AN: By popular demand, here's chapter one!

Chapter One.

(Eight months later) Kagome got up early on Monday morning and went down stairs for a bite to eat. She was famished, though she'd eaten a big dinner the night before, and even had a some late night snacks. Being pregnant would do that to you. As she raided the fridge her mother came in. Dressed in a night gown and slippers, she found Kagome carrying a large tub of fried chicken to the table.

"Cravings?" She asked Kagome.

"Yeah, for Chicken this time, thank goodness too. The last time it was Yappie's dog biscuits." Kagome replied.

"I thought that was Inu-yasha's favorite snack." Kagome's mother said laughing. "He likes those almost as much as he like's Ramen."

"Mom, this pregnancy is so weird. Sometimes I don't know how I'm going to deal with it." She told her mother. Kagome was as big as a house by now and she was only going to get bigger with three more months to go until her due date.

"Don't worry sweetie, it's hard at first, and then there comes the delivery, but it's all a labor of love. You never really get used to being pregnant, but at least it only lasts a short while, and then the joy of parent hood comes. You'll get to see this life you carried inside of you grow up and become a responsible person, just like you are."

"Thanks mom." Kagome hugged her mother and then chowed down on the chicken. There were times when she thought she could never be as hungry as this again. She ate like a pig and that was none too attractive especially to Inu-yasha who came dragging himself in about that same time that morning. He laid his hard hat on the table next to Kagome's bucket and sat down. "Morning honey." She said to him.

"Yeah, morning." He half demon yawned. He was dead tired.

"Tough night?" Kagoma asked.

"We pulled up some old relic last night." He said.

"A relic?" Kagome asked him.

"Yeah, it's some old tomb seal or something made of carved stone and laid flat on the ground like a door. We're going to rip it out tonight" Inu-yasha explained. "Man, I hate working late shift. It cuts into my sleeping time and I can't afford to loose sleep. I'm going to be a father. I've got to have all the rest I can." Kagome and her mother stared at him.

"Well, at least it's work!" Kagome barked. "It's not like we've got any other way of paying for this baby's arrival. There's the doctor's bills, the cradle, the clothes, and a whole lot of other things that we have to have before I give birth to this thing growing inside of MY body."

"Damn, you don't have to yell." Inu-yasha said. "I'm right here, and I didn't say I was going to stop going to work, I just think that my time could be better spent working the day shift instead of being stuck all night long on the night crew's little problems. You might not have realized this but this is hard on me. I'm used to slaying demons and killing monsters, not lugging heavy machinery around all over the place. It's hard work even for me."

"Now now." Kagome's mother said. "I'm sure it's hard on both of you, but you've got to understand, Inu-yasha, that Kagome is going through a tough time too. She's going to have little mood swings like this."

"Mood swings, I'm not having any mood swings." Kagome said sweetly. "I'm just a little concerned is all."

"Whatever." Inu-yasha replied, taking a chicken leg from the bucket. He bit into the sweet greasy chicken and before long the leg bone was bare. "I think I'll go to bed. Have a good day at school." He left the kitchen then and went upstairs to his and Kagome's room.

"That Inu-yasha." Kagome sighed. "Sometimes I wonder what it is that I see in him."

"You're not the only one." Her mother said. "Oh why couldn't you have married that nice guy Hojo when he asked you?" She wondered. "You know he's coming over today, why don't you ask if he's still willing."

"Mom!" Kagome exclaimed. "Hojo is Sango's boyfriend now. I can't take him from her, I especially can't steal anyone's boyfriend the way that I look now. I'm as big as a house." She whimpered.

"Oh my poor baby." Kagome's mother hugged her and held her close like a mother does.

"Things were so much easier when Inu-yasha and I were out slaying demons. Having this baby is totally hard." Kagome stated. "I look like a wreck half the time, I'm always hungry, and these mood swings have me totally turned upside down. I don't know what I'm feeling from one minute to the next."

--------------Scene Break.-----------------

Miroku stood at the top of the steps in his new uniform. The shrine looked as peaceful as ever in the early morning light. He took in a deep breath of clean fresh air and started towards the shrine. Ever since he'd graduated from High school last year he'd been working full time at the Sunset Shrine to provide for his own family. He was married to Kagome's best friend Eri and they were also expecting a child within the next month or so. Miroku's first born son, or so the ultrasounds said. That meant that the curse would be passed down to yet another generation. Sometimes they wondered why they didn't just go back to the past one last time and finish Naraku off once and for all. Then he remembered what had almost happened to him the day that he'd met Eri. Naraku had nearly gotten him that day with a swarm of his deadly insects. With a wife to support and a child on the way, Miroku couldn't afford to go off demon hunting anymore. Not when his life was already so short. The hole in his right hand was getting bigger with each passing year. Someday soon it would consume him.

"Blasted curse." He said as he looked down at his hand. "I finally find a seriously sweet piece of twat and the damn wind tunnel gets bigger. What will Eri do when this thing eventually kills me?" He couldn't think about that now. He had work to do that day in the shrine. It was his duty now to open the gift shop every morning and to wait on the customers while Kagome's Grandfather took care of the shrine itself and preformed ritual ceremonies. It was all part of his training which seemed kind of pointless considering the fact that Kagome's grandfather would probably outlive him. Still, it was work after all. One could survive in the Modern Era without hard work.

"Well today you're going to be cleaning out the shrine's store room." Kagome's grandfather said when Miroku came in through the door.

"Is that so. And who will be minding the store today?" He asked in reply.

"I will today. You see the shrine needs cleaning and mending and my old bones won't allow me to do such strenuous labor anymore. That's why I have an assistant like you for." The old man told the young monk.

"Indeed. Well then, I should get to work." Miroku pulled up his sleeves and picked up a nearby mop and wash bucket. He wasn't one to argue with the elderly nor with his employer.

----------Scene Break-------------

Sesshormaru stood on a street corner observing the crowds of people. He was totally inconspicuous in his new black suit, tie, and black over coat under which he hid his swords. His left arm sleeves were pinned up by the shoulder. His sunglasses hid his eyes, and his long silver hair was tied back in a ponytail. He looked very dashing and quite respectable. When he passed by people looked at him and thought very highly of him. He commanded respect wherever he went in this modern age. Now he was standing on the street corner observing some young girls on their way to school. One girl in particular he watched over very closely.

Kagome, Sango, and Hojo were walking to school with her friends Yuka, Ayumi, and Eri. The pregnant girls and their friends were laughing and smiling and talking like they were on their way to a picnic rather than on their way to a hard day of classes.

"So anyway," Eri said. "My mother and father told me that they're very happy for me and Miroku to be having our first child while we're so young."

"I find that hard to believe." Yuka said.

"No it's true. They said it will be good for me to learn early on some grownup responsibility." Eri told them all. Kagome laughed and started out into the street. She obviously wasn't paying any attention to what she was doing because she forgot to look both ways. If she had then she surely would have seen the truck coming around the corner.

"Kagome watch out!" Sango cried and Kagome looked over to her left. She screamed when she saw the truck coming straight at her, honking it's horn, and it's tires screeching as the breaks were slammed down to the floor. It was too late though, she was frozen with fear and there wasn't time for her to get out of the way. Just then though a white blur came from out of nowhere and whisked Kagome to safety. Sango and the others thought for a moment that it was Inu-yasha but then as the truck when screeching past and the Kagome stood before them safe, and sound, they saw that it was Sesshomaru.

"Thanks." Kagome said turning, "You saved my…You!" She cried. Everyone who had seen the heroic act came rushing over to see that the girl was alright. Soon a huge crowd had gathered there around Kagome and Sesshomaru. "What are you doing here?" Kagome demanded. Sesshomaru simply smiled.

"Kagome who is this?" Yuka asked amazed and awestruck by this heroic looking figure who stood before them.

"He's Inu-yasha's older brother Sesshomaru." Kagome informed them all. "Just what do you think you're doing?" Kagome asked him again.

"Saving your life and indebting Inu-yasha to me." He told her. "Besides my grudge is with my little brother, not with you, and certainly not with the child you carry."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Kagome asked him.

"It means that my father's spirit would be sorely displeased with me if I were to allow anything to happen to his first grandchild. Besides, I have high hopes for this child of my brothers'." He didn't care who was there listening. "You carry within you, Kagome the heir to a great house, and one day I will come for him." He told her.

"You won't touch my child." Kagome stared at him.

"Suit yourself. But he will need training in the ways of a warrior and when that time comes, his Uncle will be there for him." Sesshomaru said.

"Inu-yasha will teach my son everything he needs to know." Kagome retorted.

"Inu-yasha is not long for this world." Sesshomaru informed her then walked away.

"Kagome, what did he mean by that?" Ayumi asked.

"It means that Sesshomaru means to kill Inu-yasha." She informed her friends. "I've got to get home and warn him." Kagome took off through the crowd as fast as her legs could carry her and her friends followed. They couldn't just leave her alone. If there was trouble about then they had to be there to render assistance.