Chapter 37:

"My baby." She shook her head, pushing out of Sesshomaru's arms. She was mad at Kagome, but it was fading quickly in favor of concern for Hiromi. The miko was already high-tailing it anyway.

"You are a little sylph, Shaya." Sesshomaru tilted his head.

He'd been so angry with her about following. The best idea that she'd had to improve his mood was to distract him as soon as the others had left the battlefield, and the best way that she knew of to distract him was to…well, get him into bed.

Seeing Sesshomaru's hand had also filled her up with worry, and that had certainly helped his case. She'd never seen him harmed before. It wasn't pleasant.

They hadn't attempted to be together since before Hiromi was born, even with how slim she was becoming again—the passion hadn't taken very much to coax it out of either of them. Now, however, she was eager to get home. She needed to make sure she was ok anyway.

Even if it left him…uncomfortable.

They got dressed quickly and made their way back to the healing village in silence. She knew he was perturbed, but he could wait—their baby couldn't. Sesshomaru remained in the forest as usual while she darted between the huts to come to the one that held the rest of her family, or at least some of it. Rin's face lit up as she came to hug her around the waist with a vice grip. "Mama! You came home for Rin!"

Hiromi really was wailing. Miroku sat with Yoshi supported in the arm not in a sling, nodding his head at her in hello. "I have to tend to Hiromi now, ok Rin? Thank you for taking care of her while I was gone."

She went over to sit in front of the basket where Hiromi was, removing her immediately. Hiromi's wailing toned down a bit, but she was still fussing with her arms and feet entrapped within her wrappings. "Mama's home now, ssh." She knew that Hiromi would calm down once she could detect her scent again. Poor baby.

"Sango attempted to feed her earlier, but your little one quite rejected her." Miroku interjected. "I am sorry to say."

She had probably smelled the difference in the milk, even if it really was nearly the same. "Even for being so young she knows everyone by scent. But please thank Sango for trying."

"I…shall afford you some privacy." Miroku couldn't help a smile. "I am very glad to see you unharmed, Shaya."

"And I'm glad that you're mostly ok," she grinned back. With Yoshi on his hip the once hentai monk disappeared through the reed flap and into the general populace of the village.

"Here sweetie. I'm so sorry!" Rin had come to sit by her as she offered Hiromi her breast, to which she eagerly latched onto. Rin giggled as she made a slight wince with the ferocity with which her baby was feeding. It was her fault, after all…she could bear it.

"Did Sesshomaru-sama come back too?"

"He's waiting out in the forest." And most definitely not in the mood for waiting very long at the moment.

"Rin did what she could to watch out for my little sister! But she would not stop crying Shaya. I don't know what I did." Rin plucked at the blue fabric adorning her knee distractedly. "Will you ever let me watch her again? I'm sorry."

"You did wonderfully, Rin. You watched out for Hiromi just like you were supposed to." She felt so terribly guilty. She'd been so concerned with Sesshomaru's hand being hurt that she hadn't even thought about her baby waiting for her. "Thank you. I don't know who else I could have trusted to do this."

"And you're not hurt or anything?" Big brown eyes pleaded with hers.

With Hiromi nursing she couldn't pull Rin up to sit in her lap like she needed, but the girl was in obvious desperate need for physical comfort. Holding her infant in one arm she reached to pull Rin between her newly outstretched legs, bending down to kiss her black hair. "You're such a good daughter Rin. I'm so happy that you looked out for your sister so well."

Rin took a moment, but then she was beaming up at her in a proud, shy manner—blushing.

"There, see? I knew those rosy cheeks couldn't have gone too far." She beamed at her favorite human, seeing Rin giggle at the sound Hiromi let slip out of her baby-throat.

"She is very nice Mama. Will Rin have a baby like Hiromi one day?"

She took a moment to breathe, but regained herself. "One day, yes. But not for a very long time." She didn't need her innocent girl getting any ideas into her head—her recently-turned-hentai mate had enough of those at the moment. She didn't have the energy to deal with much more today.

She wiped milk that had escaped Hiromi's mouth as it ran down the side of her face, hearing the tiniest of burps. Hiromi's eyes were already closing. "Poor baby's probably exhausted from crying." She rearranged her clothing with some difficulty but managed with some extra care afforded.

"Are you leaving again Mama?"

Sesshomaru was not going to be very patient about…The longer that she stayed here the longer he would have time to be irritated, and short with her. "I think I am. But I'll certainly be back to help in the morning. Would you like to come see Sesshomaru-sama Rin?" It would help to salve the worry that she knew would be in Rin's heart. She always worried about Sesshomaru too.

"Oh yes! I would love that." Rin nodded her head, shifting to her knees and then onto her feet.

She ducked outside after Rin and followed her down the village's road, noting the odd looks that she was receiving from the usually cordial humans. Yes, they avoided her, but at least they were polite for the sake of their resident hanyou protector. Now she was receiving the same stare from them all: distrust, dislike…She kept her eyes on Rin's black head bobbing in front of her and not on the unfriendly people around her.

She hadn't even taken notice of them in her haste to reach her baby. Had they given her these looks when she'd come running towards them all? It didn't matter, they were already reaching the outskirts of the village and the meadow that separated them from the trees that were surely where Sesshomaru was drifting around somewhere in that silly way that he had.

"Wait!" she heard a man's voice call. Pausing, both she and Rin turned to see a middle-aged fellow approaching, with a bit more sternness to his features than was normal, flanked distantly by a group of his fellows, as well as a few of their women too.

"Yes?" She felt uneasy.

"We…the village would kindly ask that you and your…husband not return here again." The man held his chin high and spoke in a most gruff manner.

"You mean Mama?" Rin's voice went high. "What are you talking about?"

He did not even glance towards Rin but kept his firm glare on her. "We have discussed it, and since it is because of him that there are so many dead, we would prefer it if you did not return. Again."

They were kicking them out? "But we've never harmed anyone. Sesshomaru killed that monster to keep him from coming here!" Didn't they understand that? What were they doing?

"And if he had never come here at all it would not have sent its creatures to attack us in the first place," he tightened his jaw. "We don't wish to fight, for the sake of you and your child, but we shall if it comes to it."

"You can't make her leave you big meanie!" Rin held her fists down by her legs, taking several steps forward to kick the man sharply in the shin.

"Rin!"

"Shaya." She glanced back to see Sesshomaru stop at her side, drawn up to full height. His intimidating stature only made the man's scent more nervous, but he didn't make any signs of backing down. "What is going on here?"

"They want Mama to leave!" Rin said from behind her skirts now, fisting her hands in them. "You…You!" She buried her eyes in the blue fabric to wipe at the tears starting to form.

She felt numb. Leave? They hadn't done anything.

"What are your concerns, human?" Sesshomaru spoke coldly.

"Your presence is putting our home in danger. You are no longer welcome here, even if that Inuyasha fellow is your brother." To his credit, even if she did see a line of sweat at the corner of his ear, he spoke just as firmly to her mate as he had to her.

"You are a fool if you expect me to heed the word of a mortal creature such as yourself," Sesshomaru did not even sound distraught. Not that he ever did. Oh dear, he had already been irritated before.

"I know that you have not ever personally harmed us, but we must still insist that you go."

"What be ye doing?" Kaede's voice called, and she looked up to see the old miko making her way carefully towards them. The man paused, while somehow holding Sesshomaru's gaze. Kaede stopped by the man, looking between them all.

"They're trying to make Mama and Sesshomaru-sama leave Kaede! You can't let them!"

"Hush, Rin." Sesshomaru ordered softly.

"Do you see how she calls a youkai mother? It is not right, Lady Miko." The brazen man folded his arms.

"Ye be quiet, for ye do not know what it is that ye speak of. Lady Shaya has cared for Rin as if she were from her own womb." She was glad to hear Kaede defend her, but she also couldn't help her cheeks heating up. Rin was probably going to have her reputation squandered away here because of her, and Sesshomaru. "Ye are chasing that child's family out of this village."

"They brought death to us," the man narrowed his eyes.

"Pursue this and anyone who believes the same may kindly leave." Kaede leaned onto her walking stick. "Or have ye forgotten that it be a hanyou who acts as our friend to defend ye? Ye are all ungrateful."

Sesshomaru was turning and she looked down to where Rin was still hiding in her skirts. "Sweetie? Are…We'll be back in the morning, if you're staying. Unless you want to come with us."

"Oh can I?" She raised her brown eyes to drift between her and Kaede. "May I Kaede?"

"Go. Be ye assured that this shall not be an issue again, Lady." Kaede turned one mean eye onto the village man who was still trying to intimidate her: please! She was mated to Sesshomaru!

"Come on Rin," she took the girl's hand, turning to follow after the white figure disappearing into the trees.

She and Rin were silent for once, trailing after that luminous hair. She didn't know if he'd be upset or not that she'd invited Rin but it hadn't felt right to leave her behind with those angry villagers right there. At least with Sesshomaru she knew that they were both safe.

After some time she saw their house undisturbed, and Sesshomaru stopped before he came to the door. Turning he did not even blink at seeing Rin with them—he'd smelled her no doubt—and she offered him up a smile that she didn't necessarily feel herself.

OoO

Rin had dropped into sleep by the fire in the front room, and Shaya draped one of the blankets from their bed motherly over her. Sesshomaru had taken the baby into the other room for her already. He'd sat nearby all day while she'd made sure that Rin was happy, forgetting about that awful incident with the villagers. She hoped that they'd forget about it when everything had calmed down again. She loved going to see the others, but not at the risk that something might happen to Rin. If it came to it…she supposed that they could just make her stay with them, instead.

Was she in danger around her own kind because she'd been with them so long?

She turned around from Rin's sleeping face after making sure that the fire was well-stoked towards where she knew Sesshomaru would be waiting for her. Their early morning attempt at renewing being physical hadn't gone well, and now they had Rin to consider. She couldn't imagine that he was happy with her.

"Sesshomaru?" She could see him sitting cross-legged in their bed with all but his basic clothing removed, hair shining even in the darkness. Hiromi was still sleeping in his arms—she'd only awoken earlier to be changed and fed—and she stopped for a moment at the picture. Smiling she came to sit beside him on the bed, letting out a tired breath.

"Can I see your hand, Sesshomaru?"

"You need not worry." Still, he extended out his right hand towards her so that she could press his fingers straight to get a look at how his skin was healing from Tessiaga. Red and painful, she winced herself. "Onna," he attracted her attention again," put her to bed now."

She went to tuck Hiromi into her little bed with a kiss, going back to where Sesshomaru was inviting her into his arms. Bringing her into his lap he held her against him, and it was hard to imagine that they had been furious at each other yesterday, and this morning…before she'd "distracted" him.

"I'm glad you're ok," she whispered into his skin. "I don't know what I would've done."

"I would not allow myself such a pitiful death." Sesshomaru sounded insulted.

"I…know. I just meant that I…never mind." He didn't get it, but it was ok. Wrapping her arms around his waist she pushed her hands underneath the fabric separating her from the smooth skin and muscle underneath, and she felt his sharp exhale of breath against her neck.

"You are certain that you have healed Shaya," Sesshomaru almost whispered.

"I think so. I'm too eager to wait any longer." Especially after they had almost been successful earlier, before they'd been interrupted. At least now she knew that their babies were within protection's range and she didn't have to worry about them.

Sesshomaru allowed her to pull his white silk from his shoulders as he teased the skin of her neck with his mouth. Reaching to push her red hair to the other shoulder she couldn't help letting her eyes drift closed as the silky skin of his hands reached for her obi. But pressed against him so tightly was making her realize how uncomfortable her breasts were, as he was pulling her sleeves down her shoulders.

"Wait, just one second, ok?" She knew sometimes when Hiromi was due to be fed again, because of the way they felt. "I want to see if Hiromi wants to nurse."

Hiromi stirred at the scent of milk under her nose and she attached herself willingly in no time, and she soothed her little frame as she drank slowly, with no real tension in her jaw. It was not long before she released her nipple to slip back into sleep almost as quickly as she had gone. With a sigh she could still feel the milk in her breasts, but it seemed that she didn't have much of a choice—Hiromi had only nursed out of habit, not hunger.

She slipped under the sheets to find Sesshomaru already as bare as she'd hoped, and she let her clothing slip off of her shoulders fully. He was trailing down the side of her throat as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressing herself lightly to him. The arm around her waist was holding her firmly as she could smell his excitement.

He leaned over her, and she felt him palm one of her breasts. "Sesshomaru?"

"Hm." He was more focused on her shoulders.

"She…" How did she tell him this? "I still have milk, ok?"

"What do you mean?" Sesshomaru pressed another kiss to her abdomen, which was almost flat again. His hair was a sensation onto itself and she inhaled sharply at the brush of silk. He definitely wasn't listening to her.

"Don't…" her voice faltered. She knew her cheeks were bright pink. Which was silly—he knew that she had milk, already! "I…I'm just so used to feeding Hiromi," she reached her hand up to trace the strong, taut curve of his arm. His scent was so prominent when he was so close that she couldn't help relaxing. She knew that she was always safe with him.

She couldn't help a sharp moan at the feeling of him, and then he was kissing her, and she couldn't really think anymore. It had been so long since she'd been so close to him like this that she couldn't help feeling lost with the frenzy of his pacing. She let her head rest against the futon and left him in charge of their frequency, feeling his gentle chuckle of laughter against her throat.

"Do not wake the others, onna." She barely registered his words. She pressed the soles of her feet to the bedding so that her knees cradled his hips, barely able to notice the specifics of his beautiful face.

OoO

"Sesshomaru-sama?" He had already put on the basics of his clothing, his hakamas and his outer coat, although Shaya still slept wonderfully nude. She had remained under the sheets but he had not, and now he lay facing the onna near him. He looked up from his sleeping onna to see Rin in the doorway, beaming at him. She came lumbering forward to scramble up between them, stopping by his knees to rest back on hers and to giggle again.

"Good morning Sesshomaru-sama!" she slipped from resting on her behind to sit on the sheets, resting her elbow on his calf through white silk. Leaning up for a moment she glanced at Shaya, smiling. "Is Mama still asleep?"

"Hai." He made sure that she had not woken her. "Quiet, Rin."

"Sorry," she said behind her hands. "I did not mean to be loud."

At least Hiromi had slept through the night, for once. Recently Shaya would be called on to go and tend to their baby, but it seemed that their pup had been at least as exhausted by her own crying as Rin had been by her worrying. He found the human child watching him intently. "You did well with Hiromi, Rin." Her eyes widened as her mouth popped open joyously, before she remembered about being too loud. Covering her mouth he could read the delight in her eyes. She lowered them in a moment, and he was surprised by her swiftness.

She crawled closer to get her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "Thank you Sesshomaru-sama!" she whispered sharply into his neck. He did not move, a bit stunned, but finally rationalized that the child did not seek physical comfort from him often. "I thought that Mama might just have told me that to be nice, but I know that you don't do things like that. Thank you."

Shaya slept with her back to them both, which he slightly disliked. It made looking at her face much more difficult.

Rin sat back against her behind to face him. "Did Sesshomaru-sama take care of the bad guy like everyone says?"

Her speech was nothing if not sweet. "Indeed."

"Would it be ok if Rin gave Sesshomaru-sama a kiss? She is very proud of you," she whispered to him. He had not heard her refer to herself in that matter in some time. He did not quite know what to make of it, but he did not move as Rin moved forward quickly to press her lips to his cheeks quickly, leaning back with a blush on her cheeks.

"Thank you Sesshomaru-sama. I knew that you would get him."

His ears picked up the baby fussing in her bed, and he shifted his eyes back to Rin. Apparently she heard the sounds as well with her weak human ears and was already bouncing off their bed to go and peer into the basket closely. "Hello Hiromi," she whispered.

The baby made a sound of recognition at the voice and her scent, presumably, and Rin reached down to pick her up with care that Shaya had probably instructed her to take—which was appropriate for her to have done. With the baby squirming in her arms Rin turned to glance back at where he was watching from over Shaya's form, and as she came over to the futon once more he moved to sit up and allow her room, cross-legged.

Rin walked on her knees to plop herself between his form and Shaya's, moving the blankets away from the baby's face a bit. She was wide-awake and her eyes were scanning Rin's face, and as her nose twitched her eyes immediately shifted to where he was leaning a bit to peer as well. Her feet began to kick within the blankets, making Rin giggle loudly.

"She sees you Sesshomaru-sama!" she announced too loudly for his comfort.

"Low tones, Rin," he reminded the child. She did have such a short memory span when it suited her needs.

Hiromi let out a new sound, one that he was not familiar with. Rin's face lit up however and she beamed up at him beatifically. "She laughed! Did you hear?" Laughter? His daughter was laughing? "She's very happy this morning."

In fact, her hands were stretched up above her…reaching for him. "Do you want to hold her? She really wants you Sesshomaru-sama." Rin adjusted the baby so that he could more easily remove her from the girl's arms, and into his. The weight of the child astounded him as it usually did with its sureness, and its slightness. She weighed even less than Rin.

He held the child in one arm, and as he lifted his gaze away from the very sweet face of his white-haired daughter he could see Rin looking at him strangely. "What is it, Rin?" As surrounded by females as he was, he knew by scent when they were upset.

"Shaya lets me call her Mama," Rin stated. "Not that I want to call you anything else, but it is very weird that Sesshomaru-sama is a daddy now." Yes, it was very new to him as well. Hiromi was several weeks old now and it still shocked him to the core to look at her.

"Hn."

"And," Rin's fingers were plucking at her green kimono," I just wanted to say that I am very glad that Sesshomaru-sama still brings Mama to visit me at the village. And Hiromi, too. It is nice to have such a big family now."

He did not know how to respond to such a statement. Rin was looking at him very seriously, and he reminded himself that she was aging. She had grown taller, a bit, and he could see that her face was losing some of its roundness that marked her as a child. The thought very nearly sobered him from his contentment.

She was no longer so continually silly.

Hiromi drew their attention by making more sounds, and he felt her shifting around. An…unpleasant smell reached his nose, but he did not see how the pup could be more content.

"Sesshomaru-sama?"

"Are you able to re-dress her, Rin?" If not, he would be forced to wake Shaya.

Rin's forehead furrowed with confusion. "Re-dress her? Is she going somewhere?"

"She requires cleaning," he put more clearly. Surely she would not misinterpret his meaning.

Rin giggled but removed Hiromi from his arms, leaving the room with his only child. He kept his ear firmly on listening to her movements as he heard her talking to Hiromi as she did as she had been asked. Rin was always nothing if not obedient, to her credit. He very much respected that she so adhered to his command as others foolishly did not heed as they should.

"Sesshomaru?" Shaya had turned to look up at him from the bed, eyes very much open.

"Good morning, onna." He had been so focused upon watching over Rin's progress that he had not even realized that his own mate had awoken. "You should dress, before Rin returns."

Shaya let her eyes droop for a moment. "Where'd she go? I thought…I heard Hiromi." Was she still tired? Perhaps he should afford her more rest—she had been rather worried for his sake. It would not do to overtire her.

"Ok Sesshomaru-sama! Your baby is very clean," Rin came traipsing back into the room again. Shaya opened her eyes and turned her head as Rin came onto the futon once more, only this time she stopped at seeing Shaya conscious. "Good morning Mama. Did you sleep well?"

"I did. And you, baby?"

"Rin slept very well," her black head nodded. Quickly, he found himself holding Hiromi once more as Rin laid down to cuddle next to Shaya. He received a grin from his onna over Rin's hair as she wrapped an arm around her back, bending down to inhale gently at her skin.

Hiromi was reaching for a strand of his hair. He moved it so that a good bit of its length lay swirled on her belly and she burbled out her laugh again, fisting her hand in one segment and pulling the ends into her mouth for her to suck on.

"Did…did she just laugh?" Shaya's head lifted as she craned her head to see Hiromi.

"Hai, Shaya." He was relieved to see that she was just as amazed as he was.

"She's happy that you're both home with us again," Rin's voice was muffled from where her face was pressed into Shaya's shoulder. "I didn't like it at all when you weren't here. It didn't feel right."

"We're home now, though, so you don't have to worry anymore." Shaya soothed, running her hand up and down Rin's back. "Did you want to do anything today Rin?"

"This is nice," the girl mumbled into her neck.

Shaya laughed softly and bent down to rest the curve of her cheek against Rin's black hair, closing her eyes. He allowed himself a moment to run his eyes over her face before shifting to where his pup was happily making a mess of the white hair that she held. She gave another burbling laugh as she squirmed a little, and he was forced to remove the hair from her mouth before she swallowed it. She whined, and he finally returned a cleaner length to her.

He could always bathe later.