Family Matters

"You sure you'll be alright?"

"Shoo, shoo," Kagome said, shoving against his back, "you said you and Sango go every year, so just go." She pushed on her husband's back harder. He got a laugh out of it when he dug his heels in to stay put and she growled.

"You act like you don't want me here," he joked, leaning more of his weight back onto his wife. She fought to keep a frown, but it cracked with a chuckle when he turned halfway around to look at her. She removed her hands from his back and he stood upright once again. He hadn't been real sure of her mood in a few weeks, but she seemed to be in a much better mood the past few days. By better, that meant not melancholy. She had snipped at him yesterday when he questioned her aim with the bow in practice. Even given the wind, she should have been able to hit the center target, no problem. The comment alone would have been fine, but he made a second one and ended up face first in the ground with a snoot full of sand that had him sneezing for a good fifteen minutes after.

"I don't need to take the persimmons," he said, handing the dried fruit to her. She had insisted he take some form of snack, since he and Sango weren't likely to pass a market on their way through the mountains. He had his fill of breakfast that day, and he could catch small game if he or his friend got hungry, but the whole point of this trip was to hunt much larger game. They would catch a few deer and book it back to Sango's old village. There, they would visit with Kohaku a bit while they cured and smoked the meat. Plus, they had a limited amount of the dried persimmons, and he knew Kagome loved them…he did too, but he would rather the supply stay at home.

There was a knock at the door before it slid open to reveal the couple's friend ducked her head inside the house, asking if Inuyasha was ready to go.

"Yeah, about ten seconds," he replied as she slid the door back closed. He turned back to his wife, shoving the persimmons into her grasp. She stood on her toes to kiss him and see him off, ignoring the quiet sound of disgust out of the kitsune from his spot on the folded sleeping bag.

Kagome stood out to watch her friend and husband as they left. Their forms were finally disguised completely by the bare branches, and Kagome sighed. Two weeks was a long time. The longest they had been apart in almost eight months.

The first few days were fine, and she spent most of her spare time with Miroku and the kids. Ichiro was onto solid food now, but he had still been nursing from time to time, and he was not exactly happy about the sudden total weening. So, once a day Kagome would sooth the baby while her friend got some shut-eye. It was rather cold to be outside with an infant, so Kagome bundled up the children and headed out to Kaede's house.

"Did I ever tell you about the time my father tied me to a tree?" Sango asked, tossing one rabbit femur into the fire. Inuyasha shot her a bug-eyed look. His brows knit together in a confusion. He thought Sango had a good relationship with her father.

"Mn, apparently not," Sango laughed at her friend's reaction. She laced her fingers and stretched her arms out over her head.

"I thought you said your dad was a decent guy?"

Sango laughed again.

"Oh, he was, he was…It's just…where I'm from," she began, "it's just something you do with children, as part of your training." She paused to hold her chin on her fist.

"When a boy is seven, maybe eight, you tie them to a tree in the middle of the woods and give them a dagger, to make sure they can get out of the ropes find their way back home on their own. Normally it takes about a day, but if they don't come home after the second day, you have to bring them home. It's very safe, there's usually a family member around to watch you."

"You said boys," Inuyasha noted. Sango nodded.

"Right. As you know, I was the first-born child to the village chief, so I wasn't excluded from this …Oh, my mother was furious…I heard all about it when I got home. She had given my father an earful to be heard on the other side of the village, apparently."

"So how long'd it take you to get home?" Inuyasha asked, anticipating the end of the story. Sango sighed. She looked up at the stars visible through the treetops with the nostalgic feeling that crept over her.

"I got home the next morning. Took me about the same as everyone else…" she paused. "Now…Kohaku…Kohaku made it home by nightfall when he was strung up. It surprised everyone. We didn't expect him home so soon. Nobody did. I mean…He was bawling his eyes out—poor baby—something I hadn't done, but…he was home." She couldn't help the chuckle on the last bit. Her smile fell after a second. Her gaze fell directly in from of her when she thought of how her mother might have fussed over Kohaku too, but…she hadn't been around by that time.

"Huh…"Inuyasha said suddenly, crossing his arms over his chest. When Sango looked back the golden-eyed man, he was looking up and nodding slightly.

"Inuyasha. Kagome will bite your head off if you try that with her children." She raised an eyebrow when he looked back at her. He scoffed. A sudden thought came to mind, and Sango wet her lips before she asked about it.

"So…I heard from Kagome that you two were waiting to have children. I'm just curious, but…"

She swore she saw the man's face flush in the light of the campfire. He scratched his face and looked away with his gruff reply.

"Y-yeah, well, we ain't in a rush, so I don't see the big deal."

Sango sighed, digging a little dirt from under her nail. When she was satisfied that her nails were clean she looked up to find her friend scanning the trees for a place to rest for the night. As he crouched to jump into one, Sango spoke.

"Inuyasha…I'm…I'm late," she said pointedly, but in a whisper, as if it were a secret she would not want someone to overhear in passing. Inuyasha cocked his head to the side with twitching ears. Had he heard her right?

"Late how?" He asked, expression suddenly dubious. Sango just stared back at her hands.

"Like…late late."

Inuyasha slowly crouched back down across from his friend. He watched her pick at her sleeve for a few seconds before he spoke.

"You don't exactly sound thrilled…"

Sango shrugged. Inuyasha sat back on his haunches to ponder his the demon slayer's expression. He knit his eyebrows together.

"You don't want another kid, eh?"

"No, no, it's not that…" Sango shook her head.

"It's not that I don't want another child, but…just not right now, you understand, right?" She envied Kagome and Inuyasha. She wished she had gotten some time to get settled into her new life before she became pregnant, but it just hadn't been in the cards. She loved her children dearly, but she just…needed a little down time. Like right now, on this outing with her friend.

"What did Kagome say?"

"I haven't said anything to Kagome yet. I wanted you to…confirm," she interrupted quickly. She sighed, before meeting her friend's bright eyes once again. His head tilted to the other side as he pondered her words.

"How far along we talking?"

"If you add…" she trailed off thoughtfully, considering the added weeks before she would have noticed any change.

"About three weeks," the mother of three gave. Inuyasha blinked.

"You're not pregnant then. I'd be able to tell by now." Inuyasha squinted when his friend let out a sigh, pressing her hand to her chest. She took his words with a nod and sent a smile his way. It wouldn't be the first time her cycle had been a little off. Sango had mentioned after the birth of her twins that she quite liked the idea of having a large family. When she was a little girl, she used to imagine that she would eventually have five or six children. But…Inuyasha supposed he understood what she meant. A constant string of dirty diapers really should make someone think twice about having their kids so close together.

Plus, if she was pregnant all the time, she would be confined to the village, and she hated that about as much as he did.

The first year she was married, she was eight months pregnant with twins, too far along to take the trip through the mountains. The third year, she had been just a few months pregnant, and despite the slight swell of her belly, they had gone hunting together like they had the second year. It was something her and her father had done together for years, and although her father was no longer with her, when she heard that Inuyasha followed the same migration path for years before her, she desperately wanted to continue the tradition. Inuyasha was somewhat grateful to have a partner, despite warning her that he would be annoyed if she scared the deer.

Before Sango, he had never known humans could hunt deer without bows. Although he had seen Sango shoot a bow before, she relied on ropes and her sword when she went hunting. Although Inuyasha could easily kill prey with just a swipe of his claws, it intrigued him to see a human woman catch and kill one without a long-range weapon, by way of manhandling and strategy.

The young Miko had been keeping a nervous eye on Haru and Kenta's new marriage, at first. When the first week passed, she had been doing it out of worry, she could not stop thinking about the lies she had told or if what she had done had been wrong…but as the weeks wore on she stopped thinking about it quite as much, but she still checked on them once in a while. Kaede didn't seem upset by it anymore—what's done is done—and that really helped Kagome feel more confident that she had done the right thing.

It surprised her when Haru sought her out one day, when the Miko was hurrying home one night before dark.

"Kagome-sama? Can I talk to you?" The girl asked, hurrying up beside Kagome. Kagome nodded, telling her they could talk only if they could do it on fly. It was cold and Kagome wanted to get home and sit down beside her warm hearth. Haru folded her hands together and kept pace beside the older girl.

"I think…Um…I think I could be…I might be…" Kagome's pace slowed and her heart began to pound…was the girl telling her…had she realized that she could be…?

"I think I might be with child." The soft-spoken girl whispered.

Exactly what Kagome knew was coming.

"Y-you're pregnant? Are you s-sure?" She said, mentally cursing herself for stuttering. She stilled her pace and looked at Haru's downcast face. The girl nodded and bit her lip. Kagome's heart began to pound. This situation…what if the two of them hadn't…yet…?

"I-I-I know it's very soon, but…" the girl's face flushed.

"I…I think…I don't know if we weren't supposed to…be as husband and wife while we were still mourning but…It's…it feels like a good omen to me..?" Her voice was dubious, and she stared at the hands twisting in her wrap.

"It wasn't wrong of us to…so soon after the funeral…I…"

"No, no!" Kagome interrupted. She set a hand on Haru's shoulder.

"It's not wrong, not at all. Y-you said it feels like a good omen, so let's focus on that…why do you think it's a good omen?" Kagome smiled reassuringly—or at least she hoped the smile was reassuring. Haru nodded when she looked to the Miko's face, so she assumed the smile was appropriate.

"It's just that…" she swallowed, unable to speak her deceased husband's name.

"I had wanted to start a family and nothing...nothing came of it in five months so..." Kagome heard the crack in the girl's voice on the last syllable. She squeezed Haru's shoulder, trying to reassure the poor girl. While five months wasn't a long time to try for a baby, Kagome was not going to bring it up. She was going to do her best to support this girl. Haru took a deep breath to calm herself.

"So maybe…maybe it's better with Kenta? Maybe this is what was meant to happen, because now I'm, well…I'm getting the family I wanted? Maybe it happened so soon because I was meant to be with Kenta and not…" She swallowed down her grief.

"What do you think?"

"I'd like to think it's a good omen too." Kagome took a deep breath.

"I'm betting it's a sign that you will live a long life, and have lots of children with Kenta."

The girl smiled and wiped the little beads of moisture from her eyes. She nodded, satisfied with the Miko's reassurances.

"Inuyasha...that sound is really getting on my nerves." Sango glanced up to where Inuyasha sat in the tree above her, incessantly tapping his claws against the bark. He had started fidgeting two nights ago, and had never stopped since. It was only seven days into the trip…is this what Miroku had to put up with? He had asked if he was this…annoying…because he was away from Kagome and he merely scoffed. He wasn't going to turn into a total mess just because…

The stars were nice tonight. The sky was clear—which also meant it was cold as a Yuki-onna's gaze—but he could clearly make out all the little stars and constellations Kagome liked to point out to him. There were ones she had no hope of seeing, too. He had looked at the sky as a human, he knew that she wasn't seeing everything that he saw. He had never thought of the sky as pretty before she pointed out to him the difference between what she saw between their two worlds. He imagined the difference would be like that between his human and hanyou forms, and that, he supposed, might make the night sky look beautiful to her eyes.

Her eyes…big and brown and sparkling with emotion while she turned to smile at him while she pointed out the constellation of the dog…little Miko found that amusing, did she?

He hadn't stopped tapping.

"Inuyasha, I swear, if you don't go to sleep right now, I'm going to knock you over the head with Hiraikoustu and make you sleep."

"Ignore it," he growled, adding a tapping foot against the branch he sat on. He barely caught the sound of something hurdling at him before it smacked him upside the head and knocked him out of the tree. He sprung out of the bushes below and grasped the offending rock in hand, glaring at the caster. She huffed and sat up.

"Look, I haven't slept in two days because of all the noise you're making fidgeting. I know you miss Kagome, and if you want to go home, then go."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. He wasn't making that much noise, anyway, and he wasn't like this just because he…it wasn't like he was incapable of being calm without her around. He was just fine. Fine.

Sango sighed, flopping back down to try and sleep again.

"You think I don't miss my kids?"

The next few days were better. Inuyasha had caught the scent of the herd, and they followed it down along the southern edge of the mountain range as the deer made their migration to the coast. Given something to do, his fidgeting had almost completely stopped—much to Sango's relief. When they finally heard the sharp call of a straggler—and they both heard it—the pair had nodded at one another. They split up then.

"Your mommy's going to come back, sweetie, don't worry," she cooed to the crying toddler that clung to her chest. The girls had been wailing for hours. Miroku had failed at tying bows in their hair that morning—something mommy always did perfectly—and that was where it started. The relative quiet in the monk and slayer's household had lasted a whole seven days though.

Yukie had quieted down a while ago along with the baby—who had started crying when his sisters had—but Koyuki wasn't distracted with games or toys, even food. Kagome and Miroku traded the little girl off, trying to calm her, but she just screamed herself hoarse. Kagome almost felt like crying, hearing the heartbroken sobs of a little girl who assumed she would never seen her mother again. She sounded so terrible, the hoarseness of a child who had been crying all morning. It was only a little while, she told the girl. Koyuki protested that her mother was gone forever. Kagome stroked her back and pet her hair as the little girl struggled and screamed.

A couple village women heard her screaming and came to investigate, finding the desperate father and his friend, the Miko trying to shush the toddler. The middle-aged women tried their hand at calming the little girl, but she only quieted, crying into the chest of whoever held her. Kagome eventually had to head up to the shrine and leave Miroku with the women to help soothe his children. The second she finished the last of her duties, she raced back to the house to find her friend had managed to get his children to bed early and was sitting against the exterior wall.

He flashed her a smile as she rounded the garden fence.

"Want some?" He asked, holding up the jug of sake. Kagome frowned, taking another step to stand before him.

"How long have you been drinking?"

Miroku chuckled, setting the jug back beside him.

"About two minutes." Kagome shook her head and sat against the wall with him. He sighed and took another sip of sake. Kagome glanced back towards the door before she turned back to look at her friend.

"Long day?" She asked, setting her jaw on her fist.

"A bit of one, yes." He smiled.

"They've almost got me thinking Sango won't come back," he chuckled. Kagome shrugged. She assured him that it wasn't much longer before Inuyasha and Sango returned to both of them, and life would go back to normal.

"Normal, huh?" There was a note of whimsy in his tone.

"You know, it almost seems like the kids don't like me," he said, sighing, "they don't get like this when I go on jobs, do they?" The question was rhetorical. Kagome frowned. The kids were just more used to their dad going away on trips, it was a…disturbance in the way of things when it was their mother, instead. Miroku nodded as she told him this.

"And Ichiro cries when you're gone. Remember? There have been a few times where he's started crying, only to stop when you hold him."

"Right, right…" he mumbled, before continuing, "but Sango…I don't know how she does it. I'm starting to feel bad about leaving her home all alone with the kids. She's got so much work here."

"It is a lot of work…but soon enough, the girls will be older, and they'll stay out of trouble better. It's hard when they're this young."

Miroku nodded, taking another sip. His friend had a point. He had always wanted many children, but he hadn't really put much thought into times like this. Would the children be better behaved and more able to understand reason when they were older? Of course they would. For him to ask such a silly question, the sake must be starting to take effect. When the girls were older, they would be better able to take care of themselves, and able to help with chores. Probably help with their younger siblings, too. It wouldn't hurt to wait until the girls were older to have another child. So that he wouldn't feel so bad leaving his wife alone like that.

"Sango is better at tying hair ribbons, though," Kagome said with a chuckle. Miroku shook his head with a chuckle. The young Miko was a good friend to have.

"You'd better get home before it gets dark," he commented glancing up at the purpling sky.

"Right," she agreed, standing and brushing herself off.

"You haven't seen Shippo or Aki at all today, have you?"

Miroku shrugged.

"Oh, well, I supposed they'll turn up as soon as I get dinner going…well anyways, I'll see you tomorrow."

Kohaku was just waking up when he heard voices from the other side and saw Kirara transform to rush over the side of the wall. He recognized the voice just as a blur of red vaulted over the wall and landed before him, a buck thrown over his shoulder. Kohaku flashed a smile at the man before looking up to Kirara, carrying his sister over the great wall. She jumped off of Kirara when they set down safely.

"I was wondering when you'd be back this yea—" the boy started, but was cut off when a hand came down on top of his head. Inuyasha ruffled the teenager's bangs.

"What happened to your hair, kid? You ain't been sleeping in again, have you?" Kohaku frowned, ducking out of the way of the hanyou's hand, and pushing his hair aside. He got back late last night, he ws allowed to sleep in once in a while, wasn't he? Sango ignored the exchange to make way into one of the buildings to prep the meat for curing. It was best to get it done as soon as possible. They could talk after they were finished...

"So what have you been up to, Kohaku?" Sango started, taking a seat beside the boy for lunch.

"I hardly ever see you. You never come around the village anymore."

Kohaku rubbed the back of his neck.

"I don't mean to stay away for so long, sister. It's just that I've been real busy lately."

"The insect population's gone up," Inuyasha interjected. The boy nodded in turn. Because of their swarm mentality, they were usually the first to be killed off by stronger demons, such as Naraku, but they also reproduced quickly, making them the first population to go up in the absence of other demons. Inuyasha had kind of figured something like that, with all the insect demon-related jobs he and Miroku ended up in. Oftentimes more of a nuisance than an actual threat to anything larger than a chicken, but it gave Inuyasha and Miroku work, so he wasn't about to complain.

Some of the meat they worked on smoking, which took a while to get going, but was well worth it. Inuyasha couldn't handle the thickness of the smoke, and stood out away from the building while Sango and Kohaku tended the smoke room. He knew he enjoyed smoked meat, but he also recalled that the stuff they made from the deer was never quite as flavorful as the packs Kagome carried with her back in the old days. He had asked her about it once, and she explained that she bought it from a vendor, so she never really knew how it was made, but it he could figure out how…

When Kohaku and Sango emerged from the room to let the meat smoke Inuyasha noticed something interesting while he sat back a ways. They approached with Sango gesturing to a wall that looked different than she remembered. Kohaku relayed that he found some dry rot and replaced a few boards. He turned his head and ducked out of the way as Inuyasha tried to put a hand on his head again.

"Oi, c'mere," Inuyasha said, smirking, trying to get the boy in a headlock. Kohaku slapped both hands on his head and ducked out of the way. He spun to face the hanyou with an irritated expression.

"Would you come here? I ain't gonna do nothin' to you, I just wanna see somethin'." Sango frowned and sent Inuyasha the same suspicious glare as her brother. Inuyasha shrugged and waved the boy over. Kohaku took cautious steps towards the hanyou, pulling his hands from his head. As he thought, Inuyasha set his hand on the boy's crown…then he set a hand on Sango's head, and both shot him puzzled looks when he started laughing.

"Well would you look at that!" he said, removing the hand from Sango's head and then leaning his arm on top of Kohaku's head.

"You finally grew!" Sango cracked a smile at that, but Kohaku pursed his lips and glared up at the hanyou, though a blush darkened his cheeks.

"Here I'd thought you'd stay shorter than Sango forever, now you're the same."

"Yeah, yeah, okay!" Kohaku pushed Inuyasha's hand away from his head and glared between Inuyasha and his sister with pink cheeks. Sango scolded Inuyasha for picking on her brother, but the hanyou just chuckled.

"Don't worry, sister, I know for a fact Inuyasha isn't shaving yet, so—"

"You little brat." Inuyasha growled, immediately touching his fingertips to his chin.

Today was quiet. Miroku's children were well-behaved, and he decided to let Kagome off the hook from babysitting duty for the day. Shippo took Aki out to play that morning, and Kagome hadn't seen either since breakfast. She finished up at the shrine early, and Rin, stayed quiet as she worked on the embroidery pattern Hana had asked her to work on. The village children were less likely to be playing out in the cold than they were in warmer months. She checked up on Haru, who had no changes overall besides the continuing lack of menstruation. So when Kagome got to the house, she sat with her back against the wall, peering out into the dark room. Winter was officially here, telling by the lack of leaves on the trees and the temperature of the wind. The windows and door had to be kept closed to prevent the room from getting too cold, or letting too much air out should she decide to start a fire.

There was never that much laundry to be done, she had done all that yesterday. There was no one tracking mud in and out of the house all day, so the floors didn't need to be cleaned. There certainly wasn't any buildup of dust since the last time she had dusted. She could review the notes she had taken from Kaede weeks prior, but she was pretty sure she had a handle on what herbs and rituals did what. She sighed, slumping to lay on her side.

She wished Inuyasha were here. Even just for him to sit beside her would make her feel more comfortable. Now, in this lonely silence, she was bored. It was such a contrast from the days which she had no free time at all and now…she was rarely ever bored. When she was, well, at least Inuyasha was usually bored with her. When they were both bored at the same time…they had ways to occupy at least a little of the down time…

She flopped onto her back. She wasn't about to lie to herself. She was a wife, who missed her husband's presence, pure and simple. She missed the brush of his hand when she handed him his food, the weight of his arm thrown over her in sleep, the general security he provided when she leaned against him when they sat beside one another. She missed the not-so-innocent touches too. The ones she rarely thought about when he had other matters to occupy her mind.

She rubbed her fingertips over her hand, as Inuyasha would sometimes do when he was in one of his gentler moods. That man could still infuriate her at times, but when he wanted to…she missed his gentle moods. It was cold out, but sometimes they sat on the roof or laid out in the grass at night and looked overhead at the clouds moving across the stars and the moon. She would tell him all kinds of things as they laid out there—she realized he probably wasn't listening to a thing she said, but she appreciated it nonetheless. She liked to point out constellations and lean her head on him—listen to his heart. She had always wanted to make love like that. She thought it would be romantic, but then, she always got nervous, and bit her tongue when the thought came to mind.

She realized her fingers were encircling the opposite wrist. She could easily get her fingers around her wrist, but they never overlapped quite like Inuyasha's did when he grasped her wrist. When she held his hand, it was so much bigger than hers. He was so much bigger than her, and at that moment, she wanted to feel the weight of his body against hers. She wanted to feel his large calloused hands holding her own smaller ones and…touching her skin.

She wanted his hands but…

All she had were her own…

They came from the east end of village, and met Miroku and the kids first. Inuyasha flattened his ears against his head from the shrill cries of the two little girls who missed their mother dearly. Inuyasha barely had time to question the footfalls as a small figure approached him from behind as he made his way back to his house. He spun around just in time to see the tiny white-and-red clad figure spring into his arms. He lost his balance and deposited them both on the ground. He laid still for a second as the little Miko rubbed her cheek against his chest. After a breath, he reached an arm around to encircle her small form, holding her to him as she whispered just how much she had missed him. He squeezed her back once, then told her to let him up, since the ground was frozen solid, after all. She sat up on top of him, smiling beautifully.

"That was a long wait," she said, cupping his cheek in her hand. He started to smile back when his expression changed suddenly. Surprise? Curiosity?

He grasped the hand at his cheek and turned his nose into it, sniffing.

"What are you—" she started to ask when his eyes widened and darted to meet hers. She blushed all the way up to her ears. She knew exactly what he was smelling, despite how thoroughly she had thought she washed her hands. She snatched her hand away and pushed away from his chest. She clasped her cheeks in her hand and squinted her eyes shut when he began to sputter behind her.

"Y-you were—you were…" he swallowed thickly and got to his feet.

"You were doing that while I was…I was only gone a couple weeks…"

"and I guess I missed you, okay!" She slapped her hands over her face in absolute embarrassment. Inuyasha's ears flicked back for a second, unsure of how to feel about the fact that she had been…he wasn't unsure for long.

"Okay…" he started slowly, "I get that…so yeah. I guess that's…" he tried his best to smirk, though the effort was sorely lacking.

"That's what I'm for—so, uh, you can do that while I'm gone but since I'm here…you only gotta ask if you—"

"I don't!" she squeaked.

"Right…" he licked his lip. Suddenly he kinda wanted to. He ignored this and stuffed his hand inside of one of the bags he held, pulling out a strip of smoked meat. He laid a hand on her shoulder and showed her what he had for her, trying to break the tension. Kagome, still beet red took the meat from him and examined it. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves enough to speak coherently.

"You made this?" Inuyasha negated the question.

"Nah, mostly Sango and Kohaku," he shrugged. Kagome nodded.

"Oh, so you saw Kohaku?" Inuyasha confirmed the statement with a nod. He thought he had told her that he and Sango were going past the old village before he left. She had probably just forgotten.

Inuyasha and Kagome were both silently relieved when the conversation eased into talk about his trip. It was good to spend some time with Sango, he said. With all the running around everyone was doing as of late, he hadn't even had a chance to exercise with her every few mornings. He hadn't had a new moon sword match in over a year, with Sango's pregnancy getting to the late stages and all. It was good to see the kid too. He was going around rebuilding the village and its reputation, like Sango had wanted to do.

"Oh, well she could have done that, if she wanted."

"Naw, she had the girls right away, so…" Kagome touched a finger to her lips as they walked along the path to their house, and back into their normal routine.

"Well, yeah…she could have put off having kids for a while if she wanted, but I guess they really wanted to start a family."

Inuyasha scoffed.

"What?" Kagome asked, raising a brow.

"Sango didn't get much of a choice in how soon she wanted a kid."

Kagome frowned.

"Oh come on, I know Miroku wanted children, but she could have persuaded him to wait a while if she really wanted to."

Inuyasha huffed, rubbing his hand over his face.

"Kagome, Sango never had a choice in whether or not she wanted a baby…" he started, "Do the math. The twins' are turning three in a few weeks…they married right after you left…" he waved his hand in a gesture that asked her to continue down that line of thinking, but she just gave him a confused look.

"Wait, what?"

Inuyasha's cheeks felt a little hot as he stared out in front of his feet and tried to explain.

"All I'm saying is that they got married in the morning, took off for two weeks that day to visit the old village, and when Sango got back, she was two weeks pregnant."

It took Kagome a second, but he saw the instant she understood what he said by the paling of her features.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really." Kagome nodded mutely, absentmindedly chewing the piece of meat Inuyasha had given her. Wow, that was…what if she and Inuyasha had ended up like that, with her pregnant from their first intimate encounter? Well, in the grand scheme of things…it wouldn't change a lot, she supposed. She glanced down at her flat stomach, hidden by the layers of her robes. She would already be getting pretty big by now—wouldn't she—if that had been the case? She would probably still be out running errands and working at the shrine, wouldn't she? It wasn't like your life stopped as soon as you entered motherhood.

That's right. Of course it didn't. If Sango really wanted, she could pack up and move the kids out to her old village at any time. She just chose to focus on her life here. Life didn't stop just because you conceived a child…She looked up to Inuyasha's back as he stretched his arms over his head before locking his hands together and draping the bags of meat behind him. She had initially wanted to wait to have a child because she was going off the mentality that life stopped after parenthood…but…

...

Yup. Sango got pregnant on her wedding night.

Some of you noticed some errors in the last chapters, and I'm gad because some of the errors are quite annoying in re-reads so I have fixed some and plan on fixing others. Also, given that it is six in the morning on a Sunday and I am just now getting to bed, I imagine some errors exist in this chapter as well, which I will try to fix over the next week.