Just a quick note: most of these drabbles will feature Inukag and their kids, but there were will be a few that aren't.

Spooktober Day 10

Pumpkins

A red truck pulled into the driveway and amber eyes lit up with glee as a wide smile stretched across a young face. Scrambling down from the window seat in the living room, Tai giggle and zoomed into the kitchen where Kagome was layering the table with old newspapers and Izayoi was laying some down on the floor. "He's back!" he announced with an excited bounce and his sister squealed in reply, abandoning her job and zooming across the tile to meet him at the door, Tai right on her heels.

Rolling her eyes, but with a tolerant smile, Kagome shook her head and finished spreading out the old newspapers on the floor so she wasn't spending half the night mopping. She could hear the kids chattering excitedly as they waited anxiously at the door for their father to enter with reason he'd been gone for half an hour.

The door opened and the two young half-demon's let out twin cheers and Kagome could hear her husband's amused chuckling as he shut the door behind him.

"They're huge, Daddy!" Izayoi exclaimed. "Oh, I want that one! That one's mine!" Tai was too busy giggling in excitement to say much else.

"Go change into old clothes," Inuyasha instructed. "It's gonna get messy, and mom'll kill you if you get your school clothes dirty."

With twin cries of, "'Kay!" two sets of footsteps zoomed across the floor then raced up the stairs to change as their father bid them.

Smiling, Kagome looked up as Inuyasha strolled into the kitchen carrying two very large and round pumpkins in each arm, stepping back as he walked up to the table and set them down with a grunt. She arched a brow as she studied the massive squash sitting on her kitchen table.

"I thought Iz was exaggerating, but," Kagome started, shaking her head. "They are quite large, Inuyasha. Didn't they have anything smaller?"

Inuyasha shrugged, rolling his shoulders. "Yeah, but all the small ones were irregularly shaped or didn't look very healthy. Besides, I know how excited they were for this. Figured why the hell not."

Kagome sighed and reached up to tug affectionately on his ear. "Pushover," she teased. Inuyasha didn't deny it and leaned in for a quick kiss to which she happily gave.

"We're ready!" Tai and Izayoi screeched as she came skidding back into the kitchen, wearing clothes they wore when playing outside or doing any sort of craft that could get messy.

"Have at it," Inuyasha said with a wave of his hand and with more excited squealing, the kids each claimed a chair – Tai had to kneel in his in order to reach his chosen pumpkin – and immediately started tracing the pattern they'd selected previously onto the uneven surface while their parents stood back and silently supervised.

After they'd traced the pattern to the best of their ability, Inuyasha and Kagome stepped in to assist with the carving, sitting in the chairs themselves then pulling the kids onto their laps. Izayoi, of course, sat with Inuyasha while Tai was content with his mother as she carved out the lid using a knife and set it aside. Her husband opted to use his claws which, Kagome was slightly envious, worked much better for scooping out the innards than a regular spoon or ladle.

After all the guts were removed, Kagome picked out the seeds and set them aside to bake later for a hard-earned snack and with a child-sized knife, she carefully guided her son's hand along the permeant parker that depicted the likeness of some kind of fanged monster with three eyes, but for the life of her Kagome couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be.

Izayoi had decided on something a little bit more complicated, the silhouette of a dog – not a wolf – howling at the moon, but with her father's patient guidance and instruction, she was confident as she dug into the squash with a claw and carved out the pattern, beaming the entire time.

Two hours later the finished products of their children's dedicated effort sat proudly on the front porch steps, lit from within by a single flame and bearing their signature for all to see. A pair of tuckered half-demons dragged themselves up the stairs to get a bath and head to bed by the gentle coaxing of their father as he followed up after them to wash them up and tuck them in.

Inuyasha came back downstairs an hour later to find his wife donned in one of his old t-shirts sitting sat the table, perched on a chair and biting her lip as she put the finishing touches to the mid-sized pumpkin he'd also purchased just for them. Quirking a half-smile, he plodded over and swung his leg over so he could sit behind her with her situated comfortable between his legs. His arms went around her waist and he rested his chin on her shoulder as he got a good look at what she'd carved.

Immediately his face softened and he turned his head to kiss her neck. Kagome had carved out a beautiful replica of the tree in which they'd first met under its massive branches, complete with details like grooves in the bark and individual leaves.

Wordlessly Inuyasha extended a hand and using the tip of his claw, he added to the beautiful art, carving a miniscule detail into the large tree trunk and once Kagome recognized what he was doing, her smiled and turned her head to give her own kiss to his jaw. He tilted his head just in time and claimed her lips instead, giving the woman he loved more than his own life a sweet, loving kiss.

I+K