Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but the Alternate Universe this story takes place in (as well as the story) belongs to me. I guess little Kaede does too. Ha! So there, I DO own something!

Chapter Fourteen: Breaking the News

May 13

"It's time!"

Hojo jumped out of the shower, pausing only long enough to throw on a robe before bolting from the bathroom when Kaede yelled. He skidded to a halt and ran back to check his reflection. Running his hands through his hair he realized there just wasn't time to look respectable enough. He ran back into the bedroom, and right into Kagome, who had been racing through the bedroom door with a piece of toast still sticking out of her mouth. He mumbled a quick apology after he hit the floor.

Laughter.

Her laughter.

Hojo looked into the mirror to see Kikyo looking at him sprawled on the floor and laughing merrily. He couldn't help but smile. It wasn't the most dignified entrance, but at least it made her laugh.

It was always a joy to hear her laugh. It made her eyes twinkle and her face light up. For the first year he knew her she would look surprised every time a laugh escaped, almost as if she had never heard a sound like that before. At least not coming from herself. Then again, there was not a lot for her to laugh about where she had lived before she came to him. Being able to make her laugh always made him feel like life was perfect.

But it wasn't perfect.

Not anymore.

Not with her sitting on the bank of some river where he had to watch fish swim across the face of his wife. Not with her sitting beside another man (demon, same thing practically).

Though at the moment the dog demon looked as if he would gladly take off his head. Hojo looked down and saw that his legs were still on top of Kagome, who had been knocked face down on the ground from the fall. Then he noticed what the dog demon was REALLY snarling about as he screamed at Kagome to keep her eyes closed. The robe wasn't exactly the most modest of attire.

Hojo made another apology and untangled himself from his new room mate. He would have changed clothes, but he couldn't afford to waste a moment of his time with his wife. Inuyasha would just have to keep growling and snarling.

Placing his hand on the mirror he gazed at his wife.

"Kikyo…"

She wiped a tear from her eye as she regained control of her laughter.

"Hojo… I missed you."

Kagome pushed at him a bit as she made room for herself by the mirror. It seemed odd that they would never say what they really wanted to say. The last time they saw each other in the mirror they simply stared. Hojo briefly wondered if this time they would ever speak of their hearts. One thing was for certain, Kikyo would never be left wondering how HE felt.

"I love you," he told his wife. "With all my heart I love you."

"That kid knew it was going to be five days!" exclaimed the dog demon, interrupting what was going to be a reciprocal declaration of love by Kikyo.

"I know!" Kagome laughed, "Weird, huh?"

"My child is NOT weird," snapped Kikyo, "She's gifted." She turned her attention to Kaede. "Hi baby, I miss you. I love you. Mommy is so proud of you."

Kaede beamed at her mother. "I drew a picture for you!" She held up the paper to the mirror, making Kikyo gasp.

"Let me see, sweetie," said Hojo as he touched the edge of the paper.

It was a crayon drawing of their family, sort of. Hojo and Kikyo were in the middle of the picture, Kaede and another child in front of them. Along the outside of the picture was Kagome, a creature he could only assume was the kit Kagome spoke of named Shippo, and Inuyasha.

"That's my sister," said Kaede proudly, pointing to the child beside her in the picture. "She can share my room, but she can't have my stuffed bunny. He's mine."

Hojo was impressed with his daughter's imagination. He was going to tell Kikyo that, but when he looked in the mirror she was looking at the drawing in shock. The dog demon was looking at it in horror.

"What?"

Kikyo covered her mouth for a moment, trying to hide her smile. Whenever she thought she was going to smile too big she always tried to cover it up. It was a shame. Her smile could light up a room. It never failed to make his heart speed up.

"Hojo… We're… I'm…" She blushed and looked down. Uncertain. Nervous?

"Kikyo… are you okay? Is every thing alright?" Suddenly HE was the one who was nervous. His mind was suddenly flooded with a million maladies that she could be falling victim from.

"Hojo… I need to tell you… I… I…"

"She's gonna have another brat."

Kikyo turned and punched Inuyasha in the eye. Not once had he ever seen his wife hit anyone before. It was kind of a turn on. Wait… she's what?

"What?" asked Kagome, who seemed to have paled considerably.

Pink cheeked, Kikyo turned her attention back to the mirror, to her husband. "I'm pregnant," she told him.

"Pregnant?"

She smiled gently. "Yes."

"I'm going to be a big sister," Kaede informed them.

Pregnant. His wife was pregnant.

"Are you well?" he asked anxiously. When she was pregnant with Kaede she had a rough time with the morning sickness. It broke something inside of him as he realized he couldn't be there to help her through it. He wasn't there to hold her hair back and rub her back. He wasn't there to get her a cold washcloth for her head or to get her some crackers to settle her stomach.

"A little morning sickness," she admitted.

"She throws up all the time," grumbled Inuyasha to Kagome. "All the time! And she's always in a bad mood about something."

Hojo ignored the dog demon as he began demanding that Kagome trade places with Kikyo and come back to him. "Are you getting enough to eat?" Was she getting enough vitamins? He wasn't there to make sure she had the right kinds of foods. He wasn't there to fetch her the things she craved. Sure nutrition was important, but so was making her happy. The midnight trips to the store to find pickles and peanut butter when she had been pregnant with Kaede had been sort of fun. He would return home and she would look at him as if he were some sort of hero, all for a simple trip to the store for her. He wasn't there to help her.

"Yes," she replied gently. "We eat meat that we catch and vegetables we find." They both ignored Inuyasha's comments that HE was the one to catch the food as he began poking at the water, most likely in hopes that he would be able to pierce the barrier that kept Kagome from him.

"Are you resting enough?"

She reached towards the rippling water, he placed his hand where hers hovered. He wasn't there to hold her. He wasn't there to touch her stomach. He wasn't there to lay his head on her lap and talk to their unborn child. He wasn't there to take pictures every week to track the progression of her growing belly!

"Can I see?" he asked hoarsely.

Kikyo pulled up at the hem of her shirt. Halfway up to her belly she frowned and glanced towards Inuyasha.

"Turn around," she told him.

His reply was a less than polite refusal involving words that made Hojo cover his young daughter's ears.

"Turn around, now!" she demanded. "I want to lift my shirt a bit."

His reply was, again, less than polite. This time it was accompanied by a declaration that he, in no way, wanted to see her "stupid" stomach, but he wasn't budging. For a moment Hojo wondered if she would slug him again. Instead she shrugged and began lifting her shirt for her husband.

"I'm not showing much," she frowned down at her stomach.

Hojo smiled at her as she turned so he could see from the side. "Not yet. Not for awhile yet." He traced his finger along the image of her belly. "You're beautiful."

She laughed. "Soon I'll be as big as a house."

He grinned. "And you'll still be beautiful."

His beautiful pregnant wife. Far out of his reach. Would he be able to live with the knowledge that somewhere… somewhen… his wife was having his baby and he wasn't able to be there? He had to get her back. He had to.

"I'll see you next month," suddenly sang out Kaede as she began to wave to her mother's wavering image.

"A month?" Inuyasha, Kagome, Kikyo, and Hojo spoke in unison.

Then just as suddenly as she had appeared, Kikyo was gone. And he was alone. Hojo dropped to his knees and hugged Kaede close to him. He held her tightly, unwilling to lose the feeling of the link between him and his wife.

"Kaede…will Mommy come home soon?" he asked his daughter, head bowed to rest on her small shoulder.

The little girl shook her head and pat his head. "Telling is cheating, Daddy. Besides," she looked up at Kagome gravely, "She has to find her own way."

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Author's Note: Thanks for your reviews! Hope people aren't too disappointed that Inuyasha and Kagome didn't play a bigger role in this chapter, but Hojo needed a chapter of his own.

Sorry it took so long to get this out. I've spent about a week in bed with a killer case of the flu. If there are any typos or bad grammar, I'm blaming it all on being sick.