January 15

Being Moroha's mother has been such a wonderful experience so far but it has also come with its own set of challenges.

I'm learning something new every day and I often wonder whether I'm doing things the right way or not. All I want to do is be the best mother she could possibly have. Not to mention I've been so self-conscious lately about my stretch marks. I guess all of my worries kind of built up today because the first half of the day did not go well.

Not every day is easy for Yasha and me as new parents. We're still trying to adjust and figure things out and sometimes that's really frustrating. On top of that, we didn't exactly get much sleep last night so that only added to our frustrations this morning.

I was cleaning up the kitchen and Inuyasha was putting wood in the fire. Moroha had been crying all morning and it was starting to weigh on us.

"Kagome, I think she's hungry," Inuyasha said.

"I just fed her," I replied.

"What else could be wrong with her?" At this point, it had seemed like we had tried everything and our attempts to console her hadn't been working.

I sighed. "I'm not sure, Yasha. Let me finish with this and I'll be right over." I tried to work quickly. There was always so much to do and I was trying to be the best mother and wife that I could be by doing it all at once.

Inuyasha picked her up and tried to calm her down while I was finishing up in the kitchen. When I went over to him he handed her to me. "I'll be right back," he said and then he went out the back door.

I didn't know where he was going but now I was alone with our screaming baby. I sighed in exasperation and tried my best to calm her down. Ten minutes later I had gotten her to relax and Inuyasha came back in but I wasn't happy.

"Where did you go?" I asked.

"I just remembered I had to get something from the shed," he replied. "She's okay now?"

"Yes, but why did you leave me alone?"

"I was coming right back!"

"I know you can hear us from out there. You just conveniently came back when she stopped crying!"

His glare hardened. "That's not true Kagome and you know it's not! You just need a reason to fight with me!"

"I do not…!"

"Shut up and stop being so annoying!"

I turned away from him as tears formed in my eyes and my lip trembled. What was I doing? I was just making a tough situation even worse. I felt so overwhelmed and I just needed space. So I silently put Moroha in her baby swing and then went off to our room and shut the door behind me. Then I sat down on our bed and cried wondering why things had to be so hard.

A few minutes later Inuyasha knocked on the door. "Kagome, can I come in?"

"Sure," I said as I quickly tried to wipe away my tears but it was no use trying to hide how upset I was before he came in. He sat next to me and wrapped his arms around me while I cried into his chest. "I'm sorry."

He kissed the top of my head. "I'm sorry too." His voice was much gentler than before. All traces of anger were gone. "I'm sorry I left you alone. I really did need to get something from the shed but I guess I also needed some air after this morning."

"I know, it hasn't been easy." I sat up and wiped my tears away. "I shouldn't have yelled at you. I've been trying so hard to be a good mother and with her crying all night and all morning, I just felt so overwhelmed...I guess I took it out on you."

He brushed away the rest of my tears. "You are a good mother, Kagome. Whether Moroha is upset or not, that doesn't change the fact that you're such an amazing mother to her."

A smile touched my face. "Really?"

"Of course, sweetheart." He placed his forehead on mine and looked into my eyes. "And I'm grateful to have you by my side to help me through this."

"I am too, Yasha. I couldn't do this without you." Our lips connected for a sweet kiss and I already felt better but I couldn't help but ask, "Yasha, do you still think I'm beautiful?"

He looked surprised. "Kagome, you're the most beautiful woman in the world to me. Where is this coming from?"

I looked down, unable to meet his gaze anymore. "I don't know just...all of the stretch marks and the weight I've gained I guess."

"Seriously? That's what you're worried about?" He lifted my chin so that he was looking into my eyes again. "Don't you realize that all of those changes are a symbol of our love?"

"What?"

"They're all signs that you loved me enough to carry our child for nine months and give birth to her. Moroha is a product of our love and those marks and everything are the results of that. The idea that I would ever think anything less of you for it is ridiculous. If anything, those things make me love you even more."

I was so surprised to hear this from him and his words touched my heart. So much so that I couldn't help but start crying again.

"Kagome...why are you crying now?" he said in that panicked way he gets when I inexplicably start crying.

"These are happy tears," I said as I tried to dry my face. "You have no idea what all of that means to me."

"It's all true," he said before kissing me once again. "I love you so much, Kagome. Never forget that."

"Thank you, Yasha. I love you too." I kissed him again and after a few moments, I realized we had left Moroha alone for quite a while at this point. "I think we should go check on her."

"You're right. I'm sure she thinks we've disappeared."

We went into the living room where Moroha was at least content with watching Nico roll around with a ball of yarn.

To our relief, she was much calmer for the rest of the day. Both of us were too. I was definitely grateful that the rest of our day was quiet and relaxing after all of that.