As Inuyasha looked into the attic strewn with boxes all labeled differently and in varying states of decomposition it seemed, he hesitated before going in. Kagome was directly behind him on the ladder, her hand swatting his backside to get him to go up.

"What exactly are we doing up here?" Inuyasha ignored her light smacks, pulling the rag upwards from his neck to cover his mouth and nose.

Kagome answered him, "We're looking for the Christmas decorations. Are you going up or not?"

Inuyasha left foot went up one step, but paused when his ears brushed cobwebs. "I'm thinking not," he told his wife.

Kagome huffed loudly. "Really?"

"It's so dusty up here. I think I see a spider the size of my hand back there." He raised one hand to brush away all the cobwebs around his head, but winced when he saw how many more there were further back into the small space. "Besides," he continued, "I don't think I'll fit. I'm a little too big for whatever torture chamber you're trying to lure me into.

Kagome let out a load groan. "Why are so dramatic?"

Inuyasha stepped up another ring on the ladder. "Are you sure about this? Are you even sure they are up here?"

"Mama said they were. Now are you going up or not." Kagome climbed up the ladder even more to crowd her husband and force his hand into going up. "If you're not, I'll do it by myself. You can stand at the bottom and I'll pass things down to you."

Inuyasha finally went all the way into the small attic, slouched quite a bit to be able to move. Kagome followed suit, but due to her height, she was able to stand as normal, her hair just brushing the top. Inuyasha had half a mind to point out how many cobwebs were getting tangled in her hair, but he didn't want to risk her getting freaked out.

"So why I am up here?"

"The boxes are heavy. I don't know if I can lift them all."

Inuyasha looked around at all the boxes up there. The layers of dust were thick everywhere. He asked his wife, "How did you get them up here then, if they are so heavy?"

Kagome paused, and Inuyasha worried for a second he hit a nerve.

"Well," Kagome kept her eyes on the boxes, not looking at Inuyasha. "My dad brought them up here."

Inuyasha's eyes widened as he nodded, not that she could see him. Kagome hadn't really ever spoken about her father to him, besides telling him that he had passed away when she was young.

Kagome continued. "I remember how much I loved decorating for Christmas with him, and I want Koji to have the same memories."

Finally, she looked up at Inuyasha, her eyes slightly gleaned from unshed tears. "I was our family to have the same memories."

Inuyasha nodded. Swallowing hard, he moved to hug her. In the tiny space, he enveloped her entire body instead of just pulling her close, but she squeezed him tight so he knew she didn't mind.

After a few moments she pulled away, her face a little red but a smile present. "So let's look for the Christmas boxes."

Inuyasha turned around and looked. "How do we know which ones are those?"

"They'll say Christmas on them."

"What does that word look like?"

Kagome stopped, taking a moment to realize that Inuyasha would have never really have ever seen the word before or have ever celebrated either. "Oh," she responded, "let me find one and show you."

She sneaked past him, silently happy that he held her waist to keep her balanced when she moved past him.

Seeing a bold CHRISTMAS marked box across the space, she pointed to it. "There," she told him. "That's one."

Inuyasha's face twisted as he looked at the stacks of boxes, unsure which one she was pointing to. "Uh," he leaned over her shoulder to see if he could decipher her clues.

Kagome didn't seem to realize that he was confused still, lifting her leg to step over boxes. As she scaled her way back, Inuyasha tried to grab her to bring her back to safety. "Hey now," he said, getting a grip onto her shirt. "Don't go where I can't help you."

"I can fit back here just fine." She was now bowed, as the slope of the roof was so severe that she couldn't stand.

"I don't and I can't get you if you trip."

Kagome cocked her head and tossed him a look. "What am I going to trip on?"

Inuyasha used his free hand, the one not pulling on her shirt, to point at all the boxes. "Take a wild guess, Kagome. A wild guess."

"If anything, they'll stop me from falling. There isn't a whole lot of room for me to fall down."

Inuyasha scoffed out, "Exactly. You'll probably break a leg, and then what will I do with you." He pulled harder on her shirt. "Get back here."

Kagome ignored him, choosing to pull the Christmas box towards her instead. "Oof, this thing is heavy," she said to no one in particular, although her husband was right there.

"Do not hurt yourself. Let me get that."

Kagome waved back at him. "Let me get it closer to you, then you can get it."

"You're going to throw out your back. Let me get it." Inuyasha moved to plant his feet better and lean to obtain a stronger hold her, so he could pull her out of the mess she had put herself into.

But he forgot that Kagome was just as stubborn as him, and when he lifted her up to bring her back to him, she took the box too.

"Kagome!" He exclaimed, lifting her over the boxes between them. "What are you doing?!"

Kagome, once he had put her feet back on the ground, looked a little too smug for his liking. "Getting the box. See how easy that was?"

Inuyasha's jaw dropped at her comment, hidden by the cloth covering his nose and mouth. "Are you kidding me?"

Kagome put the box down, wincing a little at the clatter the items inside made. "Let's get the other ones too."

Inuyasha promptly picked her up again, jumping clean down the ladder with ease and putting back on the floor of the shed. Before she could blink, he was up and back down with the first box. He put box on his shoulder, freeing up a limb to wrap around her. He led her back into the house, pausing only for her to take off her outdoor shoes, before leading her into the family room where Mama Higurashi was reading books to Koji, who was far more interested in the texture of the paper than actually looking at the pages.

"She's a hazard up there. Here," he said, putting the box on the floor, more gently than Kagome had before, "unpack this box. I'll get the other ones by myself."

Kagome raised an eyebrow, about to give him a piece of her mind – she was most certainly not a hazard – but he was gone before she could speak.

Mama Higurashi had paused in reading to tell her daughter to get a cloth for the dust layers and some scissors to open the boxes, but she quickly went back to reading to her grandson.

Koji, for his part, didn't even seem to notice she wasn't reading, continuing to play with the paper and feel the silky texture of the book with glee.

Inuyasha was swift in bringing down all the boxes, and Kagome couldn't help but wonder how he was able to find them all, with how many boxes were up there, but she also knew that he was still annoyed with her and it was better to not bother him much more.

She was careful to clean off as much of the dust and debris off of the boxes, not wanting to dirty up her mother's home, as well as not wanting to agitate her son and husband's sensitive noses.

A vacuum would have been a lot less work, however a vacuum wasn't something Koji was used to yet and might have scared him.

An extra load of laundry for the cleaning rags was just going to have to be done.

Inuyasha told Kagome to check that he hadn't missed a box, and it didn't escape her notice that he kept a grip on her the entire she was up there.

"Nope, you got them all." Kagome twisted in his arms to give him a kiss, but paused when she saw all the dust on his face mask and hair. "But you might want to take a quick shower to get all that dust off you or it's going to make you sick."

Inuyasha grunted, climbing down the ladder this time. He waited at the bottom for her climb down, quickly putting away ladder and pulling the string to shut the hatch.

Koji seemed to finally realize that something was going on, and while he was clearly apprehensive about the change in the room and boxes, his curiosity was getting the best of him. Mama Higurashi was holding the scissors in her hand, and Kagome wanted to smack herself when she realized she had left them on the table in Koji's reach.

Before she could open her mouth, Mama shook her head with a soft smile. "It's okay dear. That's why we make sure someone's watching him."

Inuyasha sped past the door frame into the bathroom. Kagome mouthed a 'thank you' to his departing back. If Koji had seen him, he most likely would have wanted a cuddle, and until Inuyasha cleaned off, it wasn't a good idea.

"What's in there, baby?" Kagome squatted down next to her son, who was pulling at the edges of the old tape sealing the boxes closed.

At the sound of her voice, he lifted his head and shrieked loudly in glee. Throwing himself into her arms, he forgot all about the boxes.

Kagome gave him a quick squeeze, enjoying his enthusiasm at seeing her. "Did you have a good time with Grandma?"

Koji rubbed his face into her chest, making a soft noise of agreement. Kagome stroked his hair softly, asking him, "Should we see what's in the boxes?"

Koji didn't fully understand what she asked, but he was quick to climb into her lap when she crossed her legs to sit down and open boxes. Mama Higurashi handed her the scissors, and she opened the box closest to her. The sound of the scissor blades slicing through the woven tape drawing his attention.

Kagome put the scissors back on the table behind her and far away from small hands once the box was opened. When she lifted the lid, the stale stench of years old packing material hit her pretty hard. It was so strong that Koji abandoned his position on her lap and made his way across the room to his grandma.

"Oh," Mama Higurashi put her tea down, opening her arms for Koji to enter her embrace. "Was it too smelly?"

Kagome coughed and laughed at the same time. "I should have thought about that. It's been years since this has been opened, of course it would smell bad." She looked over at Koji. "Sorry baby, Mama didn't think about that."

She pulled each wrapped item out of the box and put them on the floor next to her. Koji watched from a distance with a careful gaze.

Mama Higurashi observed her daughter go through the boxes that hadn't been opened in years, sadness creeping on her.

Christmas had been her husband's favorite time of the year. He loved decorating a tree and buying presents for his children. Christmas hadn't meant much to her, and once he was gone, she hadn't ever even imagined she'd celebrate again.

When Kagome had mentioned wanting to decorate with Koji, she had wanted to say no. It was painful to think about the memories associated with the little houses, holly, and tree that was up in the attic.

However, Kagome was right. Koji deserved to have memories too. Maybe she could recreate memories that would replace the pain.

"Do you want to keep the boxes?" Kagome asked her, on her knees to open another box.

Mama Higurashi's inhale felt harsh in her chest. Those were the boxes that her husband had used. Did she want to keep them?

Looking at the state of them, she knew she shouldn't. They should get new boxes that weren't decaying slowly from being in attic for years.

"Mama?" Kagome's voice brought her out of her stupor.

This was all about making new memories, she decided. "No," she told her daughter, "we'll get new ones after the holiday."

Kagome watched her with questioning eyes, but whatever questions she had, she didn't voice. "Alright then. I'll break them down and have Inuyasha tie them up for garbage day."

"What am I doing?" Inuyasha entered the room, sans any of his tops and in a pair of sweatpants from the 'Emergency Inuyasha' clothes stash. "Shit, Kagome, what the hell is the smell?" His hand quickly covered his mouth and nose.

Kagome rolled her eyes, using the scissors to deconstruct the boxes so that they would lay flat. "Old attic smell. Quit it and help me unpack."

Inuyasha scooted past her towards his mother-in-law. "No, I think I'll stay with Koji. He's got the right idea being on that side of the room."

Kagome smacked his retreating backside. "Brat. Who's going to help me?"

"I will." Mama Higurashi lifted Koji to his father. Koji was quite happy to transfer over to his father. "Are your clothes in the wash dear?"

Inuyasha tucked Koji into his arm on his hip. "Yeah, it was caked and needed a rinse."

"Did you start it?"

"Yeah," Inuyasha plopped down onto the ground, sliding his toddler into his lap.

Mama made her way over to help Kagome. "Thank you for doing that, Inuyasha." Opening up another box, Mama bit back a sad sigh. She hadn't seen this stuff in a long time.

Kagome touched her hand. "I can do it alone. I was just giving him grief."

Mama Higurashi was touched at how kind her daughter was. "No," she replied, pulling out an ornament wrapped in tissue paper. "It'll be good for me to also have these memories."

Kagome nodded her understanding. Suddenly she stood up, clapping her hands together. "I know what we need! We need Christmas music!"

Koji looked up at her also clapping his hands together. Kagome laughed. "See, even Koji agrees with me! I'll get the CD player. I think I've got some albums still upstairs!"

Inuyasha asked Mama Higurashi, "What is she doing?"

"Getting music. Music for the holiday." She inspected the little ceramic house for damage, silently happy that there none to be found.

Inuyasha looked back the door way, clapping along with Koji who was still carrying on his one-man audience. This was all beyond him.

Kagome emerged with a CD player, and after plugging it in and little bit of fuss, it started to play soft music. Inuyasha had heard these songs in the stores before, but he hadn't heard it anywhere else before.

The change in the environment intrigued Koji enough to exit his father's lap and waddle quickly over to CD player. He squatted low, tucking his hands under his feet so he could lean forward. His red ears swiveled around as he took in the new sounds.

Mama Higurashi and Kagome continued to unpack the boxes and sort the unusable items into the trash and recycling, Inuyasha leaned back on his hands and watched the scene before him.

He didn't understand Christmas. He didn't understand the fuss of decorating the house for a day in the future. What he did understand though was how important making memories was. And this was for sure a scene he wanted to remember.

Once all but one box was sorted, Kagome called him over to help them. "We've got to set up the tree."

"The tree?" Inuyasha stood up and watched Kagome open up the longest and biggest box.

Kagome lifted the lid and he saw green pine needles. "What is that?" He picked up a branch, taken slightly aback by the amount of green pine that came out with it.

"It's the Christmas Tree. We're going to put it in the corner."

"We're putting a tree inside?" Inuyasha questioned while Mama put down a towel and Kagome put a strange device down.

Kagome chuckled. "Yep."

"Why?"

Kagome put a large tube in the middle and started to put branched on it. "It's tradition."

Inuyasha put the branch he was holding on like Kagome did. "Weird tradition."

Kagome shrugged. "I suppose it kind of is."

Koji had noticed the activity across the room from him. He walked over and stood off to the side, taking in all the action.

As the tree came together, Inuyasha commented, "I've never put a tree together before."

"Well, maybe that's our new memory," Kagome said.

Inuyasha took the top of the tree, easily tucking it into the tube.

Koji walked around the tree while Kagome swept up the fall pieces of plastic pine needles.

"Here baby," Mama Higurashi called out to Koji. "Let's put on the tree skirt."

"We're clothing it?" Inuyasha's voice was incredulous.

Kagome laughed and nodded. "Gotta kept it modest."

Koji helped Mama Higurashi put the fabric around the base of the tree by balling it up in his fist and investigating the stiches that held it together.

Inuyasha took a step back and looked the tree up and down. It didn't look like any tree he had ever seen before. He supposed that was because it wasn't real.

"Time for the lights. Or do we do the tinsel first?" Kagome asked her mother.

Mama Higurashi looked over her shoulder. "Probably the lights."

Kagome picked up a string of what Inuyasha thought were probably small light bulbs, and she and her mother started to lay them into the tree. They discussed the best way to wrap them, before moving onto the colorful tinsel.

He watched in fascination, taking in all he could.

Koji was still very occupied by the tree skirt.

While Mama Higurashi was fussing with the colorful beads strung around the tree, Kagome stepped back to the piles they had made earlier.

She came back with an arm full of items that had come from the boxes. She started to put them on the tree in a varying pattern, walking this way and that. There were paper ones, globe ones, and little sculptures.

"Here," she said, handing her husband some. "Put these ones higher so a certain little man can't get his fingers on them."

Inuyasha watched her closely for a moment, seeing how she had put them on the tree, before doing the same.

Mama Higurashi stood, brushing off her legs. She touched the top of Koji's head to get his attention. "Let's help putting on ornaments, Koji."

Koji took her hand, walking to select items out of the pile. He came back with fistfuls of soft sewn ornaments. Inuyasha recognized some of them, like the man in red with white hair and the deer-like animals.

"Put them on like this." Mama Higurashi showed Koji how to put the ornaments on the branches. He seemed reluctant to release his new treasures, but after a bit of coaxing and a lot of praise, he joined in on decorating the tree.

As the Christmas music hummed in the background and the tree came together, Kagome felt her heart swell with happiness at sharing this time with her family.

Once the tree was all done up, Kagome told Inuyasha to plug it in. He took the cord from her hand, putting it into the wall socket next to the tree.

As the lights lit up and tree came to life, Koji's eyes shone just as bright. "OH," he exclaimed loudly. "Good!"

Kagome froze. Had he finally said a word. Immediately, she felt tears well in her eyes.

Mama Higurashi was quick on praising Koji. "Yes, it is. It is good." She kissed her grandson, holding his shoulders gently, tearing up a little. "It's very good."

Inuyasha swooped in and picked up Koji to bring him closer to the tree. "Do you like it, Koji?" he questioned his son, his excitement at Koji's first word radiating off him.

Koji nodded. "Good."

Inuyasha pressed his nose against Koji's cheek. "Good."

Kagome walked forward to embrace her little family. "Good," she repeated after her boys.

Afterall, everything was good.