January 1551

Kagome had fallen asleep quite quickly that evening.

Inuyasha, however, was struggling to do the same.

It wasn't that he wasn't tired; he was, sorta. But no matter what he tried, what position he turned to, his mind seemed to refuse the notion of slipping down into that unconscious state of rest.

The hanyou sighed and turned on his side to embrace his slumbering wife, who was too deep into her sleep to be woken by the contact. He inhaled deeply, hoping her sweet calming scent would relax his mind enough to join her in dreamland.

That particular action turned out to have the opposite effect, however, as Inuyasha bolted upright the moment her scent registered in his nose.

Because it wasn't her scent.

Er, well, it was, technically...it was definitely Kagome's scent...but...it was different. Just slightly. Her scent had...changed?

Though he was almost certain he had never smelt this variance in Kagame's scent beforehand, the change seemed vaguely familiar, as though he had noted it on someone, somewhere before. But where? Who?

Then it dawned on him. This was just like...

...oh dear.

He was going to need a miracle to fall asleep now.

.oOo.

Kagome awoke bright and early the next morning, feeling fully refreshed, and with a hungry rumble of her stomach got straight to work on making breakfast. It was the normal morning routine until her husband made a rather unexpected request.

"Oh, are you makin' food?" he chimed a bit too quickly. "Here, lemme help..." He reached for the long wooden spoon with which Kagome stirred, placing his hand over hers in an attempt to get control of the instrument.

Kagome could only stare, puzzled, for a moment.

"Wait, really?" While she appreciated the help, Inuyasha had never shown interest in preparing food before, only in eating it. But hey, if he was willing... "Um, sure."

As the next few days progressed, Inuyasha's sudden desire to assist his wife in her regular chores turned out not to be a one-time fluke.

"Laundry?" he inquired as he approached Kagome by the river, a basket of clothes beside her and her long sleeves tied up behind her back, sticking her arms through the sleeve-slits in a rather unconventional way. "Don't worry about that...let me do it..."

Kagome shot him an amused smile as she pulled a sopping garment out of the water, cocking an eyebrow.

"My, aren't you being helpful today?" she teased.

"Just shut up and let me do this for you," grumbled the hanyou, the faintest of blushes tinging his face. Kagome was silent a moment, trying to come up with some sort of witty response, but in the end, she merely shrugged and smiled, handing the basket over.

She struggled to keep up the same amusement, however, as Inuyasha's "helpful" streak began to spread to smaller and smaller.

"You've been walking a lot today, here, lemme carry you..." he said one day as he scooped her off her feet, traces of worry in his expression.

Oof! Kagome huffed with the sudden change in position. "Thanks, but I think I can manage..."

Inuyasha didn't want to hear that, though, and insisted on carrying her to their next (none-too-far) destination, to which she eventually, if a bit reluctantly, at this point, agreed.

Kagome found herself a little frustrated the next day, too, when Inuyasha came up behind her and drooped his fire-rat robe over her shoulders.

"Wow, it's really cold out today, maybe you should go inside," he fretted. "I'll make a fire..."

"Thank you, dear, but really, I'm fine..." she insisted. While it was rather nippy outside-as was to be expected in the middle of winter-it's not like the cold was particularly unbearable. In fact, compared to some of the other days that week, today was quite mild. Why was Inuyasha so nervous all of a sudden?

But it wasn't until the following incident that Kagome finally lost patience.

"Y'know, you've been working out here all day...maybe you should-"

"OH, FOR GOODNESS' SAKE!"

"...take it easy...a bit..." the end of the hanyou's suggestion trailed off as his wife whirled around to face him, clearly frustrated.

"What is up with you lately?!" exclaimed Kagome. "Look, I appreciate your concern, but honestly, you won't let me do anything!"

Inuyasha recoiled slightly, casting his gaze off to the side.

"Sorry," he apologized, a trace of awkwardness in his voice. "It's just that...it's that...well..." He felt his face begin to heat up.

"Spit it out already."

"Well..." he took a deep breath and shifted his gaze, though he still didn't meet Kagome's eyes. "...your scent's changed."

"My sce-wait, what?! What do you mean, 'my scent's changed'?!" Though exclamatory, her tone was more incredulous than angry, a heated confusion.

Inuyasha felt his blush deepen as he stammered out his explanation.

"Well...you see...it's a lot like the way Sango's changed when she...when she..." he trailed off again, trying to gather his words and the courage to get them out.

'Like Sango's?' Kagome thought. Why on earth would Sango's scent have ever...

Her eyes widened.

...wait a minute...

"Inuyasha..." she said softly, tentatively. "...a-are you saying...you think I might be...?"

"...pregnant. Yeah."

There. He said it. For the first time since the beginning of the conversation, he met Kagome's gaze.

She started. A million thoughts were racing through her mind, though none of them stayed long enough for her to really catch hold and build upon it. There was a stretch of silence...and then...

"...oh my GOODNESS!" Kagome exclaimed as she practically leapt onto her husband, embracing him as her mouth split into a huge grin. "Why didn't you just say so before?!"

Inuyasha let out a small breath of relief.

"So...you're ok with it?" he asked, just to be sure.

"Of course I'm ok with it, you dummy!" chided Kagome, still smiling widely as she gazed up at him with an undeniably warm look in her eyes. "C'mon, let's go talk to Kaede, I'm sure she could confirm, just in case..." she took his hand in her own and set off in the direction of the elderly miko's hut. "Wow..." she murmured as they walked, dazed and amazed by the thoughts.

She paused as she remembered something, though. Her awestruck grin vanished for a moment, replaced by something a little less impressed.

"Seriously, though, you don't have to fret over me like that. I'm really fine."

Inuyasha shot her a small, sheepish grin.

"Sorry."

Ah, who was she kidding, though? Kagome knew that whatever she told him, Inuyasha was still going to worry over her. It could get annoying sometimes, but she knew it was just because he cared about and wanted to protect her...and now their unborn baby, too. It was kind of sweet, really, in its own way. She'd just have to be there to keep him in check when he went overboard.

Her soft smile returned and they continued their walk.

It was time for the couple to walk down a new path, their next tomorrow-bound adventure.

But this journey would commence with a new passenger in tow.

.oOo.

A/N:

The original comic version of this story can be found here:

[nattikay dot deviantart dot com/] art/Your-Scent-s-Changed-515843746