DISCLAIMER: I do not own InuYasha or anything to do with it.

A Family of His Own

By: Of Memories Past

Chapter 2

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The warmth provided by the small fire in the middle of their home brought a satisfied smile to her lips. Her home was perfect. She set a small kettle of food over the fire to keep a portion of food warm for her husband until he returned home, all the while admiring the amber glow that the flames left painted on her wall. They reminded her of his eyes, and he made the middle-sized hut home. Him and three other tiny souls. In the small room to her left slept three mischievous pups. She shook her head with a motherly smile. Those pups. Only in their third year of life and their daily games already foretold rambunctious childhoods lay ahead. She laughed quietly, remembering one little incident that her husband had had to deal with earlier that day…

*FLASHBACK*

"Alright, who has him?"

Three innocent pairs of eyes looked up at their father, seemingly clueless to the question being asked.

Their father, on the other hand, knew that his three children knew exactly what he was getting at. It irked him and yet made him proud at the same time that they all remained silent, protecting the offender. They would grow strong and they would grow together. Their bond would be unbreakable. However, no matter how cute and precious the dishonest action was, the pups' father knew that one individual certainly had to be panicked at the moment…

"I'm asking one more time. Where is he?" he growled.

Silence.

Agitated at the lack of response, he leaned down close to the pups' faces, sniffing out any unusual smell. He stopped at his daughter. Her sweet face was completely passive, but the scent that reached his nose told the truth that she did not.

With an exasperated look on his face, he stretched out a clawed hand underneath her chin. "Aiko, spit."

Aiko responded to the command at once, knowing that her crime had been discovered. She obediently spit into her father's hand.

A slimy, saliva saturated Myouga, was the result. "Master Inuyasha! You saved my life!"

Inuyasha grimaced at the mess in his hand and flicked the flea off into the grass before turning back to his children. "How many times do I have to tell you NOT to swallow that flea? Aiko, this is the third time this week I've told you that Myouga does NOT belong in your mouth!"

*END FLASHBACK*

She chuckled again at the memory, settling down by the fire to wait for her husband to return. Her husband. He loved the pups more than his own life and was so good with them, even if he tried to brush off the fact himself. Numerous times she had come home from the village only to find him asleep by the fire pit, their three children wrapped warmly in his robes. Or she would come back to find a wresting match going on and the hut in shambles as one of the pups or her husband himself flew across the room, only to come back into the fray with more energy than before.

Sighing, the young mother tied her dark tresses back from her face. The thoughts of her husband caused her brown eyes to drift to the bedroom where they should have been sleeping at the moment. What kept him? He had been gone since noon, and she grew tired.

The soft sound of growling brought her from her thoughts.

"Kozue," she said, eyeing the wakeful pup that emerged from his bedroom, "what's wrong?"

Kozue stood on all fours, his baby fangs bared toward the entrance to their home as a quiet growl continued to rumble deep within his small body. His deep, brown eyes remained focused at the doorway as the ears he inherited from his father twitched in any direction from which sound came.

"Kozue," she said, her tone more worried. She automatically began to reach for her quiver of arrows. The pup smelled something.

Her fears only increased more as her two other children came into sight, their actions the same as their brother. Aiko, her daughter, viciously crouched down ready to attack at any moment, her slightly longer fangs bared to full capacity. Haru, her other son, violently flexed the soft, baby claws to their fullest length, a growl resonating in his chest.

"No," their mother whispered softly. She had forgotten to make more arrows. "How could I have been so foolish?"

Suddenly, Kozue and Haru stopped growling and carefully stood up to stand beside their mother. All looks of beforehand ferocity completely vanished from their adorable faces. She brought them into her arms warmly and then cast her glance back to her daughter. Aiko did not relinquish her position.

"Aiko, come here, Darling," she coaxed the riled child. Fear filled her eyes as her daughter's crouched stance became even lower. "Aiko, no!"

But her words came too late. Aiko charged at the entrance, her violet eyes flashing angrily and her short, silvery hair flying wildly behind her.

Horror filled the mother's eyes as her daughter tore out the doorway. Her child's scream followed shortly after. "Aiko!" The fear in her chest increased tenfold when silence ensued. Tears rolled down her cheeks at the thought of what had just happened to her daughter.

"Calm down, Kagome."

Kagome glanced up, the tears sparkling on her cheeks as her husband entered the doorway with a certain little pup. The look on his face was clearly annoyed as he held his daughter up at an arm's length by the back of her night shift. His amber eyes bore into the little one's own violet orbs as he scolded her.

"You are going to get yourself killed one day, Aiko," he warned. "Those ears of yours are the sharpest I've seen, but your nose still has a lot to learn." He grunted. "Still can't recognize the scent of your own father."

"Inuyasha," Kagome breathed. She subconsciously held Kozue and Haru closer. "What happened?"

Inuyasha shrugged carelessly and brought Aiko to rest on his shoulder. She playfully grabbed a hold of one of his ears with her teeth. "They smelled a demon, only those two had the sense to figure out who it was." His eyes glanced back to his daughter in exasperation, and she promptly released his ear.

Kagome sighed with relief and eagerly took Aiko into her arms as Inuyasha handed her over. He sat down beside her and scratched his daughters back, mutely telling her that it was all right. Aiko smiled and snuggled against Kagome who lightly kissed the top of her daughter's head as Kozue and Haru scrambled into their father's lap.

Inuyasha laughed, allowing the pups to knock him on his back and climb all over him. But fun could only last so long. Aiko was already asleep and Haru and Kozue's eyes were already beginning to drift shut. He gingerly scooped up all three of his pups and brought them back to their room to tuck them in while Kagome slipped back to the fire to retrieve the food for her husband.

"Long day?" Kagome smiled when he returned to the main room.

Inuyasha growled and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. She laughed at his response. The day had definitely been long and rough. He lightly kissed her lips before she pushed him away smiling to get his dinner for him. But he refused to let go. Her eyes widened as his teeth lightly grazed her chin…

"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded. She pulled away, trying to suppress the amusement in her eyes. "The children are two feet away!"

He rolled his eyes at the exaggerated distance and pulled her back to himself leaning close to her ear. "That's never stopped you before."

Kagome tensed as he kissed her neck. "No, no, no, no, no, Kagome. Not right now." She gently pushed his chest and pulled away. "They have just proven that their senses are improving, Inuyasha. Now sit down and eat your dinner. We'll talk about this later." Smiling as he grumbled, Kagome brought his dinner to him, kissing him on the cheek as he sat down.

"What happened today?"

Inuyasha quickly finished his dinner and then pulled his wife into his lap. Kagome happily leaned back against his chest closing her eyes as he lightly ran his claws up the side of her neck. The only sound to be heard was he crackling of the fire and the soft breathing of pups asleep not too far away.

"Miroku located the last shard," Inuyasha said at last, breaking the silence.

"What?" Kagome turned around to face him. "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "A village about two days from here has been having trouble with a youkai. Seems that all their plow animals are disappearing."

"But any demon could do that," she pointed out.

He raised and eyebrow. "A raven youkai?"

Sighing, Kagome relaxed against him once more. He was right. "And we thought the trouble would be over once Naraku died. But we still had to locate more shards."

Inuyasha chuckled quietly. "But they've been easier to get with him gone."

"True." She smiled.

Inuyasha suddenly lifted her into his arms, kissing her soundly as she came to the same level as he. Kagome only smiled and kissed him back. He began to carry her to their bedroom.

"And what do you think you are doing?" she asked as he gently lay her down on their bed. The mattress was one of the most comfortable she had ever slept on, made of pelts and stuffed with straw and feathers.

Inuyasha sat beside her, taking her delicate hand in his own rough one. "You like having pups around, don't you?" His amber eyes slid over to her brown orbs, giving the impression that they held a secret.

"Of course I do," she answered, slightly confused. "Why do you ask?"

He grinned. "Then you wouldn't mind a few more, would you?"

"What?" Kagome asked with wide eyes. But all potential for argument ceased as his mouth closed over hers.

A/N: Well, it looks as if I've decided to continue this fic. Review and let me know what you think. Don't worry, other characters will be showing up in the story within the next chapter. Take care and God bless! ~Of Memories Past