Author's notes: My computer's running low on memory, so this and the last chapter may be a bit later than I intended. I've had them typed for a while, but my computer refused to let me on the Internet. Yep, my life's just getting better and better. Thanks all that reviewed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. If I did I'd be a rich, happy woman who could bathe in her own money.
Chapter 4: Comfort
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Kagome woke up later than she meant to the next morning. It was already almost 10:00 A.M. She sat up and yawned, Buyo rolling off her stomach with a surprised mew before stalking out of her room. She swung her legs over the edge of her bed before the memories of last night came flooding back to her.

Jii-chan had understood eventually, but still his words had hurt her. How could he say such cruel things? He was just getting to know Inuyasha, how could he judge him just because of his hanyou strength? Had he really believed that Inuyasha would pressure her into something like that? Sure, her Grandfather made occasional comments on his youkai blood, but nothing so hurtful before. Did she really want to face him? What if she set him off again?

She heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?" Kagome called. "Sota," Her brother replied. "Come in," She said. He opened the door and stepped in. He was still wearing his navy blue pajamas. "Hey, Sota. What's up?" She asked. He shrugged, " Nothing really. I was just wondering why everyone was yelling last night. Did you hear it?" She stiffened and nodded nervously. "Do you know what it was about?" He asked curiously. She nodded again. "Well what was it?"

"Umm, Sota, maybe you should sit down," She suggested, patting the bed next to her. Sota looked worried now and sat down with her. "Sota," She began, "You'd like it if Inuyasha became, well, sort of a member of the family, right?" His face brightened, "Well, duh! Then he'd really be my brother!"

"Well, what if we.. were going to..umm..have a baby together?" She asked, her voice fading at the last part. He looked confused. "Why? Are you thinking about it?" He asked. She sighed, " We kind of..already are." His eyes widened, "Your going to have a baby?!" She nodded her head yes. "Wow! Cool!" He exclaimed. She let out a sigh of relief. At least he was happy about this. "So Inuyasha really is my brother now?"

" By youkai law, yes," She said. He smiled widely, "Even cooler!" Then he stood up. "I'm going to go tell Mama!" He stated excitedly. "Don't bother," She advised him, "She already knows." He frowned, "And she didn't tell me?" Kagome shrugged, "You know now." He nodded and walked toward the door. "Come down soon or breakfast will get cold, OK? I can't believe your having a baby! This oughta be fun!" Then he left, and Kagome could hear a thumping noise as he went down the stairs two at a time, something he always did when he was excited or restless. She guessed it was the former. Kagome was glad that was out of the way, although she hadn't been expecting Sota to be that happy about it. "Now about Jii-chan...," She muttered to herself.

Well, she had to leave her room sometime. After standing in her room for a while she decided she needed to get going, and it wasn't like she was so desperate to avoid her jii-chan that she'd jump out the window or something. She made her way down the stairs, intent on getting herself some breakfast, and saw him sitting at the table reading, as if he was waiting for her. At hearing her arrival he looked up. "So, your finally up," His tone and expression were unreadable. "Yeah," she replied, unsure of what to say. " Sit down," he instructed. She did as he said. Her jii-chan calmly marked the page he was reading, shut it, and placed it on the table. " Your Mother told me the news," he said in the same flat tone, " and I'll admit I was unhappy about it at first."

"I know," she said, the floor suddenly becoming very interesting, " I heard." He stared at her. " You were listening?" He inquired. She looked back up at him and nodded, "How could you think all those things, Jii-chan? Inuyasha would never hurt me, and he wouldn't kill anyone without a good reason, either. Can't you just accept him for what he is? Mom's right. He's more than his heritage. Why don't you try and get to know him as a person, and not judge him on his blood?"

"Kagome," He said, " I was just shocked-"

"That still doesn't give you the right to insult him and accuse him of things he never did, Jii-chan! I know it was a big shock, but if your going to be mad at anyone, be mad at me, because it's not Inuyasha's fault!" She cut him off angrily. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "He never pressured me into anything, Jii-chan. He just asked me, and I agreed to it."

Her Jii-chan stared at her and sighed, "I know your right. It's just so hard to accept, but I've begun to get used to the idea."

"Jii-chan-"

"Do you love him?" Jii-chan asked suddenly.

"What?" This question was unexpected.

"Do you love him?" Her grandfather repeated, "I mean, do you honestly love him?"

Kagome gave him a small, shy smile. "Hai," She said, " I really love him. so much." Her Jii-chan nodded sagely. "Then I will do my best to treat him like a person, and accept him. Perhaps I will even come to treat him as one of the family," he said. Kagome's smile grew, " Thank you, Jii-chan." He smiled back at her, "Anything for you, Kagome."

Just then her mother decided to enter the room. " Kagome! Your awake," She said, "I'm glad you two are talking. Heaven knows there's a lot to talk about," She sat down between them, " Kagome, have some breakfast. You can't go back on an empty stomach." Kagome nodded and began to serve herself the leftovers from breakfast. As she was eating she discussed with her Mother and Jii-chan her options. They had a lot ofquestions about her plans at this point:

School? Out of the question right now. Maybe when they were settled down she could go back and start over.

The Mission? Still not sure. They'd probably take some time off, then find someone to watch the baby when they had to leave.

Oh, living arrangements? She'd probably stay with Inuyasha in his time for a while. Maybe even live there permanently. She wasn't going to make Inuyasha come live in her time if he didn't want to. It'd be to complicated.

"Well, maybe you ought to talk to Inuyasha about his thoughts on all this," Her Mother suggested. Kagome stood and headed toward the sink with her now empty plate. "You're probably right. I don't know what he's planning, but I really need to get going soon. I told him I'd be coming back in the morning, and knowing Inuyasha, he's probably starting to get impatient," she said. 'Impatient?' she thought with a wry smile, 'He's probably ready to ignore my family completely and carry me back.'

" You should get ready then. And remember to pack some loose clothing like I told you," Her mother said from behind her. She turned and nodded. Her Mother was looking at her with a reassuring smile, and her Jii-chan's anger, if you could call it that, seemed to have dispersed. She smiled a wide, true smile at her family. The family who had always, and would always, be there for her, comfort her.

Kami, she loved them.

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Inuyasha was waiting near the Bone Eater's Well. He wasn't sure exactly when he got there. All he remembered was waking up in the middle of the night in the tree next to Kaede's hut with one thing on his mind, waiting for Kagome. So then he'd taken off towards the clearing and sat in a tree there until late morning, and she still wasn't back yet. It was almost noon! She should have been back by now! He guessed she was still talking with her family.

Just then he heard a noise at the bottom of the well, signaling that Kagome was back. He jumped down as Kagome was heaving herself over the edge and took her backpack, as he had before. She shot him a grateful smile before standing up and brushing herself off. "So how'd it go?" He asked.

"Well," she replied, "Mom took it relatively well if you ignore the fact that she downed an entire bottle of sake directly afterward, Sota was naturally delighted, and Jii-chan..," she trailed off. He had a feeling it would be the old man who would lose it when he heard. "Mama talked to him for me," She continued, "I could hear them from where I was upstairs. He was pretty mad at first, but Mama calmed him down. I think he's starting to accept it, either that or he's hiding his anger relatively well."

"So your Mom's not planning on tearing my ears off any time soon?" He inquired. She giggled, "No. She loves your ears to much to want to tear them off." She gave one of his ears a tweak for emphasis.

" Did you tell the others?" Kagome asked. "Hai," he said, "Last night."

"How did they take it?" She asked. "Pretty good, I guess," he replied, "They were pretty shocked, though." She nodded, "I was expecting them to be. Let's get going. I need to talk to Kaede." With that she turned toward the direction of the village, Inuyasha right behind her. He was glad that Kagome was okay. If her family had disowned her for this she would probably never be the same, and he would never have forgiven himself for not staying with her, and for putting her in this situation.

Kagome suddenly felt strong arms snaking around her waist, and looked down to see two clawed hands resting on her stomach. "You know what, Kagome?" Inuyasha said from where he had nuzzled into her neck in a voice that sent shivers down her spine and made her want to melt into him all at the same time, "This really isn't going as badly as I thought. I think I'm going to like having a pup with you."

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As the two of them made their way to Kaede's hut, Kagome saw Sango sitting on the porch, stroking Kirara slowly. She seemed to be waiting for them. Her suspicions were confirmed when her friend stood up upon their arrival. She briefly greeted Inuyasha, and then looked past him to Kagome. There was something strange about the way Sango was looking at her. Like she was trying to look into her head and see what she was hidden there. Concern, wonder, and understanding flitted across her friend's features. "Kagome-chan," Sango said gently, "How are you? How did everything with your family go?"

Kagome smiled at her. "I'm just fine, Sango," She assured, " Everything is just fine."

Sango came closer and pulled her into a friendly hug. "That's good," She said, "I was afraid you'd be a wreck after all this. You're taking this so well, Kagome-chan, especially for someone your age." The two of them hugged for just a second more before pulling away. "You're sure you're okay?" Sango asked again. Kagome nodded and Sango led them into Kaede's hut.

The moment Kagome entered the hut a tense silence came over the room. Shippo was the one who finally broke the quiet. " Kagome," he said, "Was Inuyasha just joking with us or something? Are you really going to have a baby?" Kagome picked up the kitsune. "It's not a joke, Shippo. Inuyasha wouldn't tease about that."

"But what about me?" He asked with wide, innocent eyes, "What will I do if you have a baby?" Kagome thought for a moment and replied, "Well, I guess it'll be like having a brother or sister." Shippo smiled at hearing this. " So I'm not going to be the littlest anymore? I'll have a brother or a sister, just like a real family?" Kagome nodded to the young fox demon, who settled himself comfortably on her shoulder.

" Kagome," Kaede called softly, gaining the girl's full attention, "Come here, child." Kagome did as she said and sat down next to the elder miko. Kaede chuckled a bit, " I suppose I cannot call ye child any longer, now that ye are having a child of your own." Then her tone and expression became more serious as she questioned her the way her Mother had only a day before, " Kagome, what are your plans for this child? Ye have told me of options for pregnant women in your time period, and I can't help but wonder which you will choose." Kagome nodded her understanding. "My Mom asked me about this, too," She informed them, " and I'm keeping the baby. I had planned to right from the start, and I'm even more sure of it now. And, Kaede, there's something I want to talk to you about."

"Yes?" Kaede urged.

" Well, I decided I want to have my baby in the feudal era. It's probably the safest option, since there aren't really youkai in my time, and this child will be part youkai after all. But I want to know where it would be born. I don't really know about delivery here," Kagome said. "There are healing centers for pregnant women when they give birth, but I'm afraid we don't have one here. This village is small compared to neighboring towns, so we never saw they need. I have delivered a few children here, though. I would be happy to do the same for you," Kaede replied.

"Really, Kaede?" Kagome asked, "Would you really? Thank you. That makes things so much easier." Kaede looked at her warmly. " Kagome," She said, "I have delivered children whose Mothers and Fathers I barely know, but you have become like a grandchild to me. Of course I will do this for you."

"Thank you," Kagome repeated cheerily. Finally Miroku spoke up after remaining silent during the entire conversation, "So, Kagome-sama, how long do you believe you will be able to travel?"

"Oh, I guess about 4 months, more or less," Kagome replied. Inuyasha snapped to attention, as she knew he would. "No way," He said, "Maybe you can look for jewel shards and travel for about two months more, but after that your staying in the village. It's too dangerous for a pregnant girl to travel here. You'll be to vulnerable."

Kagome rolled her eyes and sighed at his stubbornness, "Inuyasha, It's always dangerous here, no matter who you are. Besides you'll be with me the whole time. I don't want to have to sit around and do nothing any longer than I have to."

"You won't be doing nothing," Inuyasha stated, "You'll be carrying our pup, and you can help out around the village, as long as you don't leave it."

"C'mon, Inuyasha, be reasonable."

"I am being reasonable!"

Kaede shook her head, a knowing smile tugging at her lips, while the other members of the group just stared as the two argued. Was it just them or had Kagome and Inuyasha switched roles? Inuyasha was saying they should stay put, while Kagome was saying they should travel longer? This fight was completely backwards!

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A girl, no older than eleven, stood at the side of the hut only a few feet away. A basket of freshly washed and dried clothing was balanced under one arm. She'd been on her way home with it when she'd passed Kaede-sama's hut, and heard one phrase that stopped her in her tracks.

" I'm keeping the baby." It was Kagome-sama's voice.

The girl, who went my the name of Hikaru, set down her basket of clothes to listen, wondering if Kagome-sama was talking about taking care of another woman's child, or her own. Hikaru didn't need to go any closer to overhear the things being said, thanks to a knothole in the side of Kaede-sama's wall, which was almost level with her head. During the winter the knothole would be stuffed with cloth, but during the summer it was usually left open, perhaps in hope it would bring some cool air into the hut.

Hikaru listened carefully to the entire conversation, cautious not to make any noise lest the hanyou boy, Inuyasha, hear her outside and discover her. She heard Kagome-sama refer to the child as ' my baby' and then begin to talk to Kaede-sama about who would deliver it. There were no more questions from Hikaru when she heard Inuyasha say to Kagome-sama, " You'll be carrying our pup..." That was all she needed to hear.

As Kagome-sama and Inuyasha began to argue about something she didn't know, Hikaru picked up her basket, and walked home at a quicker pace. Wait until her older sister heard this! She was around Kagome-sama's age, and no one had even courted her yet, and now Kagome-sama was carrying Inuyasha's child! 'No,' Hikaru thought, 'his pup.' She giggled a little when she thought this. What a funny, but cute, name for a baby, even if it would be part dog-youkai.

Finally Hikaru reached her home, and dropped her basket on the porch by the door. "Sachi!" She called for her sister, "Wait until you find out what I overheard!"

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Author's note: Okay that's it! (For the chapter, I mean.) Sorry this is so short. I couldn't really think of anything else to put in it, and that was a good place to end it, don't you think? Oh, and I'm sorry if I wasn't accepting anonymous reviews before, but I am now. I didn't mean to cut you off, anonymous reviewers! Thanks a bunch everyone who reviewed my last chapter. I'll answer all your reviews personally soon. OK, now that you've read, plllleeeeeaaaaase review!