Chapter 2
I would like to thank The Golden Lilys Secret, Rose Haven, and Raven2010 for the names. I loved them :D
I ended up choosing a name provided by The Golden Lilys Secret for Kagome's baby. Though since I found names I liked as well from Rose Haven and Raven2010 I decided to name Sango and Miroku's kids. So once again thank you! I loved the names.
Kagome cried out in pain as a contraction slammed into her. "Is Kagome alright?" Shippo asked worriedly as he held his tail.
"Yeah she's fine." Miroku said picking the child up. "Child birth is just painful. Remember when Sango was giving birth?"
Shippo went pale at the memory of Sango pregnant and turned to Miroku. "Please never get her pregnant again." That one comment seemed to break the tense air around the group of men outside the hut. Sango had been a nightmare when pregnant. To be honest everyone was surprised that the town and Miroku were still intact from the event.
"She wasn't that bad..." Miroku said trying to defend his absent wife.
"Miroku." Kouga said when he was able to stop laughing at the memory. "I grew up in a pack of wolf demons. Pregnant demoness' are not something to mess with and Sango was scarier."
A scream was heard from inside the hut and a moment later a whimpering Inuyasha exited.
"What happened to you?" Kouga asked worriedly at the pained look on Inuyasha's face.
"She broke my hand!" Inuyasha exclaimed as he held his hand gingerly. Miroku and Kouga broke out into laughter as Inuyasha continued to whimper.
"I'm sure it's not broken." Kouga said trying to regain his calm.
"Nope I've broken plenty of things and trust me she broke my hand." Inuyasha said as he mentally cursed his temporary human form. "Kouga would you be a friend and go in while I look for someone to wrap my hand?" Inuyasha asked after a moment of thought. Kaede said that it looked like it would still be a while so Inuyasha thought it might be funny to watch Kagome break the smirking wolf's hand this time.
"Are you sure?" Kouga asked cautiously as he looked between Inuyasha and the hut. Inuyasha nodded and walked away. Kouga looked at the door as he heard another pained scream. When he entered he went to Kagome's side instantly. "How's it coming?" He asked Kaede and Sango.
"Slowly." Sango said with a sigh. "Why are you in here?" She asked when she realized that he didn't look like he was about to leave.
"Inuyasha asked me to keep Kagome company. He's going to get his hand bandaged. By the way nice job with that Kagome." Kouga said taking a seat next to Kagome. Kagome laughed slightly in response. "Anyway I've witnessed and even helped with dozens of demoness' births so you don't gotta worry about me." He said as Kaede was about to argue. She sighed and allowed him to stay. "How you holding up?" He asked wiping her forehead with a damp cloth.
"Kaede says I'm doing well." Kagome said in a sarcastic tone.
"You haven't reached the stage where you threaten to start cutting balls off. So I'd say you're doing rather well." Kouga said trying to lighten the mood. "You should hear some of the things that demoness' say when they're giving birth. I heard it once when I was a child and spent the next few weeks running away from the women in the cave in fear." Kouga said with a laugh. Kagome could only imagine it and somehow found the ability to laugh as well.
"Oooooow!" Kagome cried out as a large contraction hit her.
Kaede checked her and with a surprised look on her face told Kagome it was time to push. Kagome grabbed Kouga's hand and held on for dear life as she did as she was told. Things picked up at that point and to everyone surprise within ten minutes it was over. The child cried as it was taken to be cleaned.
"You did amazingly well child." Kaede said proudly to Kagome.
"You were amazing Kagome." Kouga said rubbing her hand.
"Congratulation Kagome you've got a little girl." Sango said handing her the clean blanketed baby.
Kagome cooed as she looked at her child. She was so cute.
"She looks just like you." Kouga said as he admired the child. Kagome agreed. The little girl had long raven black hair and fair skin. "You can't even tell she's a half-demon." He said as he looked at her.
Sango chuckled and moved some of the hair aside causing both Kagome and Kouga to laugh. Sitting hidden by the massive amounts of hair were two little puppy ears. "There's the demon blood for you."
"I've always wondered if that was just part of Inuyasha's family or what?" Kagome said as she gently petted the fluffy black ear. 'Well at least that answers that.' Kagome thought to herself with a sigh.
"It's actually common for all of the types of dog half-demons. Wolves included." Kouga said thoughtfully. Since there weren't ever many half-demons most people thought it was just something special to Inuyasha's bloodline. When she heard that a part of Kagome's heart fell.
"Is that so?" Kagome whispered. She had been hoping that the ears were an obvious sign of who the father was but apparently not. Kagome heard a 'Wait! What?' from outside and braced herself as Inuyasha came flying in the hut.
"I missed it?" He asked in disbelief. When he saw the bundle in Kagome's arms he deflated a bit. He had missed the birth of his first child.
"Come here." Kagome said with a soft tired smile. "Look at her." Kagome said turning the little girl slightly so Inuyasha could see her.
Inuyasha cooed at the baby as he looked at her. "She is beautiful just like her mother."
"Thank you." Kagome smiled. Kagome turned the little girl back towards her and gasped when she saw the baby open her eyes and blink at her. "Oooh." She whispered. "Hey sweetheart. I'm your mommy." The baby giggled happily in response.
"She's even got your eyes." Kouga said with a smile. "If it wasn't for the ears she'd be an exact replica of you." Kagome laughed but had to agree he was right. The only sign of the father were the ears and either of the two men in the room could have contributed that feature.
'Who's your father little one?' Kagome thought to herself as she looked the child over for any possible answer but none came. She had been hoping that if it was Kouga's child it wouldn't be obvious but at the same time she had expected to be able to tell. 'What kind of mother does that make me if I can't even tell who the father of my child is?' Kagome thought to herself slightly depressed.
"Ok its time for the men to leave." Kaede said shooing the two men out. "We need to clean up Kagome." The two men were forced out of the hut and after a little while Sango followed.
"Can I go back in?" Inuyasha asked impatiently.
"In a minute." Sango said. "Kagome wanted to talk to Kaede in private for a little while." Kouga looked at Sango surprised and could only guess what Kagome wanted to say.
~Inside~
"Kaede..." Kagome began slowly. "Please keep this a secret alright?" Kagome said looking at Kaede with pleading eyes.
"What is it child?" She asked concerned as she sat next to Kagome.
"Is there a way to find out in this time who the father of a child is?" Kagome whispered as quietly as she could. There was no way Kagome could go to her time and get a paternity test. If doctors noticed the difference in demon blood Kagome didn't even want to imagine the outcome. Kaede looked at Kagome in shock.
"Wait a moment." Kaede whispered back as she eyed the door. She dug through a nearby drawer and after whispering a few words Kagome didn't understand came back to sit next to Kagome. "Now explain." Kaede said in a normal voice. "I cast a barrier around the hut so no one can hear what we are talking about."
"Thank you." Kagome said with a sigh as she looked at her napping child. "I don't know who the father is." She paused. "Well I do know but I'm not sure ..." Kagome sighed and decided to explain everything to Kaede.
"So you're not sure if it's Kouga's child or Inuyasha's child." Kaede said thoughtfully.
"No I was hoping when the child was born I'd know but I don't. Does that make me a horrible mother that I can't tell who the father is?" Kagome asked looking at Kaede with pleading eyes.
"No child it doesn't. It is hard to pick out features normally when you do know who the parents are. To top it off she's almost an exact replica of you Kagome." Kaede said looking at the child who had just woken up a while ago.
"Yeah she is." Kagome said as she pet the girls cheek.
"If you want I can look into it for you child?" Kaede said thoughtfully. She was pretty sure she had heard of some such test.
The baby wriggled in Kagome's arms irritatedly. Her mother looked so distraught. Even though the adults didn't think she could understand she did. 'Mommy! Daddy is the one that smells good.' She thought to herself as she let out a small cry.
"Have you thought of a name for the child yet?" Kaede asked realizing Kagome hadn't gotten a chance to name the child. "Since you're not sure who the father is I think you should be the one to name the babe."
Kagome thought about what Kaede had to say and nodded. "I think I'm gonna name you Moriko. Do you like that?" Kagome asked after a while as she gazed at the baby. She giggled happily. "I'll take that as a yes." Kagome giggled and tickled the baby.
'Moriko. Mommy picks pretty names.' Moriko thought to herself happily. 'I hope Daddy likes my name.'
"Moriko child of the forest. Interesting choice child." Kaede said thoughtfully.
"Well I may not know for sure who her father is but I do know that he's from the wild." Kagome said with a slight blush.
"No worries child it is a beautiful name just as she is a beautiful girl and we'll figure out who her father is soon." Kaede said patting Kagome's shoulder as she got up from her seat. She walked over to the drawer she had been at before whispered a few more words and Kagome could feel the barrier she had erected dissipate.
'Can't Mommy smell who Daddy is?' Moriko thought questioningly as she looked at her mother.
Kagome rearranged the sheets around herself and Moriko then asked if Kaede could tell everyone they could come in. A moment later everyone was hurrying in to see the new baby. "She's so tiny." Shippo said in amazement as he gazed down at the little girl from his perch on Sango's shoulder. "What's her name?"
"Moriko." Kagome said with a smile.
Everyone said how cute the name was and how much she resembled Kagome. "If I didn't know better I wouldn't even be able to say who the father was." Miroku said with a laugh as he looked at the baby. "She looks exactly like Kagome."
"Hey! She resembles me a little..." Inuyasha said letting his sentence trail off. Even he couldn't find any resemblance of himself in the child. Kouga was in the same boat as Inuyasha. The difference was that Kouga knew the child might or might not be his. 'She doesn't resemble either of us.' Kouga thought to himself slightly annoyed. 'She doesn't even smell like a dog or a wolf. She just smells like Kagome like jasmine.'
Moriko looked at her father and giggled happily. 'Daddy said he likes my name. He also said I'm beautiful.'
"She's so active considering she was only born less then an hour ago." Kagome said with a tired laugh.
"She's got demon blood in her so its only natural." Kouga said with a smile as he looked at the wide eyed child.
"Alright its time for Kagome and the babe to sleep." Kaede said shooing everyone out. "They have both had a tiring day." Inuyasha held firm against Kaede's shooing and with a sigh she let him stay. "I suppose it'll be alright if you stay."
"You suppose! I'm the father!" Inuyasha huffed as he made his way over to the bed and sat down next to Kagome. Kaede shook her head with a sigh and left the hut.
"She's just trying to help." Kagome said with a tired smile. She let out a yawn and laughed when Moriko let one out as well. "You must be tired as well. I didn't notice before but she's got tiny little canines." Kagome said with a laugh as Moriko yawned again. 'Well there's another demon trait.' Kagome thought with a smile. 'Ugh gotta be careful of those when feeding her.' Kagome thought with a wince. They looked small but sharp.
"You should both get some rest." Inuyasha said with a smile as he kissed both of them on the forehead. Moriko giggled and grabbed for some of his hair as it tickled her face causing both the adults to burst out into laughter. Then Inuyasha yelped as she pulled a little too hard.
"Looks like you might need to start wearing your hair up." Kagome said with a laugh. Inuyasha grumbled but agreed that he might.
"Kagome." Inuyasha said with a sigh as he sat down. Kagome looked at him in surprise as she heard the tone he had. "Why did you name her by yourself? She's my child as well so why couldn't I have been a part of it?" Inuyasha asked with an obvious hurt look on his face.
'Mommy why is he hurt? I like him please make him feel better.' Moriko thought as she looked at her mother with pleading eyes that Kagome didn't notice as she looked at Inuyasha.
"I..." Kagome paused and sighed. She had no idea what to tell him. 'Sorry Inuyasha I wasn't sure who the father was so I decided to name her on my own. Yeah that would go over great.' Kagome thought to herself irritatedly. "I don't know. Kaede asked what her name was and it just came to mind. I'm sorry I should have talked to you. Do you hate the name?" Kagome asked looking at him with pleading eyes.
Inuyasha sighed. "No I like the name I just wanted to be a part of naming her thats all."
Weeks passed quickly as Kagome adjusted to her new role as mother. To her amazement within two weeks of being born Moriko was already trying to walk. The first time she had everyone had been shocked cause she stood up, walked over to Shippo, and gave his tail a squeeze causing him to yelp. The whole group had broken down into laughter when she refused to release the tail causing Shippo to start whining.
To everyones shock Moriko adored both Inuyasha and Kouga. If she wasn't with one she was most likely with the other. "Sango where's Moriko?" Kagome asked as she came back from washing some clothes.
"Where else would she be?" Sango said with a giggle as she pointed towards the nearby tree-line. Kagome thanked her and headed in the direction Sango had pointed.
"Oooooh." Kagome whispered when she got there. Kouga was leaning against a tree asleep and Moriko was curled up in his arms asleep. It was a truly heartwarming sight. 'She really loves these two guys.' Kagome thought with a smile as she gently brushed Moriko's hair aside and lightly rubbed one of her soft puppy ears. The child purred in her sleep at the touch causing Kagome to giggle softly.
"Hey." Kouga whispered as he opened his eyes and looked at Kagome.
"Oh! Hey. I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you." She said looking at him in surprise.
"No its alright. This little monster here crawled up on me and fell asleep. Next thing I knew I was asleep." He chuckled as he looked down at the little girl.
"What can I say she adores you." Kagome said with a soft smile.
"I also adore her." Kouga said not looking up at Kagome. Kagome's heart wrenched slightly at the tone of his voice. "She very well could be mine." He whispered finally looking up at Kagome. "Maybe she senses it."
"She's just as close with Inuyasha." Kagome said defensively as she reached down to pick up the slumbering child. "Anyway it's time to eat." She said standing up. Kouga sighed but nodded.
That night Kagome asked Kaede if they could talk alone. "Any luck with what I asked you?" Kagome asked hopefully.
"I believe I might have found it but it is complicated." Kaede said thoughtfully. "It is going to be hard to acquire the items needed."
"Just tell me what is needed and where it can be found." Kagome said with determination.
Kaede sighed but listed off what would be needed and Kagome's eyes widened. It was a long difficult list. "The most complicated part will probably be getting what you need without Kouga and Inuyasha knowing." Kaede said seriously.
"It doesn't matter if Kouga knows he already thinks the kid might be his but Inuyasha and the others can't know." Kagome said looking over were the group was talking animatedly. "Do you think I'm fit enough to travel yet?"
"As long as you take it easy you should be fine." Kaede said thoughtfully.
"Alright then we will continue on our journey in the morning. We've wasted too much time already." Kagome said with a nod. It had been almost two years since they had fought Naraku and they were still trying to gather the last few remnants of the shikon no tama. Kagome looked at the almost completed jewel and noted how it looked like there were only a half dozen more pieces to collect.
Kagome walked over to the group and told them her decision. The group agreed it was time to continue. "What are you planning on doing?" Sango asked looking at Kagome. "In the past I stayed behind to watch after the twins but what are you planning on doing now that you have Moriko?"
Kagome sighed. Sango had a point. She couldn't bare the thought of putting Moriko in danger but at the same time Kagome had to be a part of collecting the jewel. It was her responsibility. "I have to go. I need to see this through till the end."
"Plus we might never find the jewel shards without you." Miroku said matter of factly.
"You should come Sango." Shippo said continuing quickly before anyone could interupt him. "Things have calmed down a lot since two years ago. "If anything does happen Kirara and I can take care of the babies. Right Kirara?" Kirara meowed in confirmation and rubbed her head against Sango's cheek while letting out a purr.
The group looked over to where Moriko was playing with the two babies. "She really doesn't look like she's younger then them. Soon enough Jade and Ryo are going to think that Moriko is older then them." Sango said with a laugh.
"It is a little scary how fast she's growing." Kagome admitted. She was only a few weeks old but the demon blood was making her age quickly. Moriko already looked to be about a year old already except she could walk flawlessly.
After a few hours more of talking it was decided that everyone and the three children Moriko, Jade, and Ryo would go in search of the jewel shards. They set out preparing for bed since they had a busy morning ahead of them.
'That sounds exciting.' Moriko thought happily to herself as she listened in on the adult's conversation.
That is it for now. I hope you all liked this chapter.
Please Read and Review!
Until next time take care :D