December 20

Yesterday morning I was woken up by an incredibly intense contraction.

"Ah!" I exclaimed as I sat up.

Inuyasha immediately got up as well. I got the feeling that he wasn't fully asleep. I think he's been half awake for the past few nights monitoring me for something like this. "What's wrong, Kagome?"

"That was a really big contraction," I said quietly as I put my hands on my stomach. Then I cringed in pain as I felt another one. These were way more intense than the small contractions I'd been having before. Did that mean it was time?

Inuyasha put his hand on my stomach as well to comfort me. "Is there anything I can do?"

There was only one thing to do now. "Go get Kaede."

He looked at me in shock. For a moment he was silent as he studied me to see if I was really serious. "You think it's time?"

"I think so." Then another contraction came. "Yes, it's time! It's definitely time."

We locked eyes for a moment with a mutual understanding that this was the big moment and there was no going back from here. There was sheer panic in his eyes and I'm sure my expression looked the same.

From there he placed a kiss on my lips. It was a light kiss but at the same time full of passion and reassurance. "I'll be right back."

While he was gone I went into a full blown moment of panic knowing that this was really happening. For a few minutes, I paced back and forth across the room both trying to relax and to get some relief from the continuous contractions. This was it, this was the moment the baby would finally arrive. It was the moment I had been looking forward to and dreading for nine long months. During the time Yasha was gone, my water broke and I knew that this wasn't a false alarm. This was real and I had to brace myself.

While I was up, I decided to change our bed sheets knowing that this was going to get messy. Once I felt everything was sufficiently in place, I sat on the bed and waited just a few minutes longer. When Yasha arrived with Kaede, I was relieved to see him. He immediately rushed to my side and I took comfort in his warmth as he hugged me.

"It's time, Kagome," Kaede said excitedly as she put down her supplies. "Sango will be here shortly. Inuyasha, it's about time for you to leave."

I didn't want Yasha to let go of me. I wanted him to stay by my side the entire time but I knew that wasn't how things were done here. From the way he held me, I could tell he didn't want to let go either.

"Just give me a few minutes," he said to Kaede. Then he turned to me and kissed me. It was such a sweet, passionate kiss once again full of longing for me and reassurance. Afterwards he looked into my eyes. "You two are going to be okay." He seemed to be reassuring himself of that as much as he was reassuring me.

I nodded as I seemed to be given a sudden sense of determination. We had to be okay for him. "We will be."

Then he took off his red robe and put it around my shoulders. "So you can have part of me here."

"Thank you," I replied. I already felt better because of it. I pulled him to me and kissed him again.

"I love you." Once again he looked into my eyes as he spoke. "I love you more than anything in the world, Kagome."

I felt like I wanted to cry both from happiness and from sadness that he couldn't stay here with me. "I love you too, Inuyasha."

At that moment, Sango came into the room. "Hey everyone."

"Alright Inuyasha, time for you to leave," Kaede said.

Inuyasha reluctantly let go of me and left the room. As he left, it hit me that this could be the last time I would see him. Just as quickly, I put that thought out of my mind. I would not think that way. The baby and I were going to be fine and by the end of the day I would see Inuyasha again.

Sango came over and sat next to me. "How do you feel?"

"Scared," I replied although scared didn't even begin to cover everything I was feeling. I had no idea what to expect and I was terrified, worried, and still panicking.

"You will be fine, dear," Kaede said. "Just try to relax. You're in for a long day."

So Kaede and Sango sat with me for hours coaching me through my contractions which began to get increasingly more painful. I didn't expect it to hurt that much! At one point, I was in so much pain that I felt like I was going to die and I hadn't even gotten to the point where I was pushing the baby out yet.

Kaede and Sango sat on both sides of me holding my hands while I screamed in pain as I had another very long, very painful contraction.

"Let it out, Kagome," Sango said gently. "Somehow it relieves the pain if you scream."

"Is it time to start pushing yet?!"

"Not yet," Kaede replied. "You're still dilating."

Both she and Sango had been incredibly calm throughout the whole process and I didn't understand. My mind was so clouded with how much I was suffering that I felt like no one in the world should be that calm right now.

I lay back on the pillows after that contraction was over panting and crying. "I can't do this."

"Yes, you can," Sango said as she wiped the sweat from my forehead. "You're halfway there, Kagome. You're doing so well. Just think of the baby. Think of how happy you and Inuyasha will be afterwards."

I did and it brought a smile to my face. I also wondered what Yasha was doing at that time. Wherever he was, I knew he had to have been worried out of his mind. Somehow it made me even more determined to get through this so he could hold his baby.

As if I wasn't already in enough pain, it became horrific when I started pushing. I had no idea how I was able to withstand it, I still don't know. But I could feel the baby coming out and all I could do was keep pushing.

Sango sat next to me while I squeezed the life out of her hand and Kaede was at the foot of the bed watching the baby come out and coaching me through the process.

"Almost done, Kagome," Kaede said. "One more, you can do it."

After that last push it was over. As soon as I heard my baby cry, I seemed to forget about all of the pain I was in.

"Aww, look at her!" Kaede said as she picked up the baby.

"She's so cute!" Sango exclaimed.

So it was a girl. I was crying but less so from pain now and more from the sheer joy of what I had just done. I strained to watch as Kaede cleaned up the baby trying to get a good look at her. I was so desperate to hold her.

Sango put her hand on my shoulder. "You did great."

Kaede then handed me my daughter wrapped in a blanket. My heart filled with so much love as I looked at this beautiful baby. She had a full head of black hair and rosy cheeks. She didn't have dog ears but when she opened her eyes, her father's gold eyes were looking back at me.

"Welcome to the world, my love," I said to her. She looked up at me with wide eyes as I ran my fingers through her soft hair. When I touched her tiny hand she held my finger, all the while I was trying not to cry.

I sat there for a few minutes staring at her while Kaede and Sango cleaned up and changed the sheets for me. She was the most beautiful thing in the world, everything that I could have imagined her being.

"You look just like daddy," I said to her and I kissed her forehead. Just as I said it, I thought of Inuyasha and I immediately longed for him to be here to experience this with me. I pried my eyes away from my baby for a moment to glance at Kaede and Sango. "Can Yasha come in now?"

"I'll go get him," Sango said excitedly. Kaede went along with her wanting to see Inuyasha's reaction as well.

They left the room and I waited impatiently for him while gazing at our baby more. I didn't want to stop looking at her. It was so unbelievable to me that Inuyasha and I had made this; this beautiful child that was a product of our love.

I glanced up when I heard the door open. A wide smile spread across my face when I saw him. I was so excited for him to see our daughter.

"Kagome…" My husband looked so nervous. I couldn't imagine the amount of stress he had been under while he was out of the room; he almost looked like he had aged 10 years from it.

"Come see your daughter, Yasha."

Inuyasha seemed to be in a daze as he came over and sat on the bed next to me. He looked hypnotized as he put his arm around me and gazed at our baby. She looked up at him with those beautiful gold eyes and a smile spread across his face. "She's so beautiful," he said as he ran his fingers through her hair. "Our little Moroha." His voice shook as he spoke. I could see the tears forming in his eyes.

Tears welled up in my eyes again as well as I looked back and forth between the two of them; my family. "Thank you, Yasha."

All of a sudden he kissed me. "I should be the one thanking you," he said as his tears finally fell. "You brought this beautiful baby into the world for us." He then pulled us into a tight embrace. "I love you both so much."

We sat there for a while embracing and looking at our beautiful baby girl. It was like we were in a dream we didn't want to wake up from.

Shortly after, there was a knock on the door and Kaede came in. She spent some time with us telling us important things about after care for myself and Moroha and instructed me on how to start feeding her. She said she'd come back in over the coming days to make sure I was recovering smoothly. Once we had thanked her tremendously for her help, she gathered her things and left. Finally, we were all alone with our new baby which was both exciting and nerve-racking at the same time.

We spent the rest of the night and pretty much all of today holding her and playing with her. Inuyasha and I could hardly take our eyes off her. She's everything that we've dreamed of for so long. She makes all of the pain, frustration, and anxiety of the past nine months completely worth it.

I'm also exhausted! Since giving birth to her, my body feels like it's been run over by a truck. I'm sore all over and I'm really tired. On top of that, I have to be up to feed her every few hours. Luckily she doesn't cry much; so far she has only cried when she needs to be fed or changed. I wanted to look at her all day but when I wasn't feeding her I had to get at least a little bit of sleep.

Inuyasha has been sitting on the bed holding her and playing with her while I'm writing. It warms my heart so much to see it; he's been incredibly happy since Moroha was born. I'm so glad I could give him this wonderful gift. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us with her in our lives.