Ch.3 "Home Again."

There seemed to be no letup in the falling snow and she hurried across the village grounds and towards her home. She gave herself a quick brush off and a shake of her head, knocking off the loose snow. Once inside, she set about getting the fire going once more, as the faint embers were all that were left of her fire from this afternoon. Fire crackling away again, she hurried about in getting the stew warmed up before Inuyasha came home.

She wanted him to come home to a warm house and a waiting meal, like usual. She'd gotten pretty use to this steady routine of hers. She knew how much time she needed and how long it would be until he returned.

Soon the fire had warmed the hut nicely and the evening's meal for Inuyasha was warmed and waiting. She checked her inventory one more time, taking an account of what she had left as well as the decimated remains of her first aid kit.

Wow. Not much left in here. I'd better get stocked up on more cotton wadding and some more linen cloths. I'm all out of bandages and ointments too. She rummaged through the remnants of the first-aid pack, finding little of her once well-stocked bag now remaining.

She had picked up cooking quickly though. Inuyasha would try out her attempts at cooking. Sometimes it came out all right, sometimes not. But she was working at it.

An old left behind school textbook was her quiet time companion as she waited. It was dark out already and Inuyasha was still not home. She was stirring the pot's contents when she heard a commotion outside.

"Lord Inuyasha!" Someone from outside and not too far away had called out. Kagome hurried to the screen in her front doorway, holding up her hand to her head as she exited out into the falling snow to see who had called out.

The telltale torchlight from the villagers heading down the road told her where the cry had come from. She hurried after them, seeing her mate emerge from the darkness into the soft glow of torchlight of the villagers who'd spotted him. She saw him staggering along, obviously injured.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called to him and hurried to his side, getting him to lean on her in support. "Oh no. Your shoulder-" He tried to brush it off.

"Forget it. It's nothing." He turned away and sneezed, the force of his blast nearly knocked them into one-another. Kagome nearly caught him, laying her hand to his forehead, feeling the heat radiating from his skin. Inuyasha snorted his runny nose back, annoyed at his weaken state.

"You're a wreck, Inuyasha! Sick as a dog!" She swiftly got him home and inside the warm hut, sitting him down by the fire and examined him closer. He shook his head, shaking off the loose snow from his hair and showering everthing with water droplets around him. This part he liked most of all about coming home. Even though his body would recover quickly enough, she would dress his injuries and fuss about him. He felt the tingle in his nose again, the feeling building up in him again and-

"Ahchoo!" His body jerked, making him fall over briefly to one side. Kagome propped him back up.

"Listen to yourself! If you'd just taken my jacket like I offered you wouldn't be in this terrible shape!" She scolded lovingly. Upset that he'd gone out ill dressed in the dead of winter and not taking care of his injury like he should. "Why didn't you cover the wounds?" She peeled off his wet karaginu and reached for her first aid kit.

"Keh! I don't know about all that ninja medicine you use and stuff. My body is strong enough to take it. It's this stupid cold I hate." He half-argued, enjoying her attention still. Kagome glanced up from her work, seeing him give her a sickly smile of appreciation at her nursing him like she always would. She was beginning to suspect he just wanted to be babied and have her take care of it, even if he did know what to do. She'd told him enough times how to do it.

"I think you like it too much and do it just to bug me." She suspected such. Inuyasha didn't want to upset her. He tried to change the subject.

"How are you feeling today, Kagome? Still queasy with the baby?" His concern was genuine, and for that she forgave his negligence.

"Yeah, a little. I'm just still getting adjusted to it." Kagome returned to stirring the pot on the fire, glad to have him home again. Suddenly she felt it again, the thump-thump in her abdomen. She gasped and stopped stirring.

"Kagome, what is it?" Inuyasha sat up, hearing her gasp like that. He was at her side in a second. She turned to look at him, a smile on her mouth.

"The baby just kicked again!" She was breathless when telling him. Inuyasha gasped a little too. His eyes went a bit wider.

"Really?!" He was excited. Kagome took his hand in hers and placed them on her body, right on top of where she felt the kick. They waited only s few seconds for it, then…

"Oh!" Kagome tweeted at the sudden sensation of the kick. She saw Inuyasha's eyes grow wider still and he smiled, happy to feel his child alive within his mate. "Did you-?"

"Yeah, I did! Wow!" Happiness twinkled in his eyes at knowing his child was coming, he would have a new member to his family.

"My son…my son..." Inuyasha spoke softly to the growing child in his mate's body, holding his hand to her abdomen.

Thump-thump! Inuyasha felt the baby kick again, as if answering to him 'Yeah, old man, I'm right here and I'll soon be joining you!' His life would be yet more complete by this and he was happy for it.

Safe at home and warmed by the fire, his body relaxed more in Kagome's company. The day's troubles and pains became so much more trivial to him.

So much so, that as Kagome returned to getting his supper ready and chatted on, he fell asleep on their bed. Kagome had just finished scooping out his meal and getting the vegetables in a bowl too that when she turned around to bring him his meal, she found her husband out cold, asleep. She laid the meal tray gently down beside his side of the bed then tucked him in a little. He snored ever so softly.

"Well, I guess eating can wait for a little while." She moved the pot up from the fire to keep it warm while Inuyasha slept.