A VERY LONG Author's Note:
This must be the longest note I 've ever wrote, and thus is palced on the bottom of this chapter... if you are interested on it, go read it when you are finished with this one... ^-^ Sorry for the delay! o-o

Some of you will want to tear me apart for not having Inuyasha want to tear Shippou apart. Phew! ^-^

Chapter 10
Frustration...

Kagome stood still, her lower lip trembling at the thought. She could easily cope up with the idea of having a child, she liked it actually, but she had never thought the chance of having twins! What if she had more, as Shippou suggested? But that would not be possible, now, would it?!

Inuyasha on the other hand had other things to thing of. 'But that cannot be! I may know only the slightest of things about humans, but everybody knows that women bare one child at a time. Why is Kagome trembling then? Don't tell me she believes she will have a litter!' (AN: Sorry for that, but so many reviewers used the word and I found it kind of funny. ^_^)

None of them had noticed how pissed was Shippou getting. Until a very loud shout shook them out of their thoughts. "OI, YOU TWO!" After their breathing evened out, Shippou cried out again. "What have you gone so silent for? What has come over you, huh?"

"It's nothing, Shippou... Guess none of us thought this would ever happen!" Kagome answered frankly.

"And that means a certain taijiya and a certain priestess have gotten themselves into trouble..." Inuyasha said, stomping back to the village.

"I think Kaede is going to have a headache..." Shippou's words trailed off as he and Kagome followed the angry hanyou.

A few hours later...

"Ite! And I thought Kaede-bachan would de having a headache! Ite, ite,ite..."

"Oh, my head!" Miroku growned.

"It's all your fault, houshi-sama. Had you not tried to grope on Sango from the last line again, none of the others would pile up on top of you, when every single one fell over." Kagome pointed out, scooting away before he would try anything on her. "Hentai..."

She would have been rather amused at the reminder of this almost comical picture: when she told them the various little things that modern era women and their Sengoku Jidai counterparts didn't have in common concerning fertility and survival ratios, let's just say it was a bit more than mere overwhelming! Consider that she had also informed the rest of her friends of the "either hanyu or human" matter an top of that, and you you can get the idea of how most of them felt. The funny part was that Kaede seemed to be the least dazed after the news broke, unlike everyone else!

"Can't you leave the baka yaro alone and bring some ice over here?" Inuyasha whimpered and Sango nodded her agreement. "It's not like he is going to die, except if whining can kill you!" Chuckles and giggles resonated through the forest, resulting in more grunting after the merry laughter died down...

"Right here, Inuyasha..." Kagome handed him a big chunk of ice, smiling sympathetically, making him grin at her despite his splitting headache.

He turned his head to the side in an instant when a funny snort came out of the little kitsune, wrapped in his own form on top of Kagome's sleeping bag. It still eluded him how did the kit manage to fall so easilly asleep, considering the fact he was just grumbling for his ringing ears!

Before she left to give Sango one of her own, she grabbed her wrist and lowered her, kissing her on the lips as he reached out for them, brushing his own on them before dippening it. A moment later he pulled away, longing evident on her face. "Gomen... Tell me, Kagome. Do you hate the idea of having another child soon?"

Kagome looked startled from hit-and-run kiss and the question following it, but only for a moment. She whispered: "I'd love to. Are you asking in case we don't have any twins or something? Or do you plan on me baring your children for the rest of my life?" Kagome mocked hurt. This only broadened his grin. "Aishiteru, Kagome." With that taken care of, he set her on his lap, bending her legs a bit sideways, grabbing her waist and pulling her to him... A frantic, passionate kiss was exchanged between the two, their heated expressions on their flustered faces showing their need for them to meet in this so... right place that your beloved's arms always are... A small moan escaped Kagome's mouth, matching Inuyasha's deep, beastial rumbles emanating from his cheast, their lips trembling with anticipation at the

If only they were alone... Not that they took notice of anyone around them.

Too bad they were not alone...

"Ahem!" Sango coughed, loudly enough to make Inuyasha's ears instantly stick to his hair to muffle the noise at least, and the two retreating from their kiss, embarrased from actually getting so hot in front of their friend and companion. "I am sorry to disturb you, but Shippou is still not very comfortable with such effusiveness, you know? Supposing you do not care that much for how I feel about you two ready to strip in front of me, there still is Shippou, hn? What would happen lest he woke up?" It was just then that the two noticed her own resemblance to a strawberry; red with a lot of sweatdrops all over her face... Needless to say that should there exist a museum about the colour red, they would all be listed in it!

The two left each over, blushing tremendously, their heavy, weary sighs echoing throughout the night. This was not very easy for any of the two, but they had to...

"Gomen, Sango-chan..."

"Keh!" Sango bluched even more at the semblance to Inuyasha's replies, Kagome loosening a little at that, a light giggle sounding from her mouth, despite her efforts to muffle it with a hand over her mouth. "As long as you two don't... gulp... 'mate' in front of me at any given time, there's no big deal!"

And thus, the blushing and giggling roles reversed...

Kagome and Sango finally pulled out at one side of the hut, Shippou on Kagome's lap, the rest of the male members of their almost hillarious group on the opposite. Kagome knew that everyone should have drifted to sleep already, yet she could find no rest...

'What if I am baring more than one child? Am I going to be able to take care of them all?' With that thought, she turned her head to catch a glimpse of her husband, her love, to make sure he was still asleep.

The even, low breathing and rythmic rise and fall of Inuyasha's cheast told her that must be the case.

'Am I going to be a good mother of even one child?!' She nervously debated the question she had asked of herself, not knowing the answer, altough it was obvious to everyone...

Everyone but her.

Sharply spinning her body as she was sprawled inside her sleeping bag, huddling to herself, she felt her eyes watering from worry. What if she had twins and would not manage to give birth naturally? Would the children or even her be in danger? She didn't know how to keep herself calm and broke into silent tears.

A couple of seconds later she heard a low scuffling sound, even a mild agitation, yet she was not sure of what would that be. To tell the truth, she had not really noticed, until four eyes looked down at her curled form.

Four bright, slitted eyes.

"Ka..Kagome-chan?!" Shippou was in the verge of losing his voice at the pain he held in his half step-mother, half adopted sister's quivering frame.

"Koibito?" Inuyasha's voice on the other part had already cracked. "What is it?"

"I..Inuyasha?! Shippou?!" Kagome could not hold any more. "Why, Inuyasha? What will happen if I am pregnant with twins? They may die!" and with she flung herself at his warm, safe embrace. Inuyasha started whispering sweet, soothing non-sense in her ears to help her relax, running a hand up and down her spine.

Shippou sniffed at the incident that took place in front of him; not knowing how to comfort the person that supported him all along after he lost his parents, he squirmed a little, hesitant to move on with the only thing that would come to his mind.

Noticing Shippou's hesitance, Inuyasha rested his head on Kagome's shoulder, casting a quick glance and nodding for Shippou to come nearer.

At this completely unexpected move, Shippou backed off a little, only to smile broadly and lunge himself at Kagome's stomach, hanging on her as if for dear life. "Okaa-san!"

Kagome looked down at him, a hint of a smile rising on her face.

Shippou looked expectantly at her, then added grinning: "Don't worry, okaa-san, I am here to help... Oh, and Inuyasha too!" he was quick to add under the mockingly-angry stare of the hanyou. This got a delighted, soft chuckle from Kagome's part...

Inuyasha lowered his smirking lips at her ear, whispering in such a low voice that Shippou would not hear him. "Our first child... will help us on, hn?"

Kagome relaxed in his arms, soothing thought after soothing thought coaxing her to sleep, as the tiredness of care did with the two non-human males. The three of them sat there, Shippou scrambled beneath Kagome's breasts, on her belly, Inuyasha wrapping them both in his arms... "Our first child..."

I would like to thank everyone who reads this story, especially the reviewers. And I may be glad that I have received some very good critics, by I am even more glad that some of you have even foresaw some of the things I have in mind. (_OvO_) However, I must add that I felt somewhat frustrated, trying not to copy your thoughts and realisations, thus taking all this time to write this chapter. This problem arose from the mere fact that I always write a chapter only if the last one is finished, and I normally only think of major plot twists and/or catchy dialogues and mannerisms, not the final text. I am sorry for the delay...

As an answer to the well-made points concerning genetics, I want to put down these thoughts:
1. Youkai powers and attributes are supernatural. Should they ever arise from genes, youkai still do not have claws, fangs and the rest directly because of the genes, but because of their supernatural nature, a feature deriving from the genes. Thinking of this, I suggest that a new gene, one that substituted a previously inert part of the human DNA, is present in youkai. That means it is a feature either imparted or not, because this gene should be neither dominant nor non-dominant, but equally dominant with humane gene. This would explain the existence of hanyou. Furthermore, Inuyasha, as a hanyou, would not lose his special characteristics on the new moon, or have them emphasized when enraged or brought back to normal whenever holding Tetsusaiga. Phew!
2.Should I have not come up with this theory of mine, I still would never have Kagome lecture the two feudal agers like I did to you; think they would have a chance? I doubt it.

Furthermore, I had been congratulated (O_O Arigato...) for not turning this story into a NC-17/lemon/lime or whatever... To tell you the truth, I had a completely romantic story in mind, where sexual intercourse would be more or less implied, yet never directly pictured. I actually preferred to write such a kind of story as to not offend any of you, the readers, in any of two possible ways. The first one has to do with the content: some people do not like reading any clearly sexual action taken by any person. The other reason is that the only experience I've ever had has been nothing but cuddling, kissing and nipping. Even if I chose to overcome the first problem, there would still be the matter of inexperience, and I do not want to cheat anyone: I never write things that I have not, even in the tiniest extent, experienced or grasped.

That's it, I am off to have some of my LSD (Liquid Sugar Dispencer, aka carbonated beverage).