InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ What Matters the Most ❯ Complicated Childbirth ( Chapter 50 )

A/N: Konnichiwa everyone!

Happy Easter! ^_^

Hope you’re all enjoying it!

Can’t really talk too much right now cause I’ve got a bunch of other updates I need to get up, so...

Anyway, I just wanted to point out that, since I have absolutely no experience in childbirth (dog, human, hanyou or male ^_^) so I don’t actually know if I did any of this accurately. Hopefully I got some of it right though! ^_^

Lots of thanks to snowfall for helping me out with some of the facts in this chapter! Here’s to hoping I didn’t screw them all up! ^_^

-Crazy-Inuyasha-Girl - Lol, nope you most definitely aren’t the only one who wants that. I have, however, met a good number of people who want them to be Naraku’s. Not as big a number as the Sess fans, but still a good number. Hopefully this chapter won’t be a disappointment to either of them! ^_^

-Punishment of the Inu/Tryst - Lol, believe me, now that we’re here I want to write more. Kinda feel bad about that though, because I’ve been neglecting my other stories a little bit for this one... Not that you can really blame me-- first Mpreg, and I’ve been waiting forever to get the chance to write this chapter! ^_^ Hopefully it’s still meeting your standards... ^_^

-lov it - Lol, kk, I’ll try! ^_^

-vampirebabe of inu and yyh - Lol, well I suppose that’s a risk we’re going to have to take if you’re going to continue on with the story, neh? Though I’m a little surprised your innocence wasn’t shattered way back around chapter 10... or maybe when Naraku raped Inu, neh? ^_^

-Snowfall - Lol, yeah I can imagine. It’s a good thing men don’t take death threats too seriously neh? ^_^ Lol, I can actually imagine that now-- you wanting to be alone during labour. Maybe it’s not for the same reasons, but it actually seems that a lot of pregnant animals will wander away from whatever packs they may have when they give birth... I don’t know how much of that I included in this chapter though-- there’s a lot of stuff I had to fit into only one chapter-- but hopefully I did an adequate job of getting... most of it in there.

-CrimsonInHumanBlood - Woosh, that’s a lot of reviews... Lol, nevertheless I’ll try and answer them all! ^_^ -- First Review: Lol, yeah, a few people have mentioned that I talk with ‘ instead of “. Sorry, I know it can sometimes be a little confusing, but, as I explained to them, that’s just the way I prefer to do it. I’ve always seen “ as meaning you’re quoting someone. Since I am not actually quoting anyone when I have the characters talk (unless I stole a line from the Anime) I don’t like using “. Lol, I’ve actually been fairly surprised recently because I’ve seen that there are quite a few books that do it in this manner as well... so maybe it’s just a fanfiction thing ^_^ Anyway, Hopefully this is meeting all your standards, and is, indeed, worth reading ^_^. -- Second Review: Lol, yep he was weakened wasn’t he? Lots of people pointed that out to me, and yep, there is the chance that that means that Inu is pregnant (that’s why I put it in there-- just to add that possibility) but there’s also the chance that it could mean something entirely different. It could be the effects of a hanyou mating a full-blooded demon, or maybe just of mating in general, or maybe Naraku’s miasma or something was in the air and it weakened him. There are lots of possibilities, I just didn’t mention any of them. Hopefully this chapter will clear them all up, though. ^_^ -- Third Review: Lol, yep, Inu’s having some moodswings now. I figured it’s only fair-- after all, all these other women go through pregnancies and get the reward of being allowed to fly off the handle at will, why not him? ^_^ -- Fourth Review: Lol, don’t worry, I imagine the majority of us on here don’t have much lifes either ^_~ Happy Easter to you too! Hope you enjoy this chapter! ^_^

K, well I think that’s about it... Oh, well, it’s been probably like twenty chapters since the last one, so, again, just for good measure:

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, Izayoi, Ayame, Kouga, Inu Taisho, Rin, Kagura, Naraku, Shippo, Menomaru, Kanna, Kaede or any of the other characters from the anime/manga. This story is mine though, and so are any and all OC’s you see in it. I can do whatever I want with them!... and for some reason this is what I chose... ^_^ Lol, anyway, I don’t make any money off of this, and am just using it to help in the quest to fry and corrupt all our reader’s brains. ^_^   ~*~   Complicated Childbirth

‘Isn’t it obvious?’ She asked, receiving a cold glare in response which she ignored. ‘Your mate has gone into labour.’ She looked up at the youkai with her one good eye. ‘The pups are coming, Lord Sesshomaru.’

Inuyasha listened to the exchange through his pain and nearly screamed at the sheer incompetence of this conversation.

‘Idiots!’ He snarled out, wondering how many times they would have to establish this before it would really begin to sink in and someone would do something about it. ‘I already said that!’

Attention returned back to him as another hiss of pain passed between his teeth and he scowled at... well, basically he was just scowling at the room in general, while in his mind he was scowling at all the stupidity there was in the world.

Honestly!

How dumb can some people get?

Hadn’t they already decided the pups were coming when his “water” had broken?

Inuyasha didn’t have long to contemplate this as an especially painful tug pulled at him, and he felt his body contracting tightly, trying to push...

‘Inuyasha, stop!’ Takehiko said, her hand gripping him tightly just beneath his knee to keep his legs out of the way. ‘You can’t push! We are not yet ready.’

‘Well who the hell is giving birth here?’ He demanded, before a harsh cry tore itself from his throat. Somehow though, he managed to find the strength to pull his body back from it’s desperate struggle to get the pups out of him.

Sesshomaru wiped at his mate’s forehead gently, brushing away wayward bangs that clung to him and together from the sweat, feeling as helpless as he had when Inuyasha had been raped.

Kami, he wanted to... do something! Anything to ease his mate’s pain... but he didn’t know what to do... how to help...

At some point in time Yuko must have returned, and Kaede resummoned her from the hallway, giving the girl orders that sent her bustling around the room, or sometimes to other places in the castle, giving the girl her fair share of stress in all this. But Sesshomaru hardly noticed.

He barely acknowledged it when Yuko handed him a cloth and bowl of water so that he could stop Inuyasha from getting too hot.

Only when Kaede finally said ‘Okay, Inuyasha, ye can start pushing.’ Did he feel any inclination to turn his attention back to the world around him.

‘Yeah, I’m sure that’s easy for you to sa-- AH!’ Inuyasha’s whole body jerked in Sesshomaru and Takehiko’s grip as the two full-demons moved quickly to hold him down, the younger Inu wincing faintly at his mate’s obvious pain and distress.

Inuyasha was completely unaware of any of this.

All he could focus on were the things he was currently doing: Breaking all the bones irreversibly in Sesshomaru’s hands. Destroying his own vocal chords with screams. Crushing his ears back to block out the horrid noise of the sounds he was making. Oh yeah, and pushing as well!

After a minute of agony, he heard Kaede tell him to stop, and his body, which seemed to have gone into a full-on cramp, collapsed back against the bed, shaking in pain and exhaustion.

‘Fuck.’ He breathed out, faintly aware of Sesshomaru brushing his bangs back, whispering soft words in his compressed ears. ‘If you ever touch me again’ he whispered to his mate ‘I swear to hell I’ll kill you.’

Sesshomaru just gave his forehead a light kiss in response as he went back to breathing raggedly, until Kaede told him not to do so, causing his anger to flare and make him start snarling, just for the heck of it, only to be cut off again by another contraction and Kaede telling him to push.

If Inuyasha wasn’t in such pain and so eager to get the pups out of him, he would’ve ripped the old hag’s head off for being so erratic and sudden in her demands, and probably would have used some fantastic four-letter words on her as well.

As it was, he didn’t really see any other option other than to listen to the baba, and so began to push once again, hard and pain-inducing, tearing more cries from his throat, until she told him to stop.

This routine continued for nearly a full half-hour, by the end of which Inuyasha was shaking, sweating, and all but ready to let the pups just stay and rot inside of him for the rest of their lives. It’s not like they seemed to be too eager to get out of him anyway.

His head was turned to the side, his eyes closed as a low whimper escaped his lips.

He was so tired...

Another contraction and more pain had him screaming and panting erratically while Sesshomaru tried pointlessly to soothe him.

‘That is good, Inuyasha.’ Kaede said, drawing his attention back to her. ‘We’re getting closer. But I need ye to push again.’

Inuyasha groaned quietly. Gods... he didn’t want to...

A light squeeze from Sesshomaru’s hand made him reconsider, and he found himself pushing before he had even decided if he wanted to put himself through anymore of this torture.

‘I can see the head!’ Kaede exclaimed loudly. ‘Just a little more, Inuyasha.’

‘Come on, Inuyasha.’ Sesshomaru murmured in his ear. ‘I know you can do this.’

Inuyasha whined loudly as he continued to try and force the pup from within his body.

‘Push, Inuyasha!’ Takehiko said when he was beginning to think he might rest (even though he hadn’t actually started to) and he mentally glared at her, cursing her for reading his thoughts.

‘I AM PUSHING!’ He yelled out wildly in the general direction of the healer. ‘You think I want this damn thing inside of me?’ He demanded as his former exhaustion began to melt back into anger at incompetence again.

‘You need to stay calm, Inuyasha.’ Kaede reminded him, and Inuyasha had to restrain himself not to kick the damn baka in the head.

‘I AM CALM!’ He screeched out, hurting the ears of all the demons (himself included) in the room, but dammit all, why did everyone think they needed to tell him these things?

He knew he was supposed to push!

And, honestly, when you’re trying to push something the size of a watermelon out of a body not built to do so, when such a task hurts even the bodies that are built to so, do you really think it would be easy, or even at all possible to remain calm?

Besides, yelling seemed to make the pain lessen some, since he didn’t have to focus on it nearly as much as he did before.

His breathing was even harsher now than it had ever been before as he continued to push, sometimes skipping over several breaths in his effort to force the baby from his body, something that Sesshomaru seemed to take note of as he let himself take his turn at pointing out the idiotic.

‘Inuyasha, you need to breathe.’ He said softly, knowing how ridiculous a statement like that sounded, but also know that it was true.

Inuyasha was stunned for a moment.

Why?

Why had Sesshomaru decided to take part in this little game of incompetence?

Inuyasha considered for a moment giving his brother the benefit of the doubt, but the pure idiocy of that statement, combined with the sharp tug he felt from within him and how utterly stretched and exhausted his body felt at the moment, he decided the asshole had brought it upon himself, and so gave him his turn at being shouted at, again starting out with the usual ‘I AM BREATHING!’ and then working his way down to ‘I THINK YOU WOULD ALL NOTICE IF I JUST SUDDENLY STOPPED BREATHING!’ And then finally ending with a pain-filled ‘FUCK!’ That turned into a ragged and incredibly loud scream half-way through.

‘The baby is coming out!’ Kaede shouted over his cries.

‘Yeah, no shit!’ Inuyasha mentally yelled as pain wracked through him, his whole body arching again, and fuck, it felt like his whole body was being torn in two from the inside!

He could tell he was screaming almost non-stop, but he couldn’t hear it... only feel it in the way his throat tore from the force, small trails of blood leaking down it, nearly causing him to choke.

For what felt like a decade he lay, trapped in that agony, before a strange wet sound reached his ears, the scent of blood, and suddenly the pain was lessening a great deal as a small cry of displeasure from a voice he had never heard before reached his ears.

Said appendages perked up slightly at the sound as he lay back in the sweat-soaked pillows, trying to focus in on the origin of that cry.

‘Sesshomaru’ Takehiko’s voice said from somewhere incredibly faraway. ‘It is demon custom for the father to bite the umbilical chord.’

There was a moments pause, and then Inuyasha felt Sesshomaru pulling away.

He whimpered and tried to hold onto him, but his strength was weak at best, and before he could do anything he found his hand clasped around thin air, and his mate no longer at his side.

‘Sessh-omaru.’ He moaned as a small pain shot through him. ‘Don’t... leave...’

He heard more cries from where he assumed the end of the bed was, and then Sesshomaru was next to him, though now there were the faint traces of blood lingering on his breath.

‘I’m right here, otouto.’ He murmured.

Inuyasha whimpered again, his hand searching for Sesshomaru’s, which quickly moved to aid him in his search and claps around him again.

‘Yuko, will you hold it until we can get Inuyasha cleaned up and he has the strength enough to clean it?’ Takehiko asked.

Inuyasha thought he heard a mumbled yes with barely concealed eagerness in it’s tone, but he couldn’t be sure. His world was starting to haze again.

Something wasn’t right.

The pup was out of him, but... the pain was coming back...

Thinking it was just one of those things where, if you ignored it long enough, it would just go away, Inuyasha tried to distract himself from it with the only thing he could think of to ask.

‘What... ‘s it?’

The question was broken, and it took a minute for the other’s to process it (in which time the pain began to get slightly worse) before Sesshomaru leaned down to whisper in his ear.

‘A boy.’ He said softly. ‘We have a son, otouto.’

Inuyasha could practically hear the smile in his mate’s voice, and he tried to return the gesture... but only got about halfway there before another wave of pain shot through him, hitting him in full-force.

A loud gasp tore free from his lips as his eyes flew wide, though it was obvious that they were quite sightless at this moment.

‘Inuyasha?’ He heard Sesshomaru’s worried voice come through the haze of pain, but he couldn’t respond to him.

The contractions had started again!

He was sure of it!

Which could only mean... there must be another pup...

Sesshomaru stared in concern at his mate, trying hard not to panic, but it was really difficult considering his youki could smell the amount of pain and distress he was quite obviously in.

All the joy he had felt from the successful birth of his first son suddenly became obsolete again.

He could see the frowns on Takehiko and Kaede’s faces, the confusion and concern on Yuko’s as she cradled their still bloody pup close to her chest, gently rocking him with a skill and familiarity that suggested she had done it several times before.

‘What’s happening?’ He demanded after a moment when Kaede’s focus returned to between his mate’s legs, who was still arching and whining in pain.

And suddenly she was a bustle of movement, shifting Inuyasha’s legs slightly so that they were farther apart, reaching behind her for a fresh towel while nudging Yuko a little bit further away with her other hand, and then leaning forward as she brought her bloodied hands back toward his mate’s entrance.

‘There is another pup.’ She said quietly as Inuyasha let out another low cry.

‘Yuko.’ Takehiko said, startling the girl, who was watching the whole scene with wide eyes. ‘Rin is still outside. I want you to have her go and fetch some fresh sheets and cloths and the like.’

Yuko stared at her a moment, before giving a quick nod of her head and rushing off to do as she had been bidden.

Inuyasha let out a loud whine.

‘I can’t do it.’ He said softly, weakly as more pain rushed through him.

‘Inuyasha.’ Sesshomaru said, matching his mate’s quiet tone, hating how defeated Inuyasha had sounded-- how much dread and pain and weariness had been present in his cracked voice.

Inuyasha’s bleak eyes moved to focus on him, neither noticing as Yuko silently reentered the room, just trying to convince each other... Inuyasha trying to convince Sesshomaru that he couldn’t, and Sesshomaru telling him he could with nothing more than their locked gazes. ‘Sesshomaru...’ Inuyasha whimpered quietly, pain spiking his voice.

‘Inuyasha.’ Sesshomaru said again, more firmly this time, but still soft, still reassuring. ‘I know you are tired. I know you are hurting. But you need to push.’

‘I can’t...’ The hanyou whimpered, but his complaint was cut off by a soft kiss and the hand gripping his own tightening slightly.

‘Yes you can.’ Sesshomaru said steadily, his lips still brushing against Inuyasha’s. ‘You did it once already.’ Inuyasha’s ears crushed back at this, and he tried to turn his head away, but Sesshomaru’s free hand came up to grasp his chin roughly, staying him. ‘Inuyasha. If you do not do this, the pup will die.’

Inuyasha stared up at him, his eyes wide and pain-filled, with a myriad of emotions flitting around just beneath the surface that Sesshomaru could only just barely detect but could not name, before those golden orbs were suddenly hidden from his view by a thick veil of skin; Inuyasha grit his teeth together tightly again, pressing his head back into the pillow and, with a low keening noise, he began to push once again.

Sesshomaru’s eyes hardened slightly at the pain and determination in his mate as his gripped his hand tightly, pulling back so he could once again begin his chorus of whispered words in his mate ear, quietly encouraging him to continue in this.

‘Sesshomaru.’ Kaede said, never lifting her attention from her current task. ‘I want you to help him. Apply a little pressure to his stomach. Help him push the pup out or he will become too exhausted.’ The full demon stared at her a moment, before, releasing the hand Inuyasha was still crushing, he reached up and placed them both on his mate’s stomach, moving them about until Kaede gave him a small nod, and then waiting until the next contraction before applying some pressure to the flesh beneath his fingers as Inuyasha watched through a glazed haze of pain.

The process this time, while still just as painful and even more taxing on the hanyou, went by much smoother-- the second pup coming out in nearly half the time of the first-- something which greatly relieved Sesshomaru, since it meant Inuyasha had to endure the pain for a lesser amount of time.

Moving down, he somehow managed to locate and sink his fangs into the fleshy chord while still managing to re-clasp his hand in Inuyasha’s, before quickly moving back to let Takehiko tie it, or whatever she did.

Unconsciously Sesshomaru licked the blood, and other, less desirable liquids from his lips as he moved up again to sit next to his mate, who was staring up at him, his eyes dull with exhaustion, but the question still evident within them.

‘It’s a boy.’ Sesshomaru said quickly, anticipating what he was going to ask, and not wanting to make Inuyasha waste effort actually saying it. ‘We have two sons.’

In truth, he was slightly disappointed (though only slightly) that it had not been a girl, but that quickly passed. His mate was safe. His pups were safe. That was all that mattered.

However, apparently Inuyasha didn’t seem to think so.

‘N-o.’ The half-demon whimpered out, then swallowed thickly. ‘No.’ He said more firmly, confusing everyone else in the room. Not that he cared.

He wasn’t sure, but the pain still hadn’t gone away yet, so...

He looked down at Kaede wearily, and the miko seemed to get the message, as she began casting frowns down at his nether regions.

‘Yuko, bring Rin in here.’ She said simply.

The girl nodded and quickly did as she was told, and once she had, the miko quickly handed the second pup off to her.

Inuyasha’s body had begun to shake slightly from exertion as it silently and discreetly began to push again, somehow just knowing that there was another pup inside of him.

Inuyasha felt despair welling up within him as Kaede and his body conspired to get the pup out of him, and he pressed even tighter back into the pillow.

‘Please no...’ He thought.

He couldn’t... take it.

He ached everywhere... he was so tired... he couldn’t... do it... not again...

Sesshomaru could feel his mate’s exhaustion. And... he honestly didn’t know if Inuyasha would survive through another pup.

Three was a lot for most full-blooded demons, but for a half-demon...

‘Inuyasha...’ Kaede said slowly, interrupting both Inu’s thoughts as she drew her attention back down to her. Inuyasha let out a small whine as he stared at her, then his eyes slid closed.

‘Just... just do it... quickly...’ He whimpered, trying hard not to succumb to unconsciousness.

Kaede frowned slightly, she too sensing the weakening of the hanyou’s body. ‘Inuyasha... we cannot.’ The woman said slowly, causing Sesshomaru’s eyes to instantly flash toward her, ice and fire clashing against one another within their golden depths. ‘Why is that?’ He demanded, knowing Inuyasha was nearing the end of his limits.

Kaede sighed softly and looked up at him.

‘The pup is in a breeching position.’ She said slowly. ‘It has turned so that it’s legs are coming out first. If we continue to birth the child this way... it may not make it.’

Sesshomaru stared hard at her for a long moment, then looked up at Inuyasha.

Even though his eyes were closed, Sesshomaru could smell the faint scent of tears coming from his mate, and he knew that Inuyasha was beginning to despair. He didn’t want to loose this pup. And... if they did... Sesshomaru didn’t know how his brother would take it. Didn’t know if he would even survive through it...

‘What are our other options?’ He asked coldly, his voice clearly stating that that was not one of them.

‘Well’ Kaede looked over at Takehiko, then back at him. ‘We may be able to cut the pup out, as we explained to ye before. There are risks that neither may make it out alive, however, though they are not so great as if Inuyasha were a mortal.’

Sesshomaru tensed slightly at this, then looked over at his mate slowly.

Inuyasha’s eyes were barely open, just tiny slits of gold shadowed by his spider-web lashes, but Sesshomaru could already clearly see the decision made in them.

‘We’ll have to take that risk.’ He said softly, his throat suddenly feeling too small for the words to pass through.

Kaede stared at him a moment, then looked back at Inuyasha with a rather tired and grim expression on her face. ‘I will not be able to drug ye, Inuyasha. At this stage it is much too dangerous.’

Inuyasha gave her a weak shrug of sorts. ‘Can’t feel my body ’nyway.’ He murmured. Sesshomaru wasn’t sure if this was supposed to be comforting to him or not.

Kaede gave the half-demon a small nod, and then looked at Takehiko. ‘I trust your claws over a blade any day.’ She said simply.

The other healer nodded, and slowly set Inuyasha’s legs down, earning another moan from the hanyou.

The two healers quickly switched places with one another and, with a small warning to Inuyasha, Takehiko reached up and began to proceed.

Inuyasha wasn’t lying when he said he couldn’t feel his body. Not really anyway.

He had lost a lot of blood, and his body had just sort of... gone numb after the second pup had come out.

He was still aware of what was happening to him... just not really feeling it all that much.

Most of the procedure he actually spent in unconsciousness, his body too weak to support his mind at this moment, and he was fairly thankful for that because it allowed him to store up some much needed energy. Not a lot, but still some, and that was better than what he had had before.

Besides, the prospect of watching himself be cut open and have a pup taken out of him was not one that was entirely appealing to him anyway.

So, after what was nearly a full hour (though to the mostly unconscious hanyou it seemed only mere moments) he was vaguely surprised when the small cries of a third pup reached his ears, even as he felt his body being swiftly closed back up.

‘Is it...?’ He asked softly when he finally had the strength to do so, but was still too tired to open his eyes.

‘It’s a girl, Inuyasha.’ Someone’s voice said from nearby. It sounded like Sesshomaru’s, but he couldn’t be sure... it might’ve been Rin’s.

The hanyou gave a small, weak smile.

‘Thought so.’ He murmured, his eyes starting to drift slowly closed.

For a moment this was allowed as voices hummed and droned in the background.

Rin’s voice in particular stood out in his mind as the girl moved forward to take away some of the bloodied towels and things, only to pull away suddenly with a noise that sounded vaguely like ‘Urgh!’

Something that looked distinctly like a bloodied purple balloon had just slid out of the hanyou’s body, spilling itself across the bed between his legs in a rather disgusting mess.

Yuko, who had been doing similar things as Rin, looked over, and then let out a small gasp.

‘Lady Kaede!’ She said, her voice sounding rather high and panicked. ‘I think it’s dead!’

‘What is it?’ Rin asked her nose slightly wrinkled, and, had Inuyasha been more awake, he probably would have been very concerned indeed.

‘Some kind of mutant?’ Yuko asked softly. ‘Was their pup a mutant?’

Takehiko frowned, wondering what all the fuss was about, and then looked down to see Kaede, who was looking rather amused, cleaning away the ugly heap. And Takehiko could understand why she was amused as she felt a grin of her own spread across her face.

‘What is going on?’ Sesshomaru asked, not liking the conversation he was hearing from the other end of the bed, but not willing to leave his exhausted mate until he was certain he would be alright.

Kaede raised the ugly thing up slowly for his inspection, fluids he didn’t even want to think about sliding down off of it and onto the bed as amusement glinted in the old miko’s eyes, and Rin and Yuko edged back a little more.

‘Oh calm down, you silly girls!’ Takehiko snapped as she watched even Sesshomaru’s eyes go slightly wide, and the demon lord flared his nostrils slightly in disgust at the smell coming from it. Weak, maybe-- possibly too weak to be detected by humans-- but still rather sickening.

‘It is just the afterbirth.’ The yasha said, setting the ugly thing aside.

Sesshomaru continued to eye it for a moment, as though not trusting the thing that had just come from his mate’s body as the older inu slowly began to move up the bed, toward the sleeping hanyou there.

Inuyasha groaned softly as he felt someone gently rubbing his shoulder, and Takehiko’s voice reaching in to the blissful darkness to interrupt his peace.

‘Inuyasha.’ She called softly. Inuyasha tried to pretend not to hear.

Dammit! He had just given birth to three pups, what more did they want?

He found out a moment later when Takehiko continued.

‘Inuyasha, I know you are tired now, but you must clean your pups.’ Her voice said, the hand rubbing him insistently.

Inuyasha whimpered quietly, and felt Sesshomaru’s hand tense in his own.

‘Is that necessary at the moment? Can it not wait until he has slept some?’ The elder youkai asked.

Takehiko sighed and shook her head.

‘I wish it could. But the cleaning is essential in completing the bond between the pups and their bearer. It will make certain that they will always be able to recognise each other. And until it is done we cannot fully determine their health. Leaving this blood and filth on them could well result in an infection.’

Inuyasha mentally cursed.

His mate was defending his situation, and his body really wasn’t up to doing anything at the moment, but his youki was backing Takehiko one-hundred percent, and it seemed to suddenly start drawing and filling him with energy he wasn’t aware he possessed anymore, urging him to do what the healer had instructed. And it would not be ignored.

Besides, he really did want to see his pups...

‘Bring ’em... here.’ He murmured tiredly, feeling his youki continue to build up his strength, though he still didn’t know where it was getting this from.

He heard shifting around the room, and then felt the weight come to rest next to him on the mattress... the gentle squirming that accompanied it.

Weakly he propped himself up so that he was on all fours over the pups, heedless of the fact that he was still completely naked and exposing himself to the world as he cracked open his eyes to look down at his children.

Three squirming, whimpering, bloody masses of flesh.

That’s exactly what they looked like.

But to Inuyasha, there could never have been a more beautiful sight that had ever existed before on earth.

Well, except maybe Sesshomau when he was arching and screaming his name, but once the blood was cleaned off, Inuyasha wasn’t even sure if his brother would stand a chance.

Leaning down, he slowly began to run his tongue over the body of the first one, the little male letting out a small whine as he did so and lifting his tiny fist up to clench in a fierce hold around thin air that it clung to with a fiery determination that made Inuyasha want to laugh.

He bathed the entire pup with his tongue, not entirely happy with the taste of it. However, it was more than made up for when he came to his first son’s ears and noticed that they were just like Sesshomaru’s, and most other demons-- human-like in appearance, but with a delicate point at the ends.

So far it looked as though the pup might actually be able to pass for a full-blooded demon, something which pleased Inuyasha to no end.

He was vaguely surprised when, shortly after cleaning off the pup’s head, hair began appear, pushing through the newly-formed skin, and falling down in a thick silver mass to just around the child’s shoulders, slightly startling Inuyasha since he had seen human babies, and knew that they could take several weeks or even months to start really growing hair.

Pausing a moment, he turned the tiny child over to bathe and clean off his back, before pulling back slightly to get a good look at him.

All in all, if he had to choose, he’d definitely say that the pup looked more like Sesshomaru than him... but... there was someone else who he looked even more like... and when Inuyasha realised who, he was actually slightly surprised. Surprised, but not really displeased.

Gently lifting the tiny male, taking note that the pups seemed to be actually slightly smaller than normal children, he turned and handed him over to Sesshomaru.

‘He looks like father.’ He informed his mate, a slight hint of puzzled fascination in his voice, uncertain how they had managed to do that, but not really caring either way.

Sesshomaru’s eyebrows lifted slightly toward his hairline, and he looked his son slowly up and down.

Indeed, even for a mere pup the resemblance was striking between the two-- the muscle tone and build in general seemed to be fairly similar, and even some of their features were the same-- right down to the single cobalt stripe that adorned his cheeks, eyelids, wrists, hips and ankles.

In fact, if a stranger came into the room at this moment... after getting over the initial shock of seeing such a scene as this in general, it would have been very easy to mistake Inu Taisho as the father of that child.

Inuyasha watched his mate examine their son for a moment, who was still clasping that fistful of air he had quite firmly, seemingly determined not to let go, before a loud gurgle drew his attention back to the other two pups.

His eyes focused on the second male-- the one who had made the noise, and he cocked an eyebrow.

‘You got a problem?’ He silently demanded of the pup as he continued to squirm about wildly, very nearly kicking his sister in her flank in the process, and Inuyasha’s eyebrows rose as the tiny figure began to wriggle his was off to somewhere.

‘Where d’you think you’re going?’ He demanded of the pup, reaching over and grabbing the child before it could fall the whole two inches off the edge of the futon and bringing him back toward him.

The pup let out a loud, defiant gurgle that almost instantly cut off as Inuyasha began laving him with his tongue.

This action seemed to comfort the wayward male slightly, and he held still as Inuyasha continued bathing him. Well, mostly still. Almost still. He didn’t try to go off on any more adventures while Inuyasha was cleaning him.

Cleaning off this pup revealed that he had pointed ears as well, and silver hair that seemed caught between the silver-grey of Inuyasha’s and silver-blue of Sesshomaru’s. Not that it mattered. The pup still had inherited most of Sesshomaru’s looks. Except the eyes, but Inuyasha couldn’t tell whose eyes he had gotten since they were both still tightly closed.

It made him wonder about how much common sense the child would possess considering it had tried to squirm off to who knows where, while still lying on its back covered in filth, and unable to see (and possibly hear) a damn thing.

Deciding to give the kid the benefit of the doubt, Inuyasha finished cleaning him and again pulled back to give the pup the once-over.

Yep, definitely Sesshomaru’s son.

Although he did seem to have Inuyasha’s nose.

Most of the rest of his features seemed to belong to Sesshomaru.

A dark circle (which he assumed to be a full moon or something) that seemed to be caught somewhere between black, blue and silver in colour adorned his forehead, but that was about the only thing out of the ordinary about him.

He had a crimson stripe on either eyelid, but the rest of the places all had them in pairs, including an extra set that Sesshomaru did not have that adorned the child’s upper forearms-- coming from just beneath his elbows to end facing the opposite way a short distance away from the other stripes.

‘Now he is your son.’ Inuyasha murmured as he again turned and handed the pup over to Sesshomaru for inspection.

The male, who had begun squirming again the moment Inuyasha had stopped cleaning him, was now wriggling about wildly in Sesshomaru’s hold, his tiny arms flailing about blindly as he tried to escape Sesshomaru’s grip.

‘Maybe in appearance.’ The full demon said as he stared at his thrashing son. ‘But his temperament is yours.’

Inuyasha scowled and stuck his tongue out at his mate in a rather childish way (immediately regretting the action as he realised how sore the appendage truly was now) as he turned back toward the third child. Their only daughter.

He was vaguely aware of Yuko and Rin requesting to see their first two pups as he moved to clean off most of her body, his tongue really beginning to protest as it was forced into use again, all the while watching her curiously.

The tiny child was almost completely still and silent beneath him.

In fact, if it wasn’t for the gentle rise and fall of her chest, he was certain that she could have passed for dead.

Yet a cursory sniff of the child didn’t find anything to be wrong.

Deciding that it was just a bought of fatigue, but still slightly concerned, Inuyasha continued cleaning her, slightly surprised to find that she had no stripes anywhere on her body. Like him.

She did, however, have a crescent moon on her forehead, the same colour as their other son’s (only more blue than black).

He was slightly disappointed to note that she had his ears (which, at the moment, were nothing more than a couple of ridiculously large looking flaps of skin that, with no fur on the top, he could see light shining through), knowing that it would only make life that much harder for her, but tried not to pay too much mind to that right now. She would be a beauty nonetheless, of this was certain, even if at the moment she was nothing more than a bundle of skin.

He leaned up to clean off the top of her head to let the hair grow through, and then moved down to finish off her shoulders and chest as he waited for that little miracle to happen.

And here he froze up.

Because there was another marking on the centre of her collarbone.

A marking that neither he nor Sesshomaru, nor anyone else in his family he was sure had.

A small, blackish-red spider that, while smooth like the other marks, still looked more like a wound or scar of some kind than a birthmark.

Inuyasha stared at it in dread for long moments while everyone, oblivious, prattled on in the background, before slowly raising his eyes up to look at her hair again.

Black.

Black as coal, or onyx, or the very night itself... black as Naraku’s hair.

Inuyasha trembled slightly as he stared down at the girl for a long time, going as still as the child had been this entire time, just... staring. As if by doing so he could somehow take away that spider mark-- take away the dark shade of her hair and turn her into a child more like her brother’s.

Sesshomaru, being the mate, was naturally the first to notice Inuyasha’s sudden lack of activity and noise, and so looked over at his mate to find out what was wrong.

Inuyasha’s back was to him and he was sitting on his knees, his body blocking off the sight of the pup from his view so Sesshomaru could not really determine anything by sight. A cursory sniff did little to help him either, although he did smell the faint scent of trepidation in his mate now, which immediately had him worried.

‘Inuyasha?’ He called softly, drawing the attention of the other’s (who had been busy admiring their two new sons) and causing a silence to fill the room. Sesshomaru reached over and touched Inuyasha’s shoulder. ‘What is wrong otouto?’ He asked softly, really beginning to worry.

And Inuyasha knew he had to answer Sesshomaru, but he suddenly found it incredibly hard to swallow and breathe let alone talk. He didn’t think he could tell Sesshomaru with words.

So, instead, he leant down and picked up the tiny child, cradling her close to his chest and just staring at her for a moment longer, before slowly turned to face the others. ~*~  

Glossary

Youkai - Demon

Inu - Dog

Baba - Old woman, hag, etc...

Baka - Idiot, Fool, Moron, etc...

Otouto - Little Brother

Hanyou - Half-Demon

Miko - Priestess

Yasha - Female Demon

Youki - A Demon’s Energy (<-- I don’t actually remember if I used this word in this chapter, b-ut...) ~*~  

Pregnancy Terms

-Umbilical Chord - The tube that connects the fetus to the placenta. It contains major arteries and veins that allow it to transfer nutrients and oxygen-rich blood into the fetus. In the case of animals it is bitten off, and only a small stub-like thing will be left behind, which will, after a few days, fall off as well, leaving a small scar. I imagine this is why we humans decided to start tying the thing and make bellybuttons, neh? ^_^

-Caesarean Section - This would be the cutting “operation” performed in this chapter. It was very vague and dull in here because, frankly, I don’t know that much about what it would be like to have your uterus cut open and a baby pulled out. Anyway, in a nutshell it consists of an incision being made on a woman’s abdomen, penetrating through to her uterus that allows them to remove an infant for various reasons such as the woman’s hips being too small to fit the baby’s head out, and the baby being in a breeching position.

There are a few different types of a C-Section

·The classical section involves a midline longitudinal incision which allows a larger space to deliver the baby. However, it is rarely performed today as it more prone to potential complications.

·The lower segment section is the procedure most commonly used today; it involves a transverse cut just above the edge of the bladder and results in less blood loss and is easier to repair.

·A Caesarian hysterectomy consists of a caesarian section first followed by removal of the uterus. This may be done in cases of intractable bleeding or when the placenta cannot be separated from the uterus.

·Traditionally other forms of CS had been used, i.e. extraperitoneal CS or Porro CS. -- Chances are Takehiko and Kaede would have been using something along the lines of the first one.

-Breeching(<-- I really don’t think I’ve been spelling that right, but whatever) Position - This is something that is also referred to as an “abnormal presentation” because it means that the baby has somehow managed to turn itself around so that it’s head is no longer coming out first. This is a really dangerous situation, because it is very easy for the baby to suffocate, drown or find some other complication to involve itself in when it is in this position, and usually babies like this are cut out rather than birthed naturally. Luckily enough this isn’t actually entirely common in most babies (less than 25% by the end of the 28th week of pregnancy) because, as they develop, their heads become heavier, encouraging the baby to turn into a downward position, where, as it continues to grow and take up more room in the uterus, it usually gets stuck so it can’t turn back around.

Afterbirth/Placenta - I would have forgotten about this if it wasn’t for Snowfall, so thanks to you for that! ^_^ -- The Placenta is an organ developed only in female placental mammals, and basically what it does is keeps the baby alive. It provides the fetus with nutrients and oxygen from it’s mother, while passing out wastes. The Placenta is connected to the fetus via the umbilical chord, and is usually delivered after the baby is out, which is where it got the term “afterbirth.” I haven’t actually encountered too many placenta’s myself, but I’ve heard that they can actually be rather... pretty as opposed to the kind of disgusting purple mess I described in here. ~*~

A/N: Okay, so the biting of the umbilical chord is actually something that happens in the animal world (which explains why animals don’t have bellybuttons) but I believe it’s actually usually done by the mother, not the father. In this case I just decided to play with that a little bit-- So Sesshomaru still would have bitten it, just not so high up that Takehiko wouldn‘t have been able to tie it off for a naval.

And the cleaning is also an animal trait-- it’s kind of a way for the mother to lay a scent claim all over the child that will allow it to identify her, and her to identify it. Besides, she could hardly just go and dump her kid in a lake. I mean, it might work, but it might kill it as well, and that wouldn’t be very good.

And, again, animals, when giving birth, tend to stray away from whatever packs they may be travelling in (though not entirely far). I’m not sure why this is, but they seem to prefer to be alone. Which might explain why Inuyasha said “it’s getting a little crowded in here” in the last chapter.

The hair thing might seem a bit unrealistic, but, if I remember correctly from the third movie, when it showed us Inuyasha as a baby, he already had hair on his head. A lot of it. I don’t think he had any fangs though, but I don’t really much care. I can only be so accurate for so long. ^_^

Anyway, don’t worry, I didn’t forget about feeding and anything else, but Inuyasha’s really exhausted by now I imagine, and so am I, and I just wasn’t ready to do that in this chapter. Not all babies eat immediately out of the womb (or wherever) anyway. ^_^

Oh, and before I forget, I know some of you are thinking “How the hell would he be able to move so soon after giving birth?” And I’d just like to point out now that he is still half-demon, and has ran around for hours on end with great gaping holes in his cut, and parts of his intestines missing, so why wouldn’t he be able to roll over and sit up after giving birth?

Have a happy Easter everyone!

Ciao!

~Avarwen~