Hiei had already nursed baby Masaki to sleep, and, exhausted as he was, he soon followed. Kurama wanted to sleep, too, but he figured he ought to stay awake and stand vigil (they were in Makai, after all). He used his arms to get out of the chair again and sat next to them, getting a closer look at the baby. His baby. His brand-new son.

Besides his eyes (which Kurama had been told were green), Masaki was the spitting image of Hiei—same smooth jawline, same pointy chin, same small nose and mouth, same ears, and certainly the same hair, save for the red streak. His eyes were closed in his slumber, anyway, so that made him look even more like his Touchan than he normally would. He was just so absolutely beautiful and perfect.

But that made sense, Kurama thought; this, after all, had been the Miracle of Life at work, certainly much better than the video they watched at the childbirth class. It hadn't been clean (there was blood and amniotic fluid on the grass and on Hiei, and the baby especially was a mess), and it hadn't been quiet (Hiei rarely was), but Kurama was still moved by what he had just seen. It wasn't the first time he'd witnessed a birth; his demon mom had carried more litters after his, and as an adult, some of his bandit underlings had children with each other. Maybe it was the fact that Hiei had been the one giving birth, and that he had done so well, that made it special. Hiei had worked so hard over these past several months to carry their baby, and birth him, and feed him…all for the sake of their family.

Kurama wanted to hold Masaki, but he knew he couldn't do that yet, or even make any sudden movements. Immediately following the birth of a baby demon, the mother would go into instinct mode, attacking anyone who dared to come close to the baby, even said baby's father. And that was how it would be until the mother said otherwise. Sometimes it was after the baby had nursed, sometimes it was after the delivery of the placenta, and sometimes they just had to spend a certain amount of time together. If this bonding process was interrupted, it could have disastrous results (just look at Hiei's mother being separated from her baby). But the bottom line was that Kurama knew he had to stay away until Hiei said it was all right.

Since he'd had an adult brain the whole time, Kurama couldn't help but look back on his human infancy as well. He remembered that his human father (long dead) had presented his mother with a gift for giving birth—a beautiful gold necklace. For this reason, Kurama wanted to give Hiei a gift, too, for having his baby. But what? Hiei probably wouldn't want a gold necklace, or any jewelry for that matter, and any type of food probably wasn't a good idea, considering his tastes would probably change again, either back to his old ways or to something entirely new. What else was there?

Lost in thought, Kurama glanced down at the grass, and that was when he noticed the brand-new Hiruseki stone Hiei had cried for their new baby—and it gave him an idea. He plucked a blade of grass out of the ground, then used his youki to make it the exact right size for what he was doing. He drove a sharper, shorter piece of grass into the top of the stone, then tied the longer string of grass around it and stuck it in his pocket. Now, the Hiruseki stone was a necklace for Masaki to wear. The "chains" of Hiruseki necklaces were usually string, with a metal bit driven into the top, but this one would be unique.

Hiei slept through the morning and into the afternoon, when the summer sun was high in the sky and beating down on Kurama's head. The fox-demon was sleepier than ever now, having had no rest for over twenty-four hours, with the added warmth of the July sun, but he knew that in Makai, falling asleep out in the middle of nowhere with a helpless baby was a very stupid thing to do. Besides, if no one was on guard, the freshly-shed blood would call to other demons like a dinner bell.

Speaking of that, Kurama had learned in his babysitting days that newborns were supposed to eat every two to three hours, and it had been almost seven. But it was also apparent that although Hiei slept soundly, Masaki had awoken several times, and since he was still in Hiei's arms, he simply helped himself. It was pretty amazing that he was born knowing how to do that. When he was awake, Kurama noticed the stunning emerald-green eyes Hiei had told him about—and the fact that they seemed to follow him.

"It's nice to meet you, little one," Kurama whispered, giving Masaki a small smile. "I suppose you recognize me?" Kurama paused, trying to think of what to say. "Listen, Masaki…I'm sorry I may not be able to be there for you and your Touchan as much as I would like. I'm trying to recover from my accident, and I'm trying to get by the best I can, but sometimes it feels like it's never enough." Kurama laughed dryly. "Look at me, talking to a newborn. But then, I talked to you while you were inside your Touchan, so maybe it's not so crazy."

It was about half-past noon when Masaki, his eyes still on Kurama, suddenly unlatched from Hiei and let out a loud, high-pitched squeal, causing Kurama to jump and Hiei to finally awaken.

"What was that?" Hiei demanded.

"Masaki," said Kurama. "Maybe our new baby is ready to see what his apartment looks like. And he might want to meet his grandparents, too." Kurama let a little please tone slip into his voice there. He wanted his mom to meet Masaki right away.

"Ugghhh…" Hiei groaned exaggeratedly and rolled his eyes. "Fine. Get yourself in the chair again and let's head back. I'm starving."

…

Hiei really was hungry, and what he was surprised about was that suddenly he was craving sweets to an insane amount. Maybe it was just to make up for the fact that he couldn't eat any sweets in pregnancy? Was it some weird demon thing? Or did nursing just make him unusually hungry? The problem was that they had no sweets in their house, so Hiei had to figure out a quick way to get them.

"I'm going to call my mom now, okay?" Kurama said brightly, heading for their living room phone. Hiei was reclining on the couch, nursing his new pesky baby that wouldn't leave his boobs alone, even though his nipples were beginning to hurt, possibly from having sharp baby demon teeth sunk into them repeatedly over the past several hours. He had found, to his great displeasure, that Masaki screamed bloody murder if anyone tried to set him down in his living room bassinet, and even if he was just taking a nap, someone, preferably Hiei, needed to be holding him. Kurama held him while Hiei took a shower, then dressed in a clean yukata with his shorts underneath, though a bra, he figured, would just get in the way. With help from Kurama, he had also washed Masaki in the sink, diapered him, and dressed him in a onesie, so he didn't look messy anymore either, but the little boy just didn't seem to want to leave his Touchan. Like, ever.

"Tell your mother that she has to bring sweets with her or to not bother coming over," Hiei said shortly.

"That's not very nice," said Kurama, but Hiei bared his teeth at him, so Kurama seemed to decide it wasn't really worth arguing over. "Can you at least call Homura? I'm sure he'll want to know about this."

"All right, all right," Hiei grumbled. "Can you get me my goddamn communication mirror?"

"Hiei!" Kurama scolded. "Masaki can hear you!"

"Oh really? I think he's too busy trying to rip my nipples off with his teeth to understand any bad words," Hiei snapped.

"I told you, the biting is natural!"

"Well, then you do it!"

"And how would you suggest I do that, Hiei, with my regular, non-lactating chest?"

"You're Kurama, you'll figure something out."

"Listen, Hiei…" Kurama sighed and made his way over to Hiei again, although Hiei noticed he took the cordless phone with him so he wouldn't have to make the trip back until he was done with his call. "I can only imagine how difficult this is. I'm sorry."

"But..?"

"No buts," said Kurama. "Obviously, we're glad the baby is here and healthy. But we should face the fact that it might be a difficult adjustment anyway."

That was Kurama, always wanting to face facts. But Hiei was not of a similar mind.

"Just make the call," he said.

"Sure. I'll put her on speakerphone so we can both talk to her, and then you can call Homura," said Kurama, taking Hiei's communication mirror off the coffee table and setting it in his lap. Hiei figured he'd have to have Kurama dial for him, too, since he hadn't mastered one-arm breastfeeding yet. Maybe Shiori or Homura could help with that, who knew? Kurama dialed the phone, while Hiei dreaded Masaki biting him again, or soiling his diaper, perhaps, although at the same time, they were a bit concerned that it hadn't happened yet.

"Hello?" said Shiori, picking up on the first ring.

"Good afternoon, Mother," said Kurama. Hiei saw him smile at the sound of her cheerful voice. "It's me."

"Why, Shuichi, how nice to hear from you!" Shiori replied. "How are things?"

Hiei and Kurama glanced at each other, and this time Hiei couldn't help but grin, too. Everyone knew that was just her way of asking whether her grandson had been born yet. She'd been saying it ever since Hiei had gone past his due date.

"Wonderful," said Kurama. "Your grandson was born this morning!"

Shiori squealed over the phone, sounding sort of like Masaki earlier that day.

"Congratulations!" she cried. "I'm so happy for you! When can I visit?"

"You can come now if you like, Mom," said Kurama. "I'm sure the baby would just love to meet you."

"Yeah, I was hoping you could bring some sweets," said Hiei (Kurama rolled his eyes). "I know I hated them when I was pregnant, but now all of a sudden, after I've had the baby, I want them again. It's weird."

"Not that weird," Shiori reassured him. "Things are going to be a little bit topsy-turvy with your body for a while."

"Oh, perfect," said Hiei sarcastically. "I can't wait."

"Welcome to motherhood, Hiei," Shiori said brightly. "I'm going to let you go now so I can head over. See you soon! Love you."

"Love you," said Kurama.

"Don't forget the sweets," said Hiei.

…

Kurama found that his main job was now to fetch things, and probably to cook meals and do most other chores, as well as make his mail-order plant products, their only income due to the fact that they had no tenants yet. He was eventually planning to reopen his brick-and-mortar store, even if he never did regain the use of his legs, but he was dead-set on remaining home with Hiei to help out until the baby was at least four weeks old. Hiei seemed to appreciate that he wouldn't be doing this completely alone.

Some dads ran away from responsibility like this, but Kurama loved his new life as a dad. For one thing, Hiei and the baby were absolutely adorable. Taking care of them was more than just an obligation; it was something he wanted to do. When he brought Hiei some tea from the Tree of Life leaves (as well as spurring labor on, it was also known to help mothers regain strength after they gave birth), he said, "Hiei, can I hold him?"

"What an idiot," said Hiei scornfully. "He's your son, too. You don't need to ask if you can hold him, just like you didn't need to ask to feel him kick."

He's your son, too. Those words rang happily in Kurama's ears as he took little Masaki into his arms. Tears formed in his eyes as the baby reached up to grab at the long red hair that dangled in his face. Masaki looked so much like Hiei, but with Kurama's eyes and the red in his hair, plus he was very likely to inherit his powers…the perfect blend of both of them. Kurama saw Hiei beginning to smile in spite of himself.

"It looks right," he said finally.

"What looks right?"

"You, holding a baby," Hiei clarified. "It just looks right. Like he belongs there."

"Thank you, Hiei," said Kurama, giving Masaki a kiss. But then he remembered: "Wait a minute! You haven't called Homura yet."

"Right," said Hiei, and he started to dial. He was speaking to Homura when Kurama heard the doorbell ring.

"It's open," Kurama called, since it must be his mom. Normally he would have gone to the door to greet her, but Hiei was occupied with the phone, and he couldn't just hold the baby in his lap without any support. Shiori opened the door, and made a beeline for Kurama as soon as she saw the baby in his arms.

"Oh, he's beautiful!" she gushed. "May I hold him?"

"Of course, Mother," said Kurama, figuring he had just as much say in who got to hold Masaki as Hiei did, and besides, Hiei wouldn't really mind Shiori holding the baby, anyway. So he handed her the baby, and she carefully cradled him in her arms, tears streaming down her face.

"My very first grandchild," she said lovingly, holding out one finger for Masaki to grab. Kurama was surprised at how tight Masaki's grip seemed as he wrapped his whole tiny hand around his grandmother's finger. "What's his name?"

"Masaki," Kurama said with a smile. "For his connection to the forest."

"I love it," Shiori declared, rocking Masaki in her arms. "How has he been so far?"

"Well, he seems to be healthy, but he hasn't had a dirty diaper yet, and we were wondering if that was normal," Kurama began.

"Oh yes." Shiori nodded. "You only need to be concerned if he's gone twenty-four hours without getting a dirty diaper, and remember that when it comes to their stools, babies are like dogs. By examining them closely, you can get clues on the health of the one that made them. I can help you change the first one. I brought some diapers along with the sweets, as well as some other things you might need, or at least want."

"How did you deal with the biting?" Hiei asked abruptly; Kurama noticed for the first time that he had finished his phone call.

"Biting?" said Shiori in confusion.

"It's different for human babies, Hiei," said Kurama, realizing what Hiei meant. "They usually don't bite their moms when they breastfeed. At least, they're not supposed to."

"Lucky," Hiei muttered. "Can I have the sweets now?"

"Of course you can, honey," she said, setting her bag down on the coffee table, and taking several sweet snacks out for Hiei. As soon as he got his hands on them, he gobbled them up like a big pig, making Kurama smile. They did look delicious, after all. But when Hiei was still plowing his way through some giant gummy candies, Masaki started whining again, and Shiori handed him back to Hiei.

"Hey, I'm trying to eat here," said Hiei.

"Masaki wants to eat, too," Shiori replied.

"Already?" Hiei sounded frustrated. "But I just fed him, like, a half an hour ago!"

"When they're that small, they need to eat a lot," Shiori insisted. "Besides, maybe he's not hungry at all. Maybe he just wants to be close to you."

This was probably correct, because Masaki stopped whining as soon as he was nursing again. Hiei said he was still hungry, and Shiori said she would help him learn to breastfeed one-handed if he wanted so he and Masaki could eat at the same time, and he said all right, but not today, because he was too tired and he didn't feel like learning much of anything. Barely a moment later, there was a knock on the door.

"That must be Homura," said Kurama. "I'll get it."

"Where's my grandson?" Homura asked jovially as soon as Kurama opened the door. Ru-Ru was on his shoulders, looking around the room curiously.

"Right here on the couch," Kurama replied, leading Homura over to the baby.

"Well, you sure got here quick," Hiei observed, staring up at his father in mild surprise.

"Where do you suppose you got your impressive speed from, Hiei?" Kurama asked him, as Homura laughed.

Kurama figured that at first, Ru-Ru would have a lot of questions about breastfeeding, since she was only three years old and had probably never seen someone doing it before. But she didn't even seem to notice—which meant, of course, that she jumped off of Homura's shoulders, pounced onto the couch, and grabbed Masaki away from Hiei, shrieking, "Baby! Baby!"

"Moeru!" Homura barked, as Hiei yelled in pain. "You set your nephew down this instant!"

Ru-Ru just stuck her tongue out. Shiori was screaming, Masaki was crying, and Hiei was swearing, although nobody was scolding him for it this time. Hiei, seeming to recover quickly, snatched the baby back out of Ru-Ru's arms, and Homura grabbed her.

"I am very disappointed in you, Ru-Ru!" Homura shouted. Kurama always found it a bit unsettling when Homura raised his voice, as it happened so infrequently. "That was extremely inappropriate!"

"But I just wanted to hold him," she whined, her tail slowly swishing back and forth.

"Well, you should have asked him first," Homura said back. "Babies aren't toys. You can only hold one if a grown-up says it's okay, and you never take him away from his mom or dad. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Touchan," she said quietly. This time her tail wasn't moving at all, just limp on the floor, a sure sign that she was ashamed of herself. At least by now, Hiei had managed to get Masaki to latch onto him again, although his eyes were watering with either pain or frustration, possibly both.

"Here, Ru-Ru, why don't you come and sit on my lap?" Kurama said, trying to make his voice kind, since she looked like she was near tears. "You can hold Masaki later."

"Masaki?" said Homura. "Is that his name?"

"Yes." Kurama smiled as the little half-kitsune hopped up onto his lap. "You see, he was born in a forest."

"Ah, that's right. And how did that go?"

"Better than I expected," Hiei told him. "It took a long time, but it hurt a lot less than I thought it would. And he came out easy. I probably pushed for like ten minutes at most."

"Glad to hear it," said Homura. "See, Shiori, I told you it was safe."

"I just wanted the best for my grandson," Shiori said back. Kurama remembered how she'd argued for Masaki to be born in a hospital. "Besides, it was my idea to take him to the fertility shrine and pray for an easy birth. How are you so sure that wasn't it?"

"I'm not," said Homura. "I just wanted the best for Masaki, too, and to show you that the demon way is sometimes best."

"Homura, what works for the mother and child is always what's best."

"And in this case, that was Hiei giving birth in the forest!"

"Please, Mom, Homura, stop fighting," Kurama said calmly. "This is a happy day, and you should be setting a good example for Masaki and Ru-Ru."

Shiori and Homura seemed to agree that this was fair, and Homura said, "When he's done eating, Hiei, do you mind if I hold him?"

"Not at all," said Hiei, giving Homura a small smile.

…

Hiei was as good as his word, letting Homura hold Masaki as soon as the meal (or maybe just a comfort feed) was over. Homura cried when he held the baby, and so did Hiei, a little bit. Kurama and Shiori took Ru-Ru to the kitchen for some food, so that Hiei, Homura, and Masaki could have some time alone—three generations of grandfather, father, and son.

"I'm sorry again about what Ru-Ru did earlier, son," Homura told Hiei, cradling the now-sleeping Masaki in his arms. "That looked like it hurt."

"I'll live," said Hiei. "Did you breastfeed Ru-Ru?"

"Yes, I did, for about a year," he said. "Why do you ask?"

"Kurama's mom couldn't help because Kurama is a human, but since Ru-Ru's a demon, I figured you would know more about it," Hiei said. "Is he really going to bite me every time I feed him?"

"If he's not too hungry and only needs one breast, he won't, and it will probably be less common during comfort feeds," Homura answered. "But most of the time, he bites to let you know it's time to switch. And sometimes, if they're feeling particularly aggressive, they bite right away. That's just standard baby demon behavior."

"But how did you deal with the pain?" Hiei asked. "It hurts so bad, and not just from the bites. I didn't know something so natural could be so painful. I-I thought he had a good latch because it didn't hurt the first time, but then I got sore, and…and…" Hiei had to cut off there, because, much to his embarrassment, his eyes were filling with tears. Not again!

"Hiei…" said Homura.

"I thought this would be over once the baby came!" Tears were now freely falling from Hiei's eyes, and he had no idea why, especially since he'd felt fine a moment ago. "But it's not and I don't know why!"

"It's because your body doesn't just magically reset to normal once the baby is born," Homura said patiently. "Some things take a long time to change back, and some never do."

"Well, nobody told me that!"

"There are some things they just don't tell you," said Homura, but he still let Hiei cry into his shoulder while he held the baby. It felt good to cry, but also confusing and sad. It wasn't just the nursing problem that was upsetting Hiei, it was everything. Being a new parent was exciting, but it was a whole host of other things he didn't expect.

"I-I'm worried I'll do something wrong and he'll be messed up like me," Hiei sobbed. All he could think of was how although his son may have two parents, when he was a child he barely had enough to scrape together a lousy excuse for even one. Homura was a great dad to Ru-Ru, but Hiei had only met him as an adult. He'd had no true parental guidance growing up and that was what worried him. How could he be a good parent if he had no model? Besides, he hadn't forgotten how according to Rui, his mom "wasn't all there" after she lost him, and hadn't been able to take care of Yukina, although he didn't say this in front of Homura. He just cried even harder.

"Hiei, if there's one thing I know, it's that bad fathers don't worry about being bad fathers," said Homura, his arm around Hiei. "Do you think I know what I'm doing all the time? Even after the incident earlier today, I can only hope I wasn't too harsh or too easy on Ru-Ru, and try to do better next time. Just do the absolute best you can, Hiei, and that's all anyone can ever ask of you. And don't forget, you have me to help, and your mother-in-law, and all your friends, and especially your husband—he is a wonderful man."

"I-I know." Hiei sniffed. "At least he'll be a good dad."

"And you will, too," Homura insisted. "Just promise me one thing, Hiei. If you ever need help, just remember to ask for it. Don't let it all stay inside you or try to do it by yourself, because you don't need to go it alone. Promise?"

"Promise," said Hiei. "Thanks."

"Not at all, son," he replied, gently handing Masaki back to him. "Now, you said you needed help with your nursing issues?"

Hiei nodded, worrying that if he spoke he would start crying again.

"Okay," said Homura. "The first thing to remember is that it's more common than you think for it to be painful. Baby demons can get pretty forceful when they're hungry. But soon enough, in a couple of weeks at most, you should be fine, and believe it or not, taking those bites like a champ. You barely even feel them after a while. Just a quick pinch."

"It's…it's hard to believe that right now," Hiei said softly. "But I hope it's true."

"After a short time you'll be able to recognize the subtle signs that he wants you to nurse him," Homura continued, "and there are a lot of positions you can do it in, too. You can experiment to find out what works best for both of you."

"Kurama's mom said she'd show me how to do it with one arm, so I can do other things," said Hiei.

"Yes, perfect," Homura agreed. "We can both help you, and it will get easier in time, especially once you two get to know each other."

"Speaking of that…" Hiei couldn't believe he was about to say this, but then, the hormones were making him crazy. "I…I just wanted to say…I'm sorry I acted a bit…a bit cold when we first met. I'm glad we got to know each other, too, even though I said I didn't want to. Thanks…thanks for not giving up on me…Father."

It was the first time Hiei had ever called him that, and when he heard it, Homura's crimson-red eyes filled with tears.

"You're welcome, son," Homura whispered, giving Hiei a hug.