Inuyasha groaned deeply as he rolled to his side. He slowly peeled one amber eye open and looked at the clock on the bedside table, silently praying he could snuggle down into the blanket and go back to sleep. 3AM- why was he awake at 3am? He was just rolling back over when his ears twitched, a sound just outside his clear hearing range must be what woke him up. He reached his arm out to snuggle his wife when he quickly realized two things. His very pregnant wife was very clearly missing from their bed and it was her crying downstairs that had woken him up.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Why was she out of bed? Why didn't she wake him up? How long had she been downstairs?

He took the stairs three at a time, claws gouging into the wood as he used the banister to drift around the corner into the living room.

"Kagome!?"

His wife was sitting on the couch, still in her shorts and sports bra, 34 week belly proudly on display. She didn't appear to be bleeding or throwing up or any other obvious concern. No furniture was knocked over and he couldn't smell anyone else in the house. He dropped to his knees and began to unceremoniously sniff her, checking her for non-visual injuries or illness... something to justify her tears.

"Inuyasha, what are you doing?" She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, a small sniffle escaping without her intention.

Having decided she was in no actual danger he dropped back onto his haunches and glared at his wife. "What am I doing? What the fuck are you doing woman? "

He took quick stock of the room. The TV was on, volume low. Sitting on the end table next to the couch was half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of chocolate milk. She had clearly gotten up for one of her usual midnight snacks but her eyes were puffy, her nose runny, and there were clear lines down her blotchy cheeks. She hadn't just cried, she'd been damn near hysterical.

"Umm…" she started, but stopped when a small blush started to spread across her cheeks. "I really didn't mean to wake you up." She looked down at the couch, clearly embarrassed. "But I had to pee. Since I was up I figured I'd have a snack. Then I turned on the TV since going right back to bed after eating gives me heartburn," she started speaking more quickly as her embarrassment grew. "The Golden Girls was on but then all of a sudden it was a PSA for the Humane Society and they had all these puppies in cages and dogs out in the cold and one of the puppies was missing his ear and I just…" her eyes had started watering again as she rambled, her voice wavering as she absentmindedly stroked her hand across her swollen belly.

Inuyasha reached across and placed his hand on hers, stilling her movements.

"You seriously need to stop watching sad dog commercials at 3am," he said sternly. "You're an absolute mess; this is ridiculous!"

"I didn't mean to," she protested, "they sprung it on me!"

"That's what you said last time!"

"I...okay fair." She signed, rubbing her eyes to clear any residual tears. This wasn't the first time she'd been caught off guard by a media includenced mood swing. She'd switched almost exclusively to streaming services to avoid these kinds of incidents. "Stupid hormones…"

"Hey now," her husband crooned, "they aren't all bad now are they? You weren't so upset about them this morning. Or last night. Or the day before that." Kagome playfully swatted his shoulder. Her hormones had made her hornier than a teenager but that didn't mean she wanted to be teased about it.

Inuyasha stood up and held his hand out for her. "Come back to bed," he said, "you can put on a movie and finish eating upstairs."

"You hate my bedtime movies," she countered but took his hand nonetheless and hoisted herself up off the couch.

"I like 'em a hell of a lot more than waking up in an empty bed and losing three years off my life from stress." He gathered up her snacks and started up the stairs, his wife waddling behind him.

Neither of them fell back asleep until dawn, enjoying one of their last nights alone too much to squander it on sleep.