Shippo was enjoying being back in the village. He'd only had to leave once for fox demon training since Kagome had returned, and he had to admit, it was the first time that he'd been unenthusiastic about going. It wasn't that he didn't like the training, but it had just been so long since he'd seen the futuristic miko. Something about seeing her again lifted the young kit's heart, brightened his playful eyes…yet he couldn't place just what.

Besides, who would be there to protect her while he was gone?

…Well, he thought, technically that would be Inuyasha's job. The hanyou had always been rather protective of the miko, and the fact that they had just recently gotten married would probably only strengthen that drive. And Shippo knew that Inuyasha would do a good job keeping Kagome safe. Despite their friendly rivalry, it had always been obvious to the kitsune how much the hanyou cared for Kagome and he'd seen him succeed in her protection plenty of times before.

But still, even if he wasn't in love with her like Inuyasha was, Shippo still felt himself feeling a sense wanting to protect the young miko, who claimed that she was now living here permanently, no longer traveling so often through the well.

"Hey, Shippo," came a voice, jarring the kit out of his thoughts. Shippo turned and looked up to see a friendly smile and warm brown eyes, meeting it swiftly with equally happy green ones.

"Hi, Kagome!" he responded, leaping up on her shoulder like he used to do. "Where are you going?"

"Looking for you, actually," the miko responded. "My home has finally finished being built. Do you wanna come see it?"

Shippo gasped in delight. For the past two months or so, Inuyasha, Miroku, and a few of the other men had been working to build a new home for Inuyasha and Kagome as a newly married couple, just on the outskirts of the village, away from the commotion and nearer to the forest, just as they'd requested. During that time, they had stayed in either Miroku and Sango's house or Kaede's, and both options had been rather crowded; after all, Miroku and Sango had three children to deal with, and Kaede had Rin as well as Shippo, when he was present. It would be nice for them to have a place of their own.

"Yeah!" he gasped enthusiastically. Then he paused a moment, a thought just occurring to him. "What about Miroku and Sango? Are you gonna invite them, too?"

Kagome smiled sweetly.

"Inuyasha went to go get them. I came for you."

"Oh, ok."

Kagome chuckled lightly and turned, taking Shippo in the direction of the house. The excited little kit abounded with questions.

"Is it big?" he asked. "Is it fancy? Are we all gonna have a big sleepover? Is there more than one room? How long dose it take to get there?"

The young miko just laughed good-naturedly at the child's enthusiasm.

"It's just a normal house, Shippo," she reminded. "Not much different from Miroku and Sango's."

Shippo didn't respond to that particularly. No, it wasn't similar to Miroku and Sango's. Maybe it would be in build, but…he had a feeling that this house would be strangely special to him. He just knew it. Yet he couldn't place why.

They got there soon enough. Shippo leapt off Kagome's shoulder and immediately began exploring, laughing happily as he went.

"He sure seems excited," commented Sango, coming up behind Kagome.

"Keh! He'd better not break anything," rumbled Inuyasha, but looking up, Kagome saw an oddly amused gleam behind his otherwise gruff expression and crossed arms.

"Oh, he'll be fine," she brushed, giving her husband a small playful push to the arm. The hanyou huffed and rolled his eyes, but a light smile clung to his lips, effectively blocking his grimace. Ok, so Inuyasha was excited, too. So what, right?

There was a brief silence as Shippo bounded off into another room. Sango was the first to break it.

"Still," she said. "Four rooms, and a small hall. That's pretty nice, Kagome," the demon slayer commented. Kagome smiled at her friend, but before she could speak, Inuyasha cut in.

"Four rooms is nothing," the hanyou said flatly. "You should see the place Kagome has back in her time! It's huge!"

"Really?" said Sango, turning to Kagome for confirmation. The miko nodded.

"Yup. But it's normal for my time."

"Ah. Well, still, for this time…well, what are you going to do with all these rooms?"

Kagome shrugged.

"I…dunno. I just thought they could be handy. This main one here is where the fire pit is, so this is where we'll do cooking, and one of the others back there is a bedroom," she said, gesturing to a doorway that led out of the main room where they stood, separated by simple curtains.

"And the other two? Certainly you don't need that much storage space?" Sango pressed.

"Well, no," Kagome admitted, "But I still thought they could have been…handy," she added, almost to herself, using the same answer for lack of a better one. She found that she couldn't help stealing a glance at the twins running after Shippo and the tiny boy in Miroku's arms.

Of course she wanted the rooms as bedrooms for possible future children. After having Miroku and Sango with their happy little family for the past few months and now recently having gotten married, she was left wanting one more than ever. But would Inuyasha agree? She couldn't say for sure.

So for now, she'd just stay quiet about her honest yearnings.

.oOo.

An afternoon of discussions was well-spent, but sure enough, at one point Miroku and Sango had to go home, leaving only Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippo just outside the sliding doors, watching them go. After a moment, Inuyasha announced that he was going inside to get used to the place, closing the door behind him. Silence. Then Shippo spoke up.

"Kagome?"

"Yes?"

"Could I stay here?"

"For the night? Sure. You can sleep in one of the extra rooms, if you'd like." Shippo paused, looking up at her a bit sadly with wide green eyes.

"No, I mean—" the kitsune started, trying to find the right words. "I mean, forever," he finished. "I mean…can I…live with you?"

Kagome blinked in surprise, rather caught off-guard by the question.

"Wh…why do you ask?" she stammered. "Don't you live with Kaede?"

Shippo adverted his eyes slightly.

"Well, yes…and no. I mean, for me, Kaede's place is a house, but…"—he turned his gaze back up to the miko's—"it's just not a home."

Kagome gazed earnestly at the little kit, searching his wide, emotion-filled emerald eyes.

"And what makes a house a home?" she murmured gently, voice scarcely above a whisper.

Shippo tried to stop his tears. He really did. He was a demon, right? A powerful fox demon!

But he was still just a kid. He leapt for Kagome, clinging to her shirt and sobbing. Kagome put comforting arms around her little friend, stroking his fire-red hair. She was silent, willing to listen, when the kit began to choke out his reply.

"It's home when…when…you have a family that loves you!" he stammered.

And with that, Kagome's heart just broke for the poor little fox.

"Are you saying that Kaede doesn't love you?" she pressed, allowing the kitsune to release the feelings he'd been holding longer than was probably healthy. "Or Rin?"

"No," moaned Shippo, "Kaede and Rin are both really nice to me, and Rin is fun to play with," he admitted. "But…they're not the same as you!" Another spasm of sobs racked his body and Kagome held the child closer.

"You…you were the first person I bonded with after my parents died," he continued, "You and Inuyasha helped me get revenge, and then you took care of me and you were nice to me and you were always there to listen," Shippo paused, hesitating. Should he really add this next thought?

…Yes. He had to let her know.

"Kagome, you remind me of my mother," he finally said, clinging to her tighter. "My real mother's dead, and when you left, it was like that pain all over again! Of course the others were there to help, but it still hurt on the inside."

Again, he met Kagome's eyes, those brown depths now, too, just beginning to brim with unshed tears at the kit's confession.

"Shippo…" she whispered, voice hoarse with growing emotions.

"Kagome, I want you to fill that role. I need you to!" Shippo sobbed. "I need to have a mother again."

The miko was lost for words. All she could do now was just hold the kit, let him cry it all out. The stayed that way for several minutes until Shippo finally spoke up again.

"So can I stay here?" he murmured, voice still thick with emotion.

Kagome wanted to say yes. She really, really wanted to say yes. She would be more than happy to take that role for Shippo.

But this wasn't just her house.

She kissed the child gently on the top of his head.

"Well, you can certainly stay at least for the night," she confirmed. "I'll talk to Inuyasha about you staying permanently. Ok?"

Shippo nodded dully.

"Ok."

He took a minute to hug the miko tightly with his tiny arms.

"Thank you, Kagome. I love you."

"Love you, too, Shippo," whispered the miko. "Go to bed now, hmm?"

The kitsune smiled, leaping down.

"Ok!"

.oOo.

Inuyasha was already half-asleep when Kagome walked in, but certainly awake enough to notice. He opened his golden eyes and shifted his position to look quizzically at his wife.

"What took you so long?" he grumbled.

"Sorry, I was talking to Shippo," Kagome responded quickly, cutting off there. Was now really the right time to ask?

The hanyou, though, sensed her hesitation.

"…And? What did he say?" he pressed. Kagome hesitated, them blurted the kit's question aloud.

"Can Shippo stay with us?"

"Eh?" gasped the hanyou. Though Kagome felt no doubt that deep down Inuyasha and Shippo felt some sort of strong bond between them, there was no denying the "friendly rivalry" that often masked said bond.

"Well…he has no where else to go…"

"I thought he was staying with Kaede. That's were he's been for three years. Why can't it stay that way?"

"Well…" Kagome repeated. She sighed, mustering up a bit of courage, before launching into the relaying of the entire conversation she'd just had with Shippo. "Besides," she added at the end, whispering her afterthought as she slowly snaked an arm around her husband, staring earnestly, even a little desperately, into his eyes. "Every married couple winds up with kids eventually, right?"

Inuyasha was speechless, blinking a few times to let the thoughts register. When it finally did sink in, he shook his head gently, though not in a disapproving manner; rather, more like trying to clear it from unwanted thoughts. A small smile rested upon his lips.

"All right, fine," he permitted lightly. "If you feel so strongly about it. The kit can stay."

Kagome beamed at her husband, leaning over and pecking him quickly on the nose.

"Thank you, Inuyasha. Shippo will be ecstatic."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, but there was no scorn in his gaze, or was there any in his voice when he replied.

"Keh."

And so the kit was the first.

.oOo.

Author's Note

I thought it might be nice to start out with Shippo and how he became an "official" member of the family. ;)