what she knew deep down that it was. When the next painful wave hit her-----one that made her gasp softly and double over, Kagome knew. Denial might be sweet, but she didn't have much time . . . “InuYasha!”

 

The thump of approaching footsteps and the glow of a small lantern came closer. Sango hurried into the room and sank down beside Kagome. The youkai exterminator looked worried, almost frightened. Kagome glanced at her friend and tried to smile. “The baby's coming . . . Where's InuYasha?”

 

Sango grimaced. She rubbed Kagome's back but stared at the flame in the lantern. “He and Miroku had to go. There was a youkai near, and . . .”

 

She trailed off when Kagome broke in with a soft whimper. Reminding herself to breathe was harder. “I've got to get to the well,” she muttered. “Sango, I need InuYasha.”

 

“It's snowing, Kagome. You can't get to the well. Even if it weren't, without InuYasha here . . .”

 

She nearly screamed as another pain ripped through her. It was sheer will that stayed the sound. Unwilling to frighten Sango any more than she probably already had, Kagome bit back the sound and concentrated instead on forcing away the pain.

 

“What should I do, Kagome?”

 

Mercifully, the pain passed enough that Kagome could tell Sango to get water, sheets, whatever she could find. “It'll be awhile. I'm going to try to sleep,” she said, her voice oddly calm, strangely casual. She even managed to force a smile as she crawled back up onto the bed. “I'll call if I need you.” Sango finally nodded and hurried from the room.

 

`It's not supposed to be like this,' Kagome thought wildly. `I'm supposed to be in my time, in a hospital, with doctors, and my mother and . . . InuYasha . . . Where are you, InuYasha?'

 

Shippou's voice drifted to her, soft, quiet, as though he was trying not to be overheard. “You didn't tell her where InuYasha really is, did you?”

 

“No, Shippou! I . . . I couldn't . . . I know why he feels that he has to help her. Still, with Kagome so close to having the baby, I think he should have stayed here instead of . . .”

 

The dulled sound of water being poured. Kagome braced herself as another wave of pain washed over her. It was nothing compared to the pain that tore at her heart.

 

 

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“Okay, Kagome. Just one more push, and I think you'll be done,” Sango coaxed gently.

 

Kagome gasped, cried, pushed. Daylight was starting to filter through the window. The tiny bedroom smelled like sweat, tears, blood. Screwing up her face with her concentration, with her final bits of strength, Kagome pushed.

 

Sango yelped, somewhere between a sob and a laugh, and moments later, Kagome heard it . . . the wail of her baby.

 

Bone weary and ready to pass out, she struggled to sit up, to look at the squirming little ball of flesh that Sango softly exclaimed over. “Kagome! Oh, Kagome! Beautiful! Just . . . so beautiful!” Wrapping the baby in a warm, dry blanket, Sango hurried over to lay the infant in Kagome's arms. Happy tears streamed down Sango's face. Kagome burst into laughter, shedding tears of her own before shifting her gaze to the baby nestled so close to her heart.

 

“My . . . daughter,” Kagome whispered. “My Tajiko.”

 

Tiny hands with little claws, fingers balled into miniature fists, the silvery hair of the inu-youkai heritage was matted to her head. Wee triangles that were her ears still plastered against her scalp, but it was her face that beguiled Kagome. The exact shape, the exact lines of her father. Tajiko stopped crying, as though she knew that her mother held her. With great effort, the infant opened her eyes, unfocused, unready for the light of the bedroom. She blinked once, twice, and Kagome saw that she had his eyes, too. So many nights, she'd dreamed of this child, of this little girl. Kagome saw her all the time. She'd chosen the name months ago, when the first of the dreams had come. The name suited her.

 

“Let me clean her for you, Kagome,” Sango offered, reaching for the baby.

 

Kagome let Sango take her as her eyes drifted closed. So tired . . .

 

 

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Kagome awoke later to the feel of Tajiko rooting hungrily for her breast. Sango had put her in bed with Kagome, and the infant was fresh, clean. She adjusted herself and the baby, and watched with a smile as Tajiko latched hungrily onto her, the tiny hands pushing at her, the little mouth perfect. The silvery hair was downy soft, the little ears endearing. Kagome smiled gently as she ran the back of her knuckles along the silky smooth skin of the infant's cheek. Tajiko sighed happily. The sound soothed Kagome.

 

A commotion in the main room drew Kagome's attention. Sitting up without disturbing the infant, Kagome braced herself. InuYasha tore into the room and stopped. He hadn't expected her to be awake. Staring at her with their daughter in her arms, Kagome didn't miss the flash of guilt, the pang of regret. “Kagome . . .”

 

She couldn't even muster the bravado to smile. She couldn't look at him, at all. Turning her face away from him, Kagome whispered the only question that had been running through her mind the entire time.

 

“So . . . How is Kikyou?”

 

 

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A/N:

 

Tajiko: "Child of silver and yellow color."

 

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Blanket disclaimer for this fanfic (will apply to this and all other chapters in Torrent): I do not claim any rights to InuYasha or the characters associated with the anime/manga. Those rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi, et al. I do offer my thanks to her for creating such vivid characters for me to terrorize.

 

~Sue~