Chapter Eight.
"Mama, I can't go back to the doctor anymore."
"Kagome?"
The young woman looked up at her mother, tears of concern welling up in her eyes. "I was so scared…"
"What happened in there?"
Kagome shook her head, waiting until the doors of the elevator closed before turning to her mother again. "Dr. Miyagi was reading the sonogram for me, and then he suddenly looked very worried. I – I got scared by the expression on his face, and he said there was something wrong with the baby."
Higurashi-san gasped, and took her daughter's hand. "What's wrong with the baby, Kagome?"
"That's what I kept asking him, and he wouldn't say anything, just kept scanning my stomach and staring at the screen. I actually had to scream at him to get his attention again, and that's when he showed me the monitor."
"WELL?"
"The pup has his ears, Mama. The doctor could see them clear as day and he thought the baby was deformed."
"Is that all?"
Sighing, Kagome nodded.
Higurashi-san let out the breath she'd been holding and took her daughter into a warm hug. "That's not so bad, is it?"
Kagome shook her head. "No, I'm glad, actually. But the way he was acting, you'd think something was seriously wrong. I thought maybe he was going to tell me she was missing her heart or something!" Pulling away from her mother, Kagome blushed. "I guess I'm just overly emotional from those mood swings, ne?"
As the older woman laughed, the doors opened onto the first floor of the medical complex. "Hai, sounds like it to me. Believe me, they only get worse." Then she stopped in her tracks. "Did you say she?"
"Hm? Oh, that." The miko giggled. "I just think of the baby as a girl. I don't actually know yet. Dr. Miyagi was going to tell me but I stopped him."
"Your father and I didn't want to know in advance either," Higurashi-san recalled. "So you don't think you should keep seeing him?"
"No. When I was leaving he wanted to schedule another sonogram and look into pre-natal surgery! There's no way I'm letting that man touch my baby."
"Well eventually someone is going to notice, Kagome. Unless you plan on giving birth alone and hiding the baby for the rest of its life."
Her mother's words echoed in Kagome's head. Giving birth alone didn't sound like a cheery proposition. "Kaede can do it," she finally answered. "She's already offered to help me in any way I need, and she's usually the one helping the village women."
"But if there are complications—"
Kagome snorted. "According to Dr. Miyagi there already are, Mama. I trust Kaede to do her best, and so far I've been eating right, exercising… I'm sure it will be fine."
The two women stepped onto a bus and took a seat near the back. Higurashi-san sighed. "I guess it might be for the best, dear. With that small frame of yours, you're already starting to show. I can only imagine what would happen if your friends caught us on the street one day."
Resting a hand on her abdomen lightly, Kagome smiled a little. Yes, she could imagine the scandalous looks she'd receive from Yuka and Ayumi. Eri might actually be jealous. That girl had no common sense at all. "Maybe it's time I stop traveling back and forth so much."
She hated to admit it, but her daughter was right. Who knew what effects the constant time traveling had on the baby? As much as she worried about leaving her daughter in the hands of a raping hanyou and lecherous monk, she had to admit the men had done an excellent job of caring for Kagome, if her stories were any indication.
Recognizing the street they were on as the one where her favorite pharmacy was located, Higurashi-san stood up abruptly and pulled the cord to request a stop.
"Mama?"
"If you're going to be spending the next six months in the Sen—in your other home," she quickly amended as she remembered their place, "then we need to stock up on vitamins and ramen." A bright smile lit her face suddenly. "And baby clothes!"
Kagome laughed a little at her mother's sudden enthusiasm. "Isn't it a little early for that?"
"Not at all. I might not see you again until after the baby is born, and no grandchild of mine is going to go around naked!"
The bus came to a stop, allowing the women to disembark. Higurashi-san all but dragged Kagome down the street, rattling off a list of things she wanted to buy.
* * * * *
"Have you noticed," Miroku began as he stoked the firepit in Kaede's small hut, "that Kouga doesn't seem to come around as often?"
Sango nodded, watching Inuyasha out of the corner of her eye. "Yes, its like he's given up on her."
Now that was an odd idea. The monk turned more fully toward Sango, peering at her with questioning eyes. "Why would he give up on her? I just thought he was afraid of Inuyasha."
Ah, yes. Sango suddenly remembered that Miroku had been given Inuyasha's version of the story. He, too, thought that Kagome had married the wolf demon. "Yes, well," she faltered, "I just meant that maybe he wishes he could take it back."
"Even Kouga surely has more honor than that," Miroku ventured.
"Feh, I wouldn't be surprised," Inuyasha finally spoke up from the corner of the room. "That wimpy wolf just rushes into things without thinking them through. Stupid baka probably never considered how much work a mate would be, so he dumps her in our laps to take care of."
The human pair snicked to each other.
"Nani? What's that laughing about?"
"N-nothing," Sango giggled. "Just agreeing with you."
"Hai, what does Inuyasha know about rushing into things without thinking, ne, Sango?" the houshi whispered conspiratorially.
This comment unleashed another round of laughter from the taijiya, waking Shippou in the process.
"What's so funny?" he asked, wiping the sleep out of his eyes.
"I think someone drugged their dinners," Inuyasha mumbled, having heard every word of Miroku's jesting insult.
Before Shippou could ask another question, the mat covering Kaede's front door opened to reveal the elder miko and Kagome.
"Back already?"
Kagome nodded, and lifted the little kit into her arms. "Yes, just needed to discuss some girl things."
Shippou cocked his head at the young woman. "Girl things?"
"Nothing you need to worry about, Shippou," she answered. "Kaede's going to be helping me when it's time for the baby to come out."
The little kitsune's mouth rounded into an o-shape, and he nodded his understanding. "So does this mean you're going to stay here with us from now on?"
"For the next six months," Kagome responded. "In my world if a seventeen-year-old is pregnant it's usually because she was loose, and that reflects poorly on her family. My mother and I decided that I should stay here until the baby is born, and then I can go back to school afterwards."
"Oi, Kagome-chan, at what age do women in your time usually start having families?" Sango had often wondered about that, since even in her own village she was often considered a bit old to be single and childless.
Coming to sit beside the fire, Kagome toyed with the hem of her new maternity shirt, finding the cottony texture comforting. "Early- to mid-twenties, usually. A lot of women are waiting until their thirties now, especially in the western countries."
"Thirties? So old?" Miroku blinked at the new information. "How can they survive the labor at that age?"
Kagome laughed at his shocked expression. "Women live a lot longer in my time than they do here. They study in school and start careers first, then get married afterwards."
"Feh, isn't it the man's job to provide for his mate?" Inuyasha was suddenly very interested in the conversation, leaning closer to the group to hear her response.
"It used to be that way, but not anymore. A lot of marriages end in divorce, so if a woman relies completely on her husband she might easily end up single and poor, having to raise the children on little to nothing." A sad cloud passed over her eyes as she pondered her own future, if she failed to finish school successfully.
Inuyasha stared at her, as though reading her thoughts. Why was the girl always so eager to return to such a cruel place that left mothers alone with young mouths to feed? Even after his father had died, Inutaisho's closest friends made sure his mate and half-breed son were cared for. It wasn't until the woman had died that Inuyasha found himself alone…
Oblivious to the dour mood in the room, Shippou bounced up on Kagome's lap, patting her belly where he could feel a faint heartbeat. "Kagome, your pup is going to be just like Inuyasha!"
Five sets of eyes immediately darted in his direction, each holding distinctly different emotions but all sharing a look of shock.
"How so, Shippou?" Kagome's voice shook with barely restrained nervousness. Could he tell, somehow?
"It's Kouga's pup, right? So the baby's going to be a hanyou, too!"
Discreetly releasing her breath of relief, Kagome nodded slowly. "Um, right. I guess so."
Proud of his observation, Shippou bounded toward the inuhanyou and beamed up at him. "So you can help teach the pup, since you know all about being a hanyou, right?"
"Feh, that's Kouga's job, not mine."
Shippou scrunched up his face into a disapproving frown. "Kouga's a baka," he retorted, then quickly glanced back at Kagome. "Sorry, Kagome, it's just that he… is. Anyway, he doesn't know what it's like being a hanyou, and you do."
Folding his arms against his chest, Inuyasha sat back and ignored the kitsune. Accepting defeat, Shippou huffed and returned to his earlier position on Kagome's lap. "I can't wait until you have your baby, Kagome. Then I won't be the youngest one anymore."
Smiling, Kagome allowed the kit to snuggle up into her shirt, and watched as he drifted off to sleep.
* * * * *
"No, Inuyasha. Please, no…"
She was having another nightmare. One in which he seemed to be hurting her somehow. Inuyasha watched as beads of sweat rolled off her forehead, soaking the blanket on which she was sleeping.
"You don't want to do this…"
A sudden image entered his mind, and he struggled to make it clearer. He was in a dimly lit cavern, holding someone down, and they were crying…
Just as quickly as it rose, the image disappeared again. Inuyasha shook his head to clear the residual fog and again looked at Kagome. She was shifting in her bag, whimpering. If this went on much longer she might hurt her pup.
Silently creeping over to her, Inuyasha gently shook her shoulder, watching for a sign of her waking.
"Inuyasha, no…"
"Kagome? You're having a nightmare, wake up."
"No!"
"Kagome!"
"NO!" She shot up, her terror-filled eyes staring straight through him. The look on her face sent a icy chill through his spine, causing him to topple backward onto his arms. After a moment she seemed to gather her senses and turned to see him staring back at her with concern.
"Nasty dream you were having," he ventured, unnerved by the way she continued to stare at him as though he were a predator.
A few more moments passed and the fear seemed to melt away, replaced by some apprehension and embarrassment. "Yeah, just a bad dream," she feebly whispered back.
"Want to um, talk about it?"
Raising her eyebrows, Kagome bit her lip. "Why are you so concerned all of the sudden?"
"You're going to wake everyone up," he lied. "Don't feel like dealing with a cranky taijiya in the morning, do you?"
Shaking her head, Kagome pushed the blanket aside and stood up. Inuyasha followed her and they walked out of the room together, coming to sit under the stars on the hill by Kaede's hut.
"So?"
"So what?"
"What was the dream about?"
"I—I don't' remember."
Studying her with disbelieving eyes, Inuyasha finally resigned himself to his curiosity and returned his gaze up to the stars. "I've heard bad dreams can be normal in the fourth month."
"You have, have you?" Since when had Inuyasha become a pregnancy expert?
"Got bored and read your book one day," he answered casually, flicking at blades of grass with his claws.
"Oh."
"Kagome… have I ever done anything to hurt you? Aside from trying to kill you that first night, I mean?"
Chuckling at the off-handed way in which he'd mentioned his original vendetta, she cautiously shook her head. "No, not really. I mean, sometimes you're a jerk and all, but you usually try to protect me, right?"
"Yeah."
"Why do you ask?"
Avoiding her gaze, he shrugged. "No reason, just wondering."
Just wondering. Right. Kagome continued to sit in the silent comfort of night, listening to distant crickets chirping.
"If I ever did anything to hurt you, you would tell me, right?"
What was with him tonight? A thought entered her mind, and Kagome froze. Had she been talking in her sleep? "I guess it depends," she finally replied.
"On?"
"On what I think the outcome would be."
Now that wasn't the answer Inuyasha wanted to hear. Another glance at the miko told him no further explanation was forthcoming. He sighed silently, and prayed to the gods that it would never come to that.
Sensing his gloomy mood, Kagome stood up. "Wait here, there's something I wanted to show you."
Waiting in agitated quiet, Inuyasha continued to fidget with the grass, not noticing the bald patch he'd created in his nervousness. A minute later, Kagome returned with her music player, flashlight, and an odd piece of dark-colored film.
"What's all this?"
Smiling, she sat back down and went about plugging her headset into the tape player, and rewinding the tape inside. "Some stuff I brought from my last doctor's visit," she said happily. "I know you told me you didn't want to be bothered with all that stuff," she cast a quick look at him, judging his reaction, "but since we're the only ones up, I thought it might be entertaining."
Once the tape stopped rolling, she adjusted the volume and set it to play. Previous experience taught her that actually placing the headset on the hanyou's ears would be pointless. They didn't fit and his superior hearing rendered them unnecessary anyhow.
"That sounds like…"
"The baby's heartbeat," she affirmed. "Our healers can use machines to amplify the sound and tape it so the mother can take it home with her."
Inuyasha listened to the soft, steady pounding in awe. True, he could have heard it on his own, but that would have required a certain proximity to the young woman that he simply wasn't comfortable allowing himself. After all, she was another demon's mate, not his.
"What about that other thing?" he pointed to the film.
"Oh, that's the sonogram."
"Son-o-gram?"
Flicking on her flashlight, Kagome adjusted the direction of the beam and then leaned over to Inuyasha, using a finger to point to the lump in the center. "That's a picture of the baby."
His eyebrows furrowed. "Looks like an inkblot to me."
She giggled. "Yeah, it does, until you know what to look for. You see, that's the head, sorta… actually it might be the stomach, I'm not entirely sure… and there's a leg… and an arm… and then there's the—" she stopped, not sure how much she wanted to reveal.
"The what?"
"Um, not sure what those are," she lied. "Probably just some random noise in the picture."
"Oh." Inuyasha was suddenly aware of how close they were sitting, and quickly pulled back to a respectable distance. "Anyway, I still think it looks like an ink blot."
Shrugging, Kagome took a last look at the picture before turning off her flashlight and putting them aside. "I guess it depends on who's looking at it," she finally spoke.
"Going to show Kouga?"
"Er—no, probably not. I don't think he'd be interested in that," she fumbled for words, blushing all the while.
"And I would?"
The blush grew deeper, just like the hole she knew she was digging herself into. "Oh, um, well, I just figured there was nothing better to do, and so, yeah…"
Inuyasha found the pink on her cheeks strangely endearing, but decided to spare her further embarrassment. At least this time. "Think you can go back to sleep now?"
"Yeah, I think so."
Standing up again, he offered her his arm, which she gratefully accepted, and pulled her up.
"Inuyasha?"
"Yeah?"
"Arigato."
