Wow hi! It's been a while eh?! I sincerely apologize for being MIA for all these years; you guys didn't deserve that. Hopefully with this chapter, you guys can forgive me. Or at least forgive me with the next chapter...or the next...or at least by the end of the story!

Inuyasha impatiently tapped his fingers on his desk & huffed in annoyance. What do you give someone who had everything? With Sesshomaru being so far into his pregnancy, it went without saying that getting anything for the baby would be acceptable but this wasn't for the baby, it was for Sesshomaru specifically since his birthday was in three days.

The hanyou had spent all morning at work, looking up spas or scuba diving or anything to get his mate for his birthday but he didn't feel it'd be enough. Sesshomaru had everything he could possibly want (besides having his child in his arms & out from between his ribs & definitely off his bladder). What the hell would qualify as an acceptable gift?

There was a knock at the door & Inuyasha stopped tapping his desk. "Yes?"

Miroku peeked his head in. "Hey, line 10 just ran out of product"

"The forklift drivers looked in the entire inventory?"

"Yeah, I did personally"

The hanyou shrugged. "Shut it down. I'll call the company in the morning"

"Alright. You want me to send the assemblers home?"

"Yeah, overtime is tight. Plus their checks won't be that short anyway"

It was a little after 9:30. The shift was over at 11 so the inuhanyou was sure they'd be happy about getting off early. Miroku nodded again & left the half breed to his own devices again which meant said half breed was faced with deciding what to get his boyfriend for his birthday. Why was this so complicated?

Inuyasha looked at his phone as it lit up & vibrated, showing a picture he'd taken of Sesshomaru a few years ago.

"I'm going to the hospital. Don't panic, everything is ok. Just having some pains that feel like contractions" ~Sesshomaru

Inuyasha blanched & snatched his phone up, dialing the inuyoukai. As soon as the phone stopped ringing, before Sesshomaru could even get a hello in, the words came tumbling out of his mouth. "What do you mean by contractions?! It's too early, Sessh! Are you sure?! Do you need me to get off early?! Make sure you have your overnight bag! I'll be there in-"

"Inuyasha! Calm. Down. I'm fine" Sesshomaru said patiently, "I'm sure I'm not even dilated enough. I'm just going to make sure because these pains are hitting every five minutes"

"If this is another side effect, I swear to God…"

Sesshomaru chuckled softly. "I doubt it. I'll keep you updated. Stay at work until it's time for you to get off. I'll be fine"

"Are you sure? Do you have my office number? I'll keep my cell phone right here if you need anything & I'll be there as quickly as I can"

Another chuckle. "Yes I'm sure. I'll call you if she's on her way"

"You make sure you do so I can meet him"

"Whatever" the inuyoukai muttered before hanging up.

Somehow, over these last few months, both men changed their minds about which gender they preferred first. Originally Sesshomaru wanted a boy & Inuyasha wanted a girl. Now they flipped & on more than one occasion Inuyasha has walked in on Sesshomaru looking up Disney princess décor for the nursery. At work, Inuyasha doodled names he'd love to name their little prince, which Sesshomaru saw when he brought his work home. Either way, they just prayed the baby was healthy, regardless of the gender….but Inuyasha was praying for a boy first.

There was another knock on his door. "Yes?"

Kagome walked in with her walkie-talkie & some paper in her hand. "Hey, Inuyasha, there's product on door 72, product we usually use on line 10 so do you really want to cancel line te-"

"Kagome lemme ask you something"

The girl blinked at being interrupted & let the hand holding the paper she was looking at drop to her side. "What's up?"

"Let's say Hobo-"

"Hojo!"

"Whatever. Let's say that kid you're dating wants to get you something for your birthday. What would you want? Keep in mind anything you want you already have cause you got money like that"

The young woman put a finger on her chin & looked up in thought. "Well…I wouldn't mind a puppy"

Inuyasha's eyebrow twitched. "We ain't gettin' a puppy…"

"We? Well if you looking to get something for Sesshomaru there's no way I could be used as a muse. His tastes are totally different from mine"

"So you're saying I should get him like ridiculously expensive jewelry or wine since you have the preference of a peasant?"

"First of all, fuck you & second, no. You know him way better than any of us. You'd probably pick out something he likes that he never even thought of"

The hanyou sighed, resting his chin in his hand. "You are dismissed. You're no help at all"

Kagome frowned. "Excuse me, mister!"

His phone lit up again before he could respond. "Have you been keeping up with how far along I am?"

Inuyasha frowned at the text & thought about it a moment. "Yeah you're like 26 weeks right? Or close…"

"Is everything alright, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.

Just as he was getting ready to respond, Sesshomaru texted him back. "I'm 38 weeks. This could actually be it, Yasha"

"Holy shit…" Inuyasha muttered out loud, freezing.

His phone dinged again. "You might want to get off a little early…"

"Inuyasha?"

"Oh my God, Kagome, it's happening…"

The young woman took a few steps back as Inuyasha rushed to gather his things, making more of a mess than necessary & knocking things over, muttering something under his breath with a wild look in his eyes. "Inuyasha, what the hell is happening?"

"T-t-the…Sessh gotta…I'm finna…" the hanyou muttered incoherently, "I'm bout to…I gotta go"

Kagome grabbed him by his shoulders & shook him impatiently. "Would you untie your tongue & speak in complete sentences?!"

"T-the baby's coming!" Inuyasha blurted. Excitement in his eyes were replaced with fear & doubt & slowly he sat back down, "Kagome…the baby is coming…the baby…what if I'm not ready? W-what…what'll I do? What will we do?!"

"First I suggest you get your ass up & to the hospital, STAT" Kagome started, getting his phone & wallet & handing it to him, "Second, you have no choice but to be ready. That baby is coming whether you're ready or not. But the beautiful thing is sometimes, instead of putting your ducks in a row you have to gather them up & run like hell. It'll be alright, I promise. You aren't a single parent you know"

Suddenly Inuyasha's head snapped up. "Sessh is about to go into labor, Kagome!"

The dark haired woman raised an eyebrow. "Yeah I got tha-"

"Shit! I gotta get outta here! Tell Miroku he's in charge!"

The hanyou was out of there quicker than she could blink, leave a trail of loose leaf papers in his wake. She sighed, blowing a lock of hair out of her face. This was about to get interesting.

.

..

…

Inuyasha drove like the devil himself was on his ass & he was ever so thankful there was just a trickle of traffic & majority of the traffic lights were green. He prayed the whole time that no cops were out trying to make their protocol for the month & he muttered a, "Thank you" as he pulled into the hospital parking lot. He sprinted inside & was directed by the receptionist to the emergency room. Just as Inuyasha burst through the doors, he heard a, "Jesus Christ!" that sounded very familiar. His feet carried him to a door that was cracked open.

He expected to see Sesshomaru sweating & trying to push while a nurse was between his legs, encouraging him to breathe & another nurse holding his hand, assuring him his boyfriend was on the way. Instead Sesshomaru was still in his clothes, in a chair, with a bag of chips in one hand. He'd been previously looking at a doctor, a pretty little blonde, who looked kind of nervous but now both of them were looking at the panting hanyou who was out of breath.

"Sessh…what the fuck…is going…?"

"Ah you must be Inuyasha" the doctor said, stepping forward & extending a hand, "I'm Dr. Robbins. I just finishing examining your husband here & uh…unfortunately he's only dilated less than one centimeter"

"Some ol' bullshit" Sesshomaru muttered so softly the doctor didn't hear but Inuyasha did & it made him smirk.

"Uh…wow, yeah, he'd texted me sayin' this was probably it so I rushed down here thinkin' he was already going to be pushing" Inuyasha said, going over to his "husband" & putting a comforting hand on his arm.

Dr. Robbins smiled. "Sorry it would seem your-"

"NO!" Sesshomaru shouted suddenly, causing the hanyou & the doctor to jump damn near out of their skins.

"What, are you in pain?" Dr. Robbins asked, grabbing her stethoscope.

"No. No, I'm fine. I just don't want to know the gender yet" the inuyoukai said.

Inuyasha took several deep breaths to calm his racing heart. "What the hell? All this time we've been going back & forth about whether we're having a boy or girl & you don't want to know?!"

"No"

"Shittin' me! I wanna know!"

Just as Dr. Robbins opened her mouth Sesshomaru shot her a death glare & the human snapped it closed. "He most certainly will wait to find out the gender"

"Wait till when, Sessh, when the baby pops out?!" the hanyou snapped.

"Precisely"

Inuyasha had to slowly rub his mouth to distract himself from getting too upset. "Oh…my God"

Dr. Robbins cleared her throat. "Well…if you guys don't have any questions I'll go ahead & make sure you're clear to leave"

Inuyasha nodded, sighing in relief. "Thanks, Doc"

Once she left, the hanyou glanced over at his mate who was finishing off his chips. "Well…not sure if I'm more relieved or disappointed"

Sesshomaru stood (with a little difficulty, thanks to his stomach sticking so far out) to throw his empty bag away & brush his shirt off. "Why would you be relieved that your daughter isn't here yet?"

"Sessh, we'll be responsible for raising a son who will be watching & listening to everything we do. That may not sound like much but that's a shit ton of a burden right there. I ain't a good role model"

"I suggest you start learning to become one. She will be born…one. Fucking. Day"

Inuyasha smirked & stood to envelope his mate in a hug. "Why didn't you want to know the gender, baby? You know we've been dying to know for ages"

"It builds suspense"

"You're being difficult"

The inuyoukai shrugged & grabbed his phones & keys. "We can't all have what we want when we want it. Come, I want something to eat"

"We can't all have what we want when we want it…" Inuyasha mocked under his breath.

"Did you say something?"

"No, nothing at all"

.

..

…

Sesshomaru wanted to go home & do some online shopping for the nursery so Inuyasha dropped him off & met the guys up at the local sports bar.

"Don't get crazy now" Inuyasha muttered, giving his mate a raised eyebrow.

The inuyoukai simply kissed him & got out, a sly smile on his face. "The same goes for you"

The hanyou met up with Koga, Miroku, Shippo & surprisingly, Kagome, at Buffalo Wild Wings, greeting them warmly. "Shippo! Good to see ya, man! How's the job hunting going?"

The auburn haired young man smirked & tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. "Well I have an interview with the Center for Disease Control as a health & safety specialist next week. Kinda nervous"

"Holy shit, that's amazing! & sounds like hella money! So Christmas will be on you this year, right?"

They laughed good naturedly & all took a seat at a bench.

"Don't forget graduation's next week guys" the fox demon reminded them, "Get there early to get good seats because we have a really big graduating class"

"So…" Kagome started, giving Inuyasha a look.

"What?" the hanyou asked.

"Are you a dad yet or not?" Miroku asked, excited.

Inuyasha smirked & shook his head. "Nah it was a false alarm. He wasn't even a whole centimeter"

There was a collective groan of disappointment & then the waiter came to take their drink & appetizer orders. Once the waiter walked away, Koga shifted his elbows onto the table. "So did you guys find out the gender?"

"He wants it to be a surprise which is really fucking annoying cause the doctor was just getting ready to tell us before Sessh was like, "nah we're good. We don't wanna know". I guess none of us will know until the baby is born"

"It would be awesome if you guys have a girl" Miroku said, "Then they can have play dates with May & Rin"

"Yeah he wants a girl. It would be cool but as long as the baby is healthy, that's all that matters" Inuyasha responded.

"Yeah but we're aiming for a boy to throw a football around with, ya know what I'm sayin?!" Koga said excitedly & the wolf & dog dapped, laughing in agreement.

Suddenly Kagome gasped & grabbed Inuyasha's shoulder. "Oh my God, Inuyasha! You know what would make the perfect birthday gift for Sesshomaru?"

Everyone quieted & Inuyasha looked at her expectantly. "What?"

"A gender reveal party! Oh my God it would be so cool! & didn't you say Sango wanted to go into business to be an event planner, Miroku?"

"Well yeah" the dark haired man said hesitantly, "I know she's not confident in her ability yet but she has to start somewhere, right?"

"I dunno, Sessh was pretty clear about us not finding out until the birth" Inuyasha stated.

"I'm sure you can use some manly charm to sway him" Miroku said with his eyebrow wiggling & a nudge with his elbow.

Koga chuckled. Inuyasha noticed the wolf had not made any reference to Sesshomaru being his baby, not even once.

Inuyasha jerked a chin at him. "Sup with you?"

Koga put a hand on his chest. "Me? Nothing, why?"

"Not once have you called Sessh your baby & you're better for him than I am & all that other bullshit"

The ookami laughed, throwing his head back. "You miss the competition?"

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes. To be honest he kinda did.

"Ah nah man. Finally found someone I kinda like. He's no Sesshomaru but he's still pretty attractive. Overall he's great"

"Aw, Koga, I'm so happy for you!" Kagome said, clasping her hands together in excitement.

"When are we gonna meet this guy? You know he has to go through initiation" Shippo pointed out & everyone nodded.

Koga smiled sheepishly & rubbed the back of his head. "Ah…well hell, I'll probably bring him to the gender reveal party. My ex-husband's opinion is the only one that matters"

Inuyasha sent a glare at him.

They ate their food & the evening passed along smoothly. Inuyasha kept glancing at his phone, a dull ache in his chest when he remembered the last time he left Sesshomaru at home while he was out with the guys. Sesshomaru had sent a few links to a couple things he wanted for the nursery like a Minnie Mouse crib that converted into a twin sized bed & matching overhead mobile. Inuyasha responded with a couple heart eye emojis & put his phone down, smiling to himself. As long as the demon didn't buy that before he got paid…

The group paid for the meal in a pool of money & went their separate ways, promising to link back up soon for the party.

"Tell Sango she can do whatever she puts her mind to!" Kagome told Miroku, patting him on the back, "She'll do great planning this party"

Inuyasha listened to his favorite CD on the way home to get his confidence up. All the talk of a gender reveal party had him excited & he really wanted to do just that for the inuyoukai's birthday. Regardless of what Sesshomaru said about wanting to build the suspense or whatever Inuyasha knew he was dying to know like everyone else was.

He parked in the garage & hopped out, taking a deep breath before he opened the door to the house. Sesshomaru sat in the living room on his laptop, fingers going thousands of miles a minute & face set in determination.

"Welcome back" the inuyoukai said, looking up but continuing to type, "Did you have fun?"

Inuyasha kissed his mate & set his stuff down. "Yeah I did. I brought you back some wings"

"I taught you so well"

The hanyou grinned. "Hey can I ask you something?"

The silver haired beauty immediately stopped typing to give the half breed his full attention.

"How would you feel…about having a party for your birthday?"

Sesshomaru made a face. "You know I'm not keen on parties. That means people"

Inuyasha laughed. "Ok but not just any party…a gender reveal party"

"Yasha, I told you-"

"Ok but hear me out, yeah? The sooner we know the gender, the sooner you can stop adding so many different things to your wishlist & you can get that Minnie Mouse crib or that Mickey Mouse diaper bag"

"Or I can just get Winnie the Pooh because he's neutral"

"Sessh, honey, please, listen, honey. I know how much you love that crib. It's gorgeous & you don't want nothing less than the best for our baby, right? & what better way to top a beautiful crib than with a Minnie bow? Ah, see, that warm feeling in your chest?"

"Yeah that pizza gave me heartbur-"

"That's the happiness that mental picture just gave you. Just give in, baby. Please"

Sesshomaru stared at him for a long time, working his jaw side to side. "You can't find me any acceptable present for my birthday, can you?"

Inuyasha sighed. "Nope"

The inuyoukai chuckled. "Alright. We can have a gender reveal party on my birthday"

Constructive criticism is always welcomed! If you have any recommendations for fanfics or authors I'd be happy to read it! Sometimes I take breaks when writing chapters & I like to read something else to get my mind off my story for a while :)