Disclaimer: All forces……ATTACK! Leave no bush unturned, leave no character uncaptured! We will take control with one swift sweep of our mighty strength! INUYASHA SHALL BE MINE!

Chapter 44 : Kagome's Secret

Kagome curled up into a ball as she gripped her stomach tight.

"Don't die yet, miko. There's more suffering to be had by you." Suoh was once again advancing on her, but she couldn't move, it hurt too much. Then she heard a voice that made everything so much better.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" It was InuYasha. He was alright, he was walking toward her. "KAGOME! Kagome, are you alright?"

"I'm…alright. Just get Suoh, InuYasha." Kagome could here the battle around her. She could hear blow after blow as flesh ripped, as claws connected with their targets, as someone hit the ground. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she listened to it all, and finally hoping the last scream of anguish wasn't coming from InuYasha. The moments that passed before she heard him again seemed to go on forever.

"Kagome? Hey. You alright wench?"

"InuYasha… Suoh! Where…"

"He's gone for good this time, so don't worry about it. I asked if you were alright."

"I'm fine,…but I think I need to see Kaede." She crossed her arms in front of her protectively, her eyes brightening with tears. Kagome hardly noticed as she was scooped up into InuYasha's strong hanyou arms and carried away through the forest. She vaguely remembered agreeing to going back to Sesshomaru's castle to see one of his healers. Too much was going through her mind, too much was worrying her. She wasn't worried about her injuries, and for the first time she wasn't worried about InuYasha's injuries either. This went deeper, something so much more. Kagome remembered back, back to when she had first learned about her secret, when she talked to Kaede that seemed like a lifetime ago… (chapter 36 for those wondering)

"Sango, Kagome. I was wondering when ye were going to stop by. Tell me, has InuYasha returned yet?"

"No. Not yet." Kagome replied. "I'm sure he'll be back soon, though."

Kaede looked over Kagome, frowning. "Kagome, child. Ye are not looking too well. Come in child, and let me look ye over." Kagome just nodded and followed Kaede into the hut. Sango stayed outside with Mai and Shippou. Inside the hut, the smell of cooking herbs made Kagome's stomach churn. She hadn't eaten anything lately, but she couldn't bring herself around to eating. She was lonely, depressed; she just completely missed InuYasha with all her heart. "Come on in, Kagome, sit down and let me have a look."

"It's nothing Kaede. I'm just not feeling too well."

"Ah. And how long have ye not been feeling well?" Kaede walked over and sat by Kagome's side, handing her a bowl of some sort of stew.

Kagome thought. "I don't know, I guess a few days now." She made a face and placed the bowl beside her. The notion did not go unseen by the old priestess.

"Ye do not seem to have much of an appetite lately." Kagome's face went pale. "Is there something the matter, child?"

"I…feel sick…" she moved from her sitting position and leaned up against the wall. Keade quickly poured the bowl of stew back in the pot and covered it with the lid with a slight chuckle. Kagome instantly felt much better.

"Sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about, Kagome. All this is natural for someone in your condition."

"My…condition?"

Kaede chuckled again. "Some women in the same condition as ye only get sick in the morning hours. Ye seem to get sick when ye smell food sometimes. Strange, but not the first case this old woman has seen."

Kagome was frozen in place. Sickness? Condition? What condition! "Keade, a-are you saying that I'm… I'm…"

"Yes, child. Ye are pregnant."

Kagome wrapped her arms around her stomach. Pregnant? Her! NOW! So much stuff drained into her head, it was just a jumble of incomprehensible thoughts all running together. "But..but…"

"I take it that InuYasha is the father. That complicates things a bit, he being hanyou and ye being human."

"Co-complicates?" she wasn't able to speak more than a few words at a time.

"Yes. It will be a bit harder, since the babe will be hanyou. Nothing to worry about. On the better side, a hanyou pregnancy only lasts around five months."

"F-five months?"

Keade laughed. "Yes child. They grow considerably faster than humans do. Maybe ye could go back to ye hut and rest for awhile." Kagome nodded, only half aware as Keade called Sango into the hut.

Before Kagome knew what was happening, she was taken up the stairs and laid on the futon, covered with the blankets. Filled with worry, fear, and anger she tossed and turned on the futon until she felt a warmth beside her. InuYasha casually and carefully ran his claws through her hair, down her neck, and onto her shoulders in a repetitive fashion. Almost instantly she was asleep as all fears subsided for the time being. InuYasha was still alive, he was still with her and they were never going to be apart again, not if she could help it.

A few hours later, Kagome was abruptly awoken from her slumber by the hayou shaking her shoulders. "Kagome? This is Nori. She's a healer from a nearby village." InuYasha led in an older woman. "You gonna be okay with her for awhile?" She nodded. He gave her one last glance then walked out leaving the two alone.

"So," the woman said nervously, "what seems to be the problem?" Kagome lifted the side of her shirt to revel a grapefruit sized bruise forming there. "Oh, that's a nasty bruise." She reached down with her hands and gently pressed down. Kagome winced. "Well, you will be sore for a while, but nothing serious to worry about here. Is there anything else?"

"I'm… I'm pregnant."

"Oh. Oh! That does complicate things." Nori's eyes filled with worry. "Well," she sighed, "I'll just check and see how the baby is doing then." Kagome waited as Nori did tests; pressing in on her abdomen and listening with a strange looking device. It seemed to take forever, time itself freezing in Kagome's anticipation. Was their unborn child going to be alright? Had they lost it before InuYasha even knew? "Have you been cramping or bleeding since the accident?" she asked.

"N-no. Nothing like that."

"What about tenderness or sudden pains in the abdomen?"

"No, it's just my side."

She nodded and continued to press lightly around Kagome's stomach. Finally Nori looked up and smiled. "Everything's fine. The baby seems healthy enough, as young as it is it surprises me it came out of such an ordeal without being harmed. Someone was defiantly looking after you this time round."

"Thank you so much, Nori."

The old woman smiled down on her, about the same time a bouncy Rin pushed open the door. "Lady Kagome! I heard it! I heard everything! You're going to have a baby!"

"Yes."

"That's so wonderful! I bet it's going to be a girl. Then you can bring her over to play with me! Oh, Master InuYasha wants to know when he can come up and see you. He's very worried about you, you know."

Kagome smiled. "Yea. I know. Tell him he can come up now."

"Alright, Lady Kagome." She turned back to the stairs. "Lady Nori, can I help you back down?"

"Such a nice girl. Yes, of course, and thank you." Before the two left out of the room, Nori turned back to face Kagome. "Good luck and congratulations to you and the father." Kagome nodded as she watched the two start their decent down the stairs. When they were gone, she took a deep breath. The time she had been dreading had finally come. She was going to have to tell InuYasha the truth. She was going to have to tell him he was going to be a father. Kagome didn't know how she had kept it a secret this long. Her stomach had grown larger than any normal one-month pregnant women that Kagome had ever seen, though it still wasn't that big, but she had noticed the weight she had gained. She guessed that Kaede was right; hanyou babies do grow a lot faster.

"So, what did she say wench?" InuYasha made his way toward her.

Kagome gulped at the lump forming in her throat, then sighed. "She said I'm fine, everything's fine, just a little bruised."

"Kagome, there's something else bothering you. Why don't you just tell me what's wrong, wench!" Curse him and his stupid hanyou senses! She thought to herself as the hanyou curled up his nose at her.

"I was worried what you would think at first, but now I know that this involves you too. I-I just couldn't bring myself to tell you…" she froze.

"What, Kagome? You couldn't tell me what?" his voice showed his irritation rising.

Just take a deep breath and say it! "InuYasha,… we're…I'm…" she paused again, tears forming behind her eyes.

"Oh, no. No crying is going to get you out of it this time, so just spill it Kagome. If there's something wrong then I need to know about it."

"Nothings wrong. It's just…" she pulled the blanket over her head, "InuYashaI'mPregnant." She said it fast. For awhile she just hid under the blanket, waiting for whatever was going to come. As time passed she was worrying if the hanyou had even understood her mumbling answer. Suddenly the blanket was jerked off of her head, exposing her to InuYasha's full view.

"W-w-what did you say?" his face had gone pale, all the color temporarily drained from his features.

"I-I'm pregnant. We're going to have a baby."

"You mean me,…a-a-and you…we're……a-a-a pup!"

Kagome's eyes were downcast. "I couldn't tell you, I didn't know how to tell you. You're not mad,… are you?"

"Is that what you've been so worried about? That I'd be mad? Kagome, I could never be mad at you for something like that. It's going to be okay, we're going to be okay. This is great, having a pup together…isn't it? You don't have a problem with it, …do you?"

"No." she smiled. "I'm glad. I'm glad we're in this together."

InuYasha sat next to her and pulled her into his lap. She winced as his claw grazed her bruised side. "What?" he pulled up the side of her shirt, his eyes going wide. "K-Kagome…?"

"Don't worry, InuYasha. Nori said the baby's fine."

He sighed in relief. "What about you? You okay?"

"I'm alright. Just tired, bruised, a little sick."

"Sick?"

"On my stomach."

"That's because you haven't eaten anything since early this morning. Wait here, I'll go get you something to eat." He eased her back to the futon being extra careful with her in her condition and with her bruise, then left, coming back moments later with two arm loads of different foods. "I got chicken, and beef, and rabbit, a few fruits, some noodles and bread, um I don't know what this stuff is but it smells good, and a bowl of rice and…"

"InuYasha."

"some of those sweet red thingies you like,…"

"InuYasha!" Kagome gulped, trying to hold back the inevitable.

"and these are…"

"INUYASHA!"

His ears perked up. "What?"

"Get me out of here, NOW!"

"Why?"

"BECAUSE I'M GOING TO BE SICK, THAT'S WHY BAKA!" She put her hands over her mouth and closed her eyes, trying to keep herself from gagging. InuYasha dropped all the food he had carried, the dishes crashing to the floor, picked her up, rushing down the stairs and out the front door, and not a moment too soon. As soon as he dropped Kagome to her feet she rushed to the nearest bush and let it all out. His ears hung low on his head. Had she been this way back in the village when he was gone?

"Kagome?" He bent down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She stopped throwing up and turned to burry herself in InuYasha's arms. "You better now?" Kagome nodded. "Was it the food?" she nodded again. "Alright. I'll go clear everything away and come back for you."

A few minutes and a change of clothes later the two were back in their small room, both laying on the futon. InuYasha had Kagome pulled securely against his chest, one arm wrapped protectively around her stomach and the other stroking her hair. He had managed to get her to eat some rice, since the smell didn't affect her sickness, but he still wasn't satisfied with the little she did eat.

"What do you want InuYasha, a boy or a girl?"

"Keh. A boy, of course. You think I want a smaller version of you running around? I'd never get to sleep again between having to save the two of you."

"Baka, you don't always have to save me. I do believe I was the one to save you last time." She boasted.

"Keh. And how many does that make it, wench? A million to one? Want do you want?"

"Hm. I don't really care." She turned and reached toward his head. "As long as it has your ears." Kagome rubbed the silver objects of her affection as InuYasha growled his pleasure. "We're going back to the village in the morning, aren't we?"

"Um hum."

"We've still got to tell Miroku, Sango and Shippou."

InuYasha jerked up. "That lecher! There's no way I'm telling him anything. It's none of his business anyway."

Kagome giggled. "I know what you mean, but we can't keep it a secret from him. He's bound to notice sooner or later." She looked down at her stomach. "And I think it's a good bet that everyone will notice sooner than later."

"Fine, but if he makes one freakin lecherous comment, I'm gonna…"

"I know, you're going to shove Tetsusaiga up his hind end." She smiled and nuzzled herself closer to him. He, in turn, gently grazed his fangs against her neck, teasing and nipping here and there. "InuYasha, I'm tired!" she wined. He stopped his advances with a small wine of his own. "Don't give me that. It's been a long day, and the three of us have been though a lot lately." InuYasha grinned at her notion. Yes, the three of them had been through a lot.

"Keh. Fine."

"Don't 'Keh' me, InuYasha! I'm beat." She nudged her elbow into his side, receiving a prompt 'oof!' from the hanyou laying behind her. "Goodnight."

"Stupid wench, thinks she can get her way all the time." InuYasha mumbled in a whisper that Kagome could just hear. "Goodnight."

A/N: Sorry I kept you waiting so long. I was going to post yesterday but there were a few personal problems in the way. That done, I hope you really liked my story so far. As most of you have probably figured out, there's only a few chappies left. :sigh: Well, see ya next chapter!