A/N: YAY!! The epilogue! FINALLY! I'm so amazed that this story has come so far! 17 chapters is my record. I'm going to see if I can beat that in later stories. Anyway, this chapter seems long, but don't be fooled. It's really a ridiculously short thing with my special thanks at the end.
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Epilogue.
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Inuyasha opened the door to his apartment. His ears flicked at the noise from within.
"Hachiko, you stop that!" A feminine voice berated.
Giggling could be heard and a small, five-year-old boy ran out in front of him. He had a head of black hair and eyes of amber. On top of his head were black, canine ears that were at the moment perked in happiness. His eyes lit up as he saw Inuyasha. The boy opened his arms and flung himself onto the hanyou. "Daddy!"
Inuyasha lifted him easily into his arms. "Hey, kiddo, what have you been up to, today?"
"Giving his mother lots of trouble," the same voice from earlier replied. Inuyasha grinned and pulled his bedraggled-looking wife to his side.
"Is that so?" he captured her lips in a short kiss.
"Yuck!" Little Hachiko made a face. "You guys are going to be all kissy again! You're always kissy!" He pouted and jumped from his father's arms, running down the hall to find his playmate and elder brother, Shippo.
Inuyasha laughed and pulled Kagome into his arms. "Looks like our son has given us a bit of time alone. What do you say?" He wiggled his eyebrows devilishly.
Kagome gave a mock sigh, "Talk, talk, talk, and no action. " She gave a small squeak as he grabbed her around the waist roughly and pinned her to his chest. His lips devoured hers and she allowed herself to indulge in the feelings he sparked within her before she pulled away. "There's something I need to tell you," she said as she panted lightly, though her face was serious.
"What's the matter?" His eyebrows knitted together. He took in a whiff of her scent and paused when he found a different sort of smell entwined with hers. "K-Kagome?"
She gave him a tender smile and took his hand to rest flat on her abdomen. He gave her a half-stunned, half-hopeful look and she nodded. She laughed as he picked her up and swung her about.
"You're a daddy twice over, Inuyasha," she said softly.
"Three times," he corrected, referring to the adopted fox demon.
"Yes, three times," Kagome agreed. She sighed happily and touched her forehead to his. "I can't believe I'm here right now. If someone had told me six and a half years ago that I was going to fall in love with a half demon and have a family with him, I would have thought him crazy."
"Before I met you, I thought I was going to live the rest of my life alone, never mind falling in love and marrying a beautiful, kind, thoughtful woman like you. I'm so glad I found you."
Tears shimmered in her eyes and she kissed his lips lovingly. "I love you," she whispered.
"Me too, Kagome." He gazed at her a bit more before he straightened and tightened his arm around her waist. "Alright, enough of this mushy stuff. We should have a nice meal to celebrate our second child. I'll help you cook," he saw the look she gave him and added quickly, "No ramen, I promise."
She laughed and agreed.
Just as they were about to turn away, the doorbell rang. Kagome opened the door to reveal Sango, the demon exterminator, and Miroku, the ex-monk. Between them stood their timid-looking, six-year-old daughter, Sayo, holding both her parents' hands.
Sango grabbed her friend's shoulders. "Kagome! Congratulations! How long have you known?"
"A week," she told her.
Sango made a moue, "And you didn't bother to tell us until now?"
"I was just waiting for the right time," she said. "It was nothing personal." Kagome pulled her to the side, "So what about you? Have you and Miroku begun working on your second yet?"
The exterminator did an impressive imitation of a tomato. "Kagome! Since when did you get so blunt about things?"
"Believe me, Inuyasha is a lot more blunt than I could ever hope to be."
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Inuyasha and Miroku watched as their respective wives chatted endlessly together. "Come, let the women have their time together." Miroku said, pulling Inuyasha away by the elbow and holding his daughter's hand with his free hand. "What were you doing before we came?"
"Um, we were about to start cooking dinner." He scowled suddenly, "Who are you to suddenly come barging in expecting us to feed you?"
"Stop with the dramatics, Inuyasha, Kagome invited us. Now if you'd rather cook by yourself…?"
Inuyasha gave a small 'keh' and crossed his arms.
Miroku shook his head and gave a small laugh. "Same as always, eh, Inuyasha?" He crouched down to Sayo's level. "Hey, Sa-chan, Daddy and Uncle Inu have to cook dinner now, so why don't you go play with Hachiko and Shippo, okay?"
Sayo nodded, "Okay, Daddy." She kissed him on the cheek and ran down the hall.
Miroku chuckled, "She's really a sweet girl. Now, let's get down to cooking."
A couple hours later, the two men had managed to cook up a fairly decent meal that consisted of miso soup and a variety of seafood and vegetable tempura, surprising the women. Together, along with the three children, they settled down for dinner, finishing it off rather quickly. Afterwards, the seven of them left for the living room just to talk about the days passed. Kagome and Inuyasha rested on the couch, with Kagome stroking Shippo's tail as he snuggled to her side and Inuyasha had their son next to him, resting his head sleepily in his lap. Sayo sat on her mother's lap, laying her head on Sango's shoulder while stretching her legs across her father's thighs.
Miroku was currently retelling the tale of Naraku's final defeat at the request of his daughter. Shippo had fun adding in tidbits here and there, even though he wasn't in the final struggle against the demon, much to his continued disappointment.
As Inuyasha watched his friends chatter and laugh with his wife cuddled into his side and his children next to him, he felt a feeling of contentment swell in the back of his throat. Just a few months ago, he'd been living in this very apartment with no one but his television to keep him company. He'd been completely miserable. Sure he'd known Miroku and Sango then too, but they were part of the Organization. They had jobs to go to and lives to live. He'd had nothing. There was the odd assassination job here and there but other than that, he had no purpose in his life. Kagome was his only true salvation.
Now, as he looked around himself, he realized that Kagome was more of a salvation than he'd originally thought. Thanks to her, there would no longer be any loneliness in his life.
Ever since the final defeat of Naraku, demon activity had been surprisingly low. The Shikon no Tama had been left in the care of Sesshoumaru, guarded 24/7 by the most reliable of demon guards. Sesshoumaru grudgingly offered Inuyasha a job in the Organization, and with Kagome's encouragement, he'd taken it. Now, he worked as director of Tokyo's youkai police in insuring safety from demons to the citizens of the city.
As the talking died down, Sango looked down at her daughter to see that the girl was asleep. "Well, I suppose we should get going now. Sayo's fallen asleep."
"All right," Kagome agreed as she noticed her own children were dozing off. She stood up carefully, rousing Shippo from his half-sleep. She walked the Houshi family to the door and bid her goodnight's.
Sango congratulated her once more for the new baby before they left.
Kagome glanced at clock in the living room, "Inuyasha, it's 10:40. Best get the children to bed."
Her husband nodded and lifted Hachiko into his strong arms. "C'mon, Ha-chan, let's get you to your room."
Shippo followed his parents sleepily into the room he shared with his brother, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. "But I'm not sl-sl-sleepy…" he said while yawning.
Kagome patted his head, which now came up to a little above her waist. "Just close your eyes and you'll fall right asleep." She tucked him into bed, smoothing out his bangs.
"G'night, Mom," the kit said, letting out another yawn.
"Goodnight, sweetie." Kagome kissed him on the forehead before joining her husband at the door. He'd already tucked their other son to bed. Inuyasha put an arm around her waist and closed the door quietly.
Several minutes later, the two of them were nestled comfortably in bed as well. Inuyasha fell asleep almost immediately with the scent of his mate next to him and the knowledge that his kids were safely sleeping in the room next door. Kagome lingered a bit longer before she followed him in sleep. But before her eyelids fell sleepily shut, she couldn't help but think that life now was as perfect as it was going to get.
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A/N: THE END!!!! It's finally over! Sorry for the short chapter, but really this story ended last update. Hope you guys liked this and I realize that epilogue was really sappy and all, but I like sappy endings =P Thank you sooo much for your generous reviews and encouragement! I owe it all to you, the readers, for getting this far!
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Review Responses
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AnimeBrat: Thank you! Yeah, can you believe it?? I really can't believe it myself. This story really is pretty dear to me. My first fanfic and now it's finally done! FieryFoxDemon: I'm glad you liked it! Yep, a year and 21 days long! I'm not all that fast an updater, but I hope to do better in the future. Thanks so much for reviewing for my stories! I really like it when people review for more than just one of them. I hope this ending was satisfactory. Dragon Man 180: Well, first off, in my opinion, Inuyasha and Kagome really would not have let him battle in the first place. After all, we are talking about the creator of all demons, even if he's already half destroyed. Secondly, Shippo really isn't all that strong. He's got illusions and all, but how is that going to help with a dumb pack of bees? Like in that episode where he was fighting the lizard. He didn't really get much headway with it, and Inuyasha squashed it like a bug. Still, thanks for your opinion. I'm really sorry I didn't put Shippo more in this story; he really wasn't much of an essential character. I hope you enjoyed reading this nonetheless though!
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