June 12

This afternoon Inuyasha and I were cuddling in our backyard in our hammock. It was the perfect place to relax on a warm summer day. We'd been out there relaxing for hours and we may have fallen asleep for a little while.

"Honey, our anniversary is next week," I said.

"I know," he replied. He hugged me just a little bit tighter. "One year married to the love of my life. It's going to be a really special day."

"We should do something special for it," I said thoughtfully.

"Any idea of what?"

"We could go on a vacation."

He thought for a moment. "How about we go back to the island?"

"I'd love that," I said excitedly. The island where we went for our honeymoon was the most romantic spot I'd ever been to. I was more than ready to go back.

"Good, because when we get there I'm going to rock your world, baby." The deep, sensual tone of his voice made my heart pound. After the intoxicatingly passionate kiss that followed, my face was completely flushed and I could hardly breathe. I could already tell, this was going to be an incredibly hot anniversary trip.

Before we could do anything else, Shippo appeared and sat on the hammock at our feet.

"Hey Shippo," Inuyasha said.

Shippo looked at us curiously. "Kagome, are you okay?"

I was still recovering from Inuyasha's kiss but I didn't realize it was so obvious how dazed I was. "Yeah, I'm fine," I said even though my heart was still pounding.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha just laughed and kissed my cheek.

"How did things go with that girl?" he asked.

"That's the thing, I need help," Shippo said.

"I thought you asked her to go out with you yesterday?" I said.

"I did, and we're supposed to be going on a date today. But I've never been on a date before so I need your advice."

"I thought you didn't want my advice, Shippo," Inuyasha said, obviously still salty about the other day.

"Well I've changed my mind," Shippo said. "You've managed to keep Kagome this long and get her pregnant so you must know something."

Inuyasha was glaring at Shippo but I couldn't help but find the whole thing a little bit funny.

"The main thing you want to remember when you go on a date is to just relax," I explained. "It may seem scary at first, but you like this girl so you should be able to just be yourself around her."

"Compliment her," Inuyasha said. "Tell her she's pretty and tell her you like her hair and her outfit. Women like that."

"Ask about her. Find out her favorite color, her hobbies, her favorite food. Things like that. Show her that you're really interested in her."

"Make her laugh. Girls love a funny guy."

"And be a gentleman. Say hello to her parents when you pick her up and hold doors for her. Things like that."

"This is a lot," Shippo said. "I should have brought something to write all of this down."

"Where are you taking her anyway?" Inuyasha asked.

"To the diner in the village."

"That's a good spot. Make sure you hold her hands across the table."

"You'll be fine," I said gently. "And I'm sure she'll fall in love with you even more after all this."

"I hope so." Shippo took a deep breath. "Well, wish me luck."

He dashed off and then I thought of something.

"Come on, Yasha," I said as I got off the hammock.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"We've got to follow him."

"Wouldn't that be an invasion of privacy?"

"It's his first date. We've got to make sure everything goes well for him."

Inuyasha got off the hammock. I grabbed his hand and pulled him along. "You're such a meddler, Kagome."

So we went into the village and found Shippo walking down the road with Michiko towards the diner. They were talking and laughing and it was such a cute sight to see. We stayed a few yards back and continued to watch them.

"Ah, young love," I said. "Isn't it adorable?"

"Keh, if Shippo doesn't screw things up first."

"I'm sure he won't. Shippo is sweet."

"Wasn't there one girl he tried to go out with years ago and he blew it? What was her name? Satsuki?"

"Well, that was a long time ago. Shippo has grown up a lot since then."

"He's still short."

I pushed his arm. "Oh stop, he's not...that short." Shippo had grown a bit over the years but he was still about a head shorter than Michiko.

They went into the diner and Inuyasha and I watched discreetly from the window as they were seated.

"I hope he follows our advice," I said.

"He's asking about her favorite color so he must have listened to us at least a little bit."

"You can hear everything they're saying?"

"Of course."

That made me excited. "What else are they saying?"

"Mushy things. She told him how cute he is. He said she's pretty and he likes her dress."

"Perfect!" Then I noticed Shippo glance in our direction. "Get down!" I grabbed Inuyasha's arm and pulled him to the ground so that we were ducked below the window.

"What in the world are you two doing?" Miroku asked.

We looked up and saw Miroku and Sango standing next to us looking confused. I pulled them down as well. "They're going to see us!"

"Who?"

"Shippo and Michiko. They're on a date."

"Isn't this an invasion of privacy?" Sango asked.

"That's what I said!" Inuyasha replied.

Miroku glanced through the window. "Shippo's holding her hands. Looks like he's taking my advice after all."

Sango looked through the window as well. "If he takes your advice Michiko will never speak to him again!"

Inuyasha looked through the window next. "Keep dreaming, Miroku. They're definitely not talking about bearing children."

"Shippo should kiss her!" I said.

"They've hardly been out 15 minutes and you already want them to kiss?" Inuyasha said.

"They kissed yesterday when he asked her to be with him," I pointed out.

"Geez, little kids move fast these days."

All of a sudden Shippo turned in our direction again. This time he saw us and glared at us.

"Oh no, he saw us!" I said.

Shippo said something to Michiko and then went out of the cafe. We all glanced at each other nervously. Now we were going to get it.

"What are you doing here?!" Shippo exclaimed.

"We just wanted to make sure your date is going well," I said.

"It was Kagome's idea," Inuyasha added to which I glared at him for ratting me out.

"Did you ask her to bear your children?" Miroku asked.

"No, of course not!" Shippo said. "I don't need you here watching me. I'm not a baby you know."

"We just care about you a lot and want things to go well for you, Shippo," Sango said. "Sometimes we forget that you're not a little kid anymore."

Shippo's face softened and he uncrossed his arms. "Well, that is kinda nice so I guess I can forgive you. Just don't do it again!"

"We promise," we all said.

Shippo went back inside to finish up with his date with Michiko and the rest of us went home. I haven't heard from him since then so I can only assume his date went well. It's so nice to think of our little Shippo with a new girlfriend although I do have to remember that he's not a little kid anymore. I've always thought of him as the baby of our group but I guess it's time to change that.