Chapter Fourteen

"Inuyasha…" Kagome called for her mate from the bathing room. He stuck his head into the room and stared at his mate as she tried to scrub her body clean in the large bath. "I can't get this weird smell off… will you help me?" Kagome asked him. He merely smiled and walked into the bathing room.

"What's it smell like?" he asked as he approached his mate.

"I can't describe it… it's sweet but spicy…" Kagome said quietly as she sniffed her arm to try and identify the scent. "And it's all over me." Inuyasha stepped closer to her and inhaled deeply, grinning as he recognized the scent.

"Ah, that… that's just your scent, Kagome." He told her, partially lying.

"But my scent smells like lilacs…" Kagome frowned. "Did it change for some reason?"

"You could say that." He grinned as he pulled her out of the bath and into his arms. He moved his nose down to her neck and took a deep breath. "It's a wonderful scent, Kagome. I like it, so don't try to scrub it off." He kissed her mating mark affectionately as he drowned himself in her intoxicating scent. Kagome blushed lightly and turned her neck toward her mate to give him better access. He rewarded her with a gentle bite and a seductive growl that quickly aroused her. Inuyasha chuckled lightly now and stood up, hooking a clawed finger under his mate's chin to bring her face to his with a gentle kiss. "I think I'll join you in the bath…"

Inuyasha smiled as he carried his exhausted mate to their room. She was falling asleep in his arms, too exhausted to even get dressed after their passionate bath together. She was already tired all the time for some unknown reason, although Inuyasha secretly knew that reason. Now Kagome could barely even keep her eyes open long enough for Inuyasha to carry her to their room and put her down on the comfortable futon they shared.

Finally lying on the futon, Kagome thought she was going to get some rest. She started to close her eyes but Inuyasha gently shook her awake. "I need you to take something real quick. Then you can sleep." He told her, showing her a small blue pill.

"What is it?" Kagome asked with a yawn.

"A vitamin." He answered. "I don't want you to catch anything. You may be a hanyou, but your immune system is weaker because you only turned recently." This was a flat-out lie, but he couldn't tell her the truth yet. He was waiting for the perfect moment to tell her.

"Okay." Kagome smiled lightly. "Thank you." Inuyasha returned her smiled and gave her the pill, waiting until she swallowed it to give her a gentle kiss. Then he stood and turned to leave. Her voice stopped him at the door. "Inuyasha…" she said quietly. He turned to look at her and she smiled sleepily. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Inuyasha smiled tenderly at his mate. Then he turned and left, letting Kagome get some much-needed rest.

-break-

Kagome hummed happily as she gathered some wild herbs growing near the edge of the forest. She dared not venture more than ten feet into the forest without her mate, knowing he would get angry for her leaving his sight. Inuyasha sat high up in a tree near the center of the village, watching all that happened below as the village protector. Since the defeat of Naraku, Inuyasha had decided to be the village guardian, keeping bandits and wild yokai away from his home. The tree he sat in now had the best view of the village and surrounding area, all the way to the edge of the forest surrounding the village.

Inuyasha glanced in his mate's direction again, making sure she didn't travel too far into the forest as she gathered herbs. Truthfully, he didn't want her anywhere near the forest. Her new scent would surely attract hungry yokai and she could be attacked. Even though she was a hanyou, that didn't mean that she was immortal. She could still die… and the baby could die with her. Luckily her scent of pregnancy wasn't very strong yet, as she was only two weeks pregnant. But still…, Inuyasha couldn't help but worry.

"Oi! Inuyasha!" a voice called from below. Inuyasha looked down and found Shippou scurrying up the tree. He sat on a branch beside Inuyasha. "What're you doing?"

"Watching the village." Inuyasha responded, glancing at his mate once more before turning his attention to Shippou. "When did you and Miroku get back?"

"This morning. That nobleman sure lived far away… but he sure was rich. Miroku and I had trouble taking all our loot back to the village." Shippou laughed, earning a laugh from Inuyasha as well. Then his sharp ears detected something strange near his mate. He quickly turned to find her, frowning when he saw that she was doubled over and emptying the contents of her stomach onto the ground. "What's wrong with Kagome?!" Shippou exclaimed, seeing Kagome getting sick as well. Inuyasha frowned and quickly jumped down from the tree, ignoring Shippou in favor of rushing to his sick mate's side.

Kagome whimpered as she sank to her knees, holding her stomach. She had simply vomited out of nowhere… and now she knew she was going to vomit even more. As Inuyasha finally reached her side she leaned over and threw up again. Inuyasha quickly pulled her hair back from her face. He knelt beside her and gently rubbed her back as she continued to puke on the ground. When she finally stopped vomiting she burst into tears. She hated being sick enough to vomit!

"Inuyasha, why am I sick?" Kagome cried as her mate took his haori sleeve and wiped her face clean with it. Then he simply discarded his favored haori, caring more about Kagome's wellbeing at the moment than the red jacket his mother had made him. He pulled Kagome into his arms and held her close as she cried about being sick.

"It's okay, Kagome. You're not sick." He told her.

"Then why did I puke?!" Kagome cried. "You don't puke for no reason!"

"It's just… morning sickness." He finally decided to tell her about her pregnancy. "It's a normal symptom of pregnancy." Kagome looked up at him in surprise as she took in his words. He smiled gently at her as her eyes filled with even more tears.

"I'm… pregnant…?" she sniffed as she stared up at her mate. He nodded. "B-but I thought… y-you said… hanyou can't have children…"

"They can't… unless it's with their life mate." He told her. "We are life mates, Kagome… so we can have as many children together as we want."

"T-then I'm really… pregnant…?" Kagome started crying loudly again. She threw herself into her mate's arms and hugged him tightly. Her upset tears were now tears of joy. She was pregnant! She was going to be a mother! She was so happy!

"Kagome!" a worried voice came now. Inuyasha and Kagome looked up to find Shippou hurrying towards them with Sango, Miroku, Rin, and Kaede following closely. Shippou ran to Kagome, clearly distraught by his adopted mother's tears, as if her being sick wasn't enough to upset him. "Are you sick?" Shippou asked worriedly. Rin approached now, staring at her sister with concern.

"Shippou told us you were sick. Are you okay, Kagome?" she asked. Kagome sat back from Inuyasha and smiled through her tears.

"I'm… more than okay." She smiled even as she continued to cry. "I'm… I'm pregnant." Sango, Miroku, and Rin gasped in surprise at this, while Kaede smiled knowingly and Shippou moved closer to sniff his adopted mother. When he caught the scent of her pregnancy he smiled happily.

"She really is pregnant! I'm going to be a big brother!" he cheered.

"But… how?" Miroku questioned. "Hanyou are infertile…"

"Even hanyou may have children if it is with their life mate." Kaede said now, surprising everyone.

"You knew this and you didn't tell us?" Sango frowned.

"Inuyasha requested I keep that information to myself." Kaede chuckled. Now all eyes turned to Inuyasha, who was merely grinning smugly.

"Surprise."

-break-

"How long have you known?" Kagome asked her mate quietly as they lay in bed that night, resting after "celebrating" about her pregnancy. She snuggled close to his broad chest and smiled as he wrapped his strong arms around her, pulling her even closer to him.

"I've known since the moment he was conceived that night in our den." Inuyasha whispered in her ear.

"He?" Kagome questioned quietly, looking up at Inuyasha. He smiled gently and gave her a sweet kiss.

"From the scent I can tell that it's a boy. We're having a son, Kagome." He told her. Kagome smiled happily and hugged her mate, burying her face in his chest as she started to cry with joy again. She still couldn't believe it. She had thought they would never have children; that it was impossible… And yet she was pregnant…

"I'm so happy…" she cried quietly. "I've always, always wanted to be a mother…"

"I know." Inuyasha smiled lightly. "I know how upset you were when you found out that hanyou were infertile. I'm sorry I didn't tell you that life mates could have children… but I really wanted to surprise you."

"Thank you…" Kagome smiled happily at her mate. "This is the best surprise I've ever gotten."

-Hi! Aozora12 here! this is my very first fanfic ever, even though I do a lot of writing as a hobby. I would really appreciate reviews, and maybe some constructive criticism, but don't be too harsh on me. Still new to this ;) Anyways, thanks for reading and enjoy!