-1-

Sango stared out of the window with a far-off look on her face. As she scanned the trees in the far-off woods, her mind was wandering to her life and how much it had changed in the two years since Naraku's demise. If Midoriko herself where to tell Sango that she would be in the position she was now, she would have laughed in the priestess' face before emphatically denying the possibility of anything like that would happen, however, they do say never to say never… whoever they are.

She was cut out of her musings and grimaced after feeling a sharp pain at her breast. With a frown, she regarded the bundle in her arms that was latched to her breast with only hunger on his little mind.

"Not again…" she rolled her eyes before setting the baby in his crib. "The price of having a yōkai child."

She sighed. Her mate had told her that yōkai children matured faster than their human counterparts, however she wasn't expecting her newborn to come out with fangs. Despite being duller than her mate's teeth, they were still sharp enough to pierce human flesh.

Sango assessed the damage, glad that she could see no blood, but it still hurt. She took a minute to lean over the crib and smirked at her son, giggling at her as if nothing had happened. "You're lucky I love you, kiddo."

She pushed off from the crib and turned in the one room hut to face a corner containing bandages and ointments she had received from Kaede, Jinenji, and Kagome. It was embarrassing that the three made sure to keep her hut stocked with herbs for such injuries, but it was endearing at the same time for them to take care of her.

She opened a clear jar of foul smelling ointment, scooping just a bit of it onto her finger. Her other hand parted her kimono just enough to give her more access to her chest. She had just smeared the ointment onto her breast when she heard the door open followed by heavy footsteps coming toward her.

"Sango…"

Sango smirked at the sound of her husband's voice and turned to face him, not even closing her kimono. There was no need as he had seen her in various states of undress before.

"You'll never guess what your son did," she said sarcastically.

"My son?" he grinned. "Since he is now only mine, I assume he bit you yet again."

"Bingo, Sesshōmaru." Sango turned around again, ready to finish dressing her "wound" when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist.

"Would you like me to kiss it better?"

She couldn't see his face, but she was sure he had that lopsided grin he reserved for when they were alone. She put her hands on his wrists and rolled her eyes, "I just put on some of that ointment. I'm sure you didn't like the taste of it before."

"True. I have learned my lesson…"

Sango felt his arms loosen around her waist and she thought she was free, but only for a few seconds before his arms tightened around her.

"I will wash it off this time."

Sango sighed. It seemed that sometime after marrying/mating, she had awoken the pervert in him. Not that she minded, this side of him was obviously much more fun than the pompous cold-blooded killer, but considering that their son was just a few feet away, she had to nix that in the bud.

"Kohaku is right there."

"Yes," he tightened an arm while his other hand undid the obi of her silk kimono. "I too see him there."

Sango giggled as his hand left feathery touches on her stomach, "You know what I mean. We don't want to mentally scar him forever."

"He is a pup. He is not paying attention nor will he remember anything." He gently kissed the junction between her neck and shoulders where her mark was. His tongue darted out to trace the slightly raised flesh, making her gasp which only caused him to pull her closer to him and bury his head further into her neck, however, an unpleasant scent coming from outside the hut forced his to tear his mouth from her sweet flesh.

"Sesshō-"

"Dress quickly," he answered her interrupted question with irritability. "The monk is on his way."

Sango did as her husband asked, wincing at the tone of his voice. Sesshōmaru had certainly begun to "lighten up" as Kagome called it, thanks to Sango and Rin's influence, however when Miroku and his brother were concerned, he was the same old Sesshōmaru.

Miroku stumbled into the hut, clearly inebriated.

"Who gave you sake?" Sango asked, making her way to the falling monk, ignoring the growl from behind her.

"My dear Sango," he slurred. "I'm a free spirit… I do not *hic* have to answer to anyone!" he grabbed onto her waist to hoist himself up.

"You will have to answer to me if you do not unhand her!" Sesshōmaru growled, readying his claws.

Miroku did as he was told and pulled himself up using the door frame, "Don't worry *hic* Sesshōm'ru. I jus' came to tell you *hic* that the party is starting."

"Oh, thank you Miroku. We'll be there in a minute." Sango watched her friend leave the hut and headed to the crib to see Kohaku sleeping peacefully in his crib. She hated to have to take him to the party, but seeing as no one was going to be watching him, she would have to. Which meant, he was going to be hell to put back to sleep later on.

"I shall stay with Kohaku." Sesshōmaru stated.

"Oh no you don't. You promised you'd be there with me."

"I did?"

Sango gently scooped the baby into her arms, holding him close to her body. "You did, or is your old age finally getting to you?"

"Woman, watch it," he growled.

"Or what?" she smirked. She loved teasing him - something that she never would have attempted a year ago.

Sesshōmaru locked his eyes onto hers, lips twitching at the sight of her gulping due to his intense stare. He took a few steps to stand right in front of her and leaned down to whisper something in her ear. Her eyes shot open and her cheeks became rosy before he took Kohaku from her and headed out the door.

"Damn him…"

-2-

"I should have come to take you home a day later," Sesshōmaru sighed as he sat against a tree branch, watching Kirara run around with a few of the village children. Kagome was serving the villagers food, dressed in her priestess garb with a necklace of green pine needles around her neck and a santa hat that she had kept in her hut from years ago. Beside her was Inuyasha wearing a similar hat, with Shippō on his lap, no doubt telling "santa" what he wanted for Christmas.

"And miss the festivities?" Sango asked, bouncing a now wide awake Kohaku on her thigh.

"Precisely."

"Aw," she hit him on the bicep with her free hand. "Don't be such a party pooper."

"Pardon?"

Sango laughed. "It's not as it sounds. I heard it from Kagome. It means to negatively impact the party atmosphere."

"I am not being a… party pooper."

"Oh?" Sango laughed yet again, this time at the sound of the phrase spilling from his lips as if they were tarnishing his regal image. "Prove it."

Sesshōmaru scanned the clearing, not taking long to find what he was looking for. He then saw Rin decorating a small pine tree that Inuyasha had cut to make a rather pathetic looking Christmas tree. If Sesshōmaru had known of this holiday and were to celebrate it back at his fortress, the tree would have been larger and less sickly looking. Even so, Rin seemed to be having fun.

"Rin!" he called out to her.

The nine year old girl put down the blown glass ornaments and skipped to where Sesshōmaru was sitting. "Yes, Sesshōmaru-sama?"

"Watch Kohaku."

"Huh?" Sango looked at her husband in confusion, wondering what he was up to. He plucked the baby from her arms, placed him in a basket that Sango had the foresight to bring, and handed him to Rin.

"Hai, Sesshōmaru-sama!" Rin smiled at the baby and skipped back to the tree.

"She shouldn't be skipping with him like that!" The worried mother in Sango was about to rush toward Rin and Kohaku, but Sesshōmaru grasped her arm, pulling her away from the tree they sat against.

"Where are we going?"

"To show you how much of a… party pooper… I am."

"Oh no…" Sango immediately thought he was going to pick a fight with Inuyasha, seeing as they were headed that way, but her confusion returned as they passed both Inuyasha and Kagome. They stopped just in front of a tree and Sesshōmaru smirked as he pointed up at a single tree branch. From it, hung a sprig of mistletoe with a red ribbon around it.

"See… I am participating," with that said, he pulled Sango to him, crashing his lips to hers.

Kagome, having seen the two head toward the mistletoe, stopped the progression of villagers and pointed to the couple under the plant.

"Look, the first kiss under the mistletoe!"

She and the villagers clapped, however their clapping dwindled as the kiss that started tame enough grew more passionate than what was appropriate. Some of the villagers stood slack jawed while others snickered at the public display of affection.

"Sesshōm'ru *hic* you dog you!" Miroku cackled, earning him a stony glare from Kagome and a rather hard smack on the head from Inuyasha, making him lose his balance and careen face first into the small amount of snow that had fallen.

"Um," Kagome chuckled nervously, "Kids, avert your eyes."

Of course the kids did the exact opposite, all except Shippō who actually did listen and Rin who mumbled something about embarrassing adults while focusing her attention on the tree.

At that moment, Kaede chose to join the rest of the village with a platter of fruitcake in her hands. Kagome had given her the recipe, and she was keen on having the villagers taste it.

"Who wants to try this fruit cake?" she asked, presenting the platter to the villagers. However, her optimism fell as she saw their faces and her gaze shifted to where they were looking. In her shock, the platter fell into the snow and she promptly fainted.

"Was this the Christmas you were expecting, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, a slight annoyed look on his face. He wasn't expecting an answer, but what he got from her surprised him nonetheless.

"Well, at least they're enjoying themselves," she looked at him and smiled. "I guess that's all that matters." With that, she followed the villagers as they retreated into their respective huts, leaving a bewildered Inuyasha behind.

"Are you serious?" he angrily pulled off the Santa hat, throwing it to the ground as he followed his wife to their hut. "Of course have her see the positive in every fucking thing!"

"Well Kohaku," Rin scrutinized tree. It looked pitiful, but at least now it could look pitiful in style. She knelt down and tucked the baby's blanket securely around him before picking up the baby basket and heading toward the hut Sango used when in the village.

"There goes your first Christmas."

This is another Sango/Shesshōmaru story that got away from me. I always wanted to do a Christmas fic for this fandom and had the random thought of it being painful to breastfeed a demon baby so that's why he's there. I can't stop my brain from going off on ridiculous tangents. Though, it's kind of nice to just write and then see what throws up on the page. Like Miroku, I'm a free spirit. No outlines for me.