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

A Family of His Own

By: Of Memories Past

Chapter 3

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The soft pitter-patter of raindrops against the strongly thatched roof caused her to stir in her sleep. "It's still night," she observed quietly. Looking over at her husband, she smiled and shook her head. It was amazing that with ears so sensitive he could sleep through the small storm. Kagome shivered a bit and quietly crawled from the bed to rekindle the fire in the hut's main room. Grabbing her husband's kimono and wrapping herself in it, she crept from the room, careful not to wake her sleeping mate.

The fire had died down to glowing embers, only a small amount of warmth left to heat the hut. Frowning, Kagome began to add more sticks and small branches and attempted to coax the dying cinders back to life. Her first efforts were futile, the ashes only gleaming a bit brighter as she blew on them, so she stubbornly added some dried leaves, determined to bring heat into her home. The flames finally caught and dimly lit up the room along with her triumphant smile.

Her task complete, Kagome checked on the pups before returning to her bedroom. She returned the kimono to its usual spot and eyed her husband, a warm smile on her face. He looked so innocent asleep in their bed. His silver hair spilled over the side of the bed that he had made for them, his chest rising slowly with every soft breath he took. He was beautiful.

Kagome resisted the urge to wake him up and instead crawled into bed, snuggling closer to him. He stirred a bit but then relaxed again as she slipped her arms around his form and rested her chin on his shoulder. Sleep claimed her shortly afterward, knowing that the next day would be a busy one for them both…

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"Oh! Kagome, they're getting so big!" Mrs. Higuarashi fervently scooped three giggling pups up into her arms, hugging and kissing them all before moving to hug her beaming daughter. "And how are you, Honey?"

"I'm good," Kagome said, hugging her back. It was so good to be back home again. She turned her gaze over to her scowling husband and motioned for him to come over.

Inuyasha took his time wandering over to his wife and mother-in-law, the scowl still present on his face. He was a sight to be seen with his ears flattened against his skull and the annoyed look on his face. Haru tried to climb up his cloak as Inuyasha passed by, but he simply handed the pup over to Kagome.

Mrs. Higurashi grinned as her son-in-law sullenly approached her. "My my, he takes my daughter from me and then resents bringing her back home for a visit. I'll forgive you since you brought my grandchildren."

Inuyasha looked up and grinned before pulling his mother-in-law into a warm embrace. "I like coming to visit too, you know."

Laughing and giving his ears a tweak, Mrs. Higurashi swatted Inuyasha playfully and opened her arms to three squirming pups. Kozue, Aiko, and Haru immediately leaped into their grandmother's arms. "Kagome, you and Inuyasha can go get settled. I'm going to visit my grandpups." She smiled and reached down to scratch Kozue's ears. Unlike his father, Kozue thoroughly enjoyed getting his ears scratched by his grandmother.

"Have fun!" Kagome called, watching as her mother disappeared into the backyard with her three children. A worried look spread across her face once they were out of site. "I hope that Aiko doesn't put anything unusual in her mouth again." Inuyasha's chuckle caused her to whirl around, facing her husband sternly. "I don't see what was so funny about it."

"Kagome," he said, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around her, "did you see your mother's face when Aiko hunted down that squirrel?"

Kagome shook her head and sighed. "Only you, Inuyasha. Only you."

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Mrs. Higurashi's scream awoke them from their deep slumber. Kagome blinked her eyes a few times, trying to focus them on her tense husband. He sat up straight in bed, his ears flat against his skull, desperately trying to drown out the sounds of his mother-in-law's screams. His eyes clamped shut as he clenched his fist tightly, the long silver hair strewn wildly over his bare shoulders and face. The high-pitched yell had rudely jerked him from his sleep.

Kagome smiled and soothingly rubbed his back. Suddenly, her face showed fear as her mother's screams did not cease. "Inuyasha," she licked her lips worriedly, "what's going on?"

He gritted his teeth. "I'm going to spank her."

"What?" Kagome asked, her eyes growing wide. She reached her arms out to keep him with her as he got up from the bed. "Where are you going?"

Ignoring the red kimono that lay neatly on the floor, Inuyasha calmly walked to door before turning to face his wife. "Listen."

Kagome tuned her ears to the sounds in the house and tried to ignore her mother's yells. The house settled as any old building would. Oh, it was hard to hear over her mother. She shut her eyes in concentration, and then she heard it. First, she the sound of Buyo hissing reached her ears, the feline obviously aggravated by something. But then Kagome heard the soft sound of growling. She frowned, an irritated look crossing her features. Looking to her right, her suspicions were confirmed: only two pups lay sleeping on the floor next to their bed.

"I'll be right back," Inuyasha quietly left the room.

Kagome simply prayed that her daughter had not done anything to her childhood pet.

It was not a minute later before Inuyasha crept back into the bedroom with a tearful pup clinging to his shoulder. Aiko had obviously gotten the spanking she deserved. Her violet eyes shined like pools of water as he handed her over to Kagome.

He crawled back under the covers, a perturbed look on his face. "She had that cat cornered in your mother's room." He turned his body under the covers so that he was facing his mate and daughter. "It was so dark in there that your mother could only hear the growling and Buyo's racket. Scared her half to death."

"Is Buyo okay?" Kagome asked, putting Aiko between them on the bed.

"Feh, the cat's fine." He turned on his back. "Mother is fine now too. She fell asleep as soon as I left."

Kagome sighed with relief. She remembered well what had happened to that poor squirrel that her daughter had caught. "Did you learn a lesson, Aiko?"

The small pup sniffled and nodded. Oh, she had learned all right. From now on she would not touch anything that moved that mommy or daddy obviously liked. Daddy's hand hurt too much.

"Good." Kagome smiled and kissed the pup. "Goodnight, Aiko."

But instead of settling down between her parents, Aiko ambled onto her father's chest, looking him square in the face. Her innocent eyes still held a watery glaze. But even if he had punished her, this was her daddy. And she loved her daddy so much. She quickly began planting little butterfly kisses on his mouth, nose, cheeks, and all over his face in apology for what she had done earlier.

Inuyasha laughed reaching up to kiss his daughter before placing her under the covers on his chest. Yes, that little one was a lot of trouble and kept both him and Kagome busy, but she was a special. He smiled. His only daughter, and he loved her more than life itself. Oh, he loved his sons just as much, but each and every pup had something special about them that set them aside from the others.

He smiled remembering how Kozue would be waiting by the door, waiting for him to come home after being away for the day. He could always smell the waiting pup. He could also always smell his son's anticipation, and he would walk through the door just in time to have Kozue leap at him, playfully grabbing his ears with his small fangs or snuggling up under his chin just because he missed his daddy.

Haru brought an even wider grin to his lips. That little pup always seemed to forget that he had a tail. A small chuckle escaped Inuyasha as the time when Shippo had grabbed that tail to keep him from falling into the spring entered his mind. Haru had yelped like it was the end of the world and then had gone running to Inuyasha as quickly as his little legs could carry him. It had startled him quite badly. So oblivious to some things, and yet the pup would smell a rabbit in its hole even farther than he could. He was proud of the pup's good sense of smell.

And then there was Aiko. His sweet, little troublemaker. And did she have a nose for it. Taking a bit longer to fine-tune the youkai senses, his daughter found mischief more easily than the others. But she was so affectionate. If it were possible, she would ride around on his shoulders all day long, just happy to be near him. Whenever she was scared, he was the first on she went to. When she wasn't sure of something, Inuyasha would feel a small hand reach up and take a hold of his.

"It's been a nice little vacation hasn't it?"

Inuyasha turned to Kagome and nodded his head. "Nice vacation before a long trip." He protectively laid an arm over the sleeping bundle on his chest. "We're taking them with us."

"To find the shard?" Kagome's eyes grew wide as she moved closer to her husband. "Do you think that's really a good idea?"

"Yes," he whispered. "They need to started learning now how to defend themselves."

"They're only three!" Kagome whispered back, obviously not pleased.

Silence followed. "I was only three, Kagome."

Understanding hit her as the story of his childhood came back to her memories. He had needed to know how to take care of himself at that young age and had struggled through it alone. She sighed. If he felt that the pups needed to learn this soon, then so be it.

"Alright, Inuyasha. Goodnight." Kagome leaned over and softly kissed his lips before snuggling back down beneath the covers.

"Goodnight."

A few minutes later, the whole household was asleep.

A/N: Oh, I have so many ideas on where to take this! Let me know what you think. I love hearing from you all. It helps me keep going with all this work to do. Hope you all enjoyed, and I hope to have to next chapter out soon! God Bless! ~Of Memories Past