DISCLAIMER: I now own...drum roll The Egg! crash of cymbol Not impressed, huh? Okay, so read on...
Chapter two: Sunny side up
Kaede was standing on her porch when the group of travelers arrived. The sun had set by then and she had known they would be coming back as soon as Kagome arrived from the well. She stared in confusion at the egg they were passing around and wondered at their strange actions towards it.
"Are you sure we should name it that?" Miroku protested. "Wouldn't a more manly name fit the egg better? I mean, the tough exterior, the soft inside with a heart of gold..." he nodded solemnly to himself. "Certainly this fits the description of a man."
"Excuse me?" Sango muttered. "Exactly what is it your implying?"
"Drop it, monk," Inuyasha grumbled. "We named it Aiko."
"I like it!" Shippo piped up happily. Gulping down one of the sugary treats Kagome had brought back for him.
"Perhaps we should bless it," Miroku decided.
"IT'S AN EGG!" Sango emphasized.
"I know that!" Miroku shot back. "But she's supposed to treat it like a real child! I am simply trying to get into the spirit of this thing."
"A-oh..." Sango blushed a bit.
"Does this mean I'm Aiko's uncle then?" Shippo wondered aloud.
"I suppose so..." Kagome nodded.
"Then I shall be it's godfather, and Sango it's godmother," Miroku said dramatically.
"And you can be the grandmother, Kaede!" Shippo announced with joy as he scampered up onto the porch and grinned up at the woman.
"Hast thou lost thy mind? That be an egg!" Kaede sputtered out. "I'll not claim it as kin when it came from the southern end of fowl."
Sango and Miroku grimaced at the description. "She makes a good point..." Sango muttered.
"It's for a class project. I'm to treat it as my own child," Kagome explained, ready to put the whole topic aside and turn in. Her head was throbbing by now.
"I see." Kaede didn't really look as if she understood, but she knew well enough to drop the topic now or be utterly confused later on.
"So if I be the grandmother, Shippo an uncle, Miroku and Sango godfather and godmother, and Kagome the mother... then who be the father?" her knowing eye settled on Inuyasha, who was looking rather fidgety all of a sudden.
Everyone was quite for a moment, no one daring to utter a word. Kagome felt her cheeks go bright red with embarrassment and she cleared her throat.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pretty beat. I'd just as soon get to bed early since we will be traveling again at the break of dawn."
"Good idea."
"I'm with you!"
"I feel pretty beat myself..."
"Wait just a damn minute!" Inuyasha snarled. "I ain't havin' that egg called a bastard child."
Everyone stopped suddenly and turned to stare at the bristling hanyou.
"What doth thou plan to do then?" Kaede smirked, her hands behind her back and a satisfied look in her eye.
"I'll be the..." he trailed off with his sentence then, suddenly finding his scuffing feet to be very interesting.
"What was that?" The old woman asked. "Mine ears do fail me."
"I'LL BE THE FATHER!" he snarled out, then stomped his way past the others and into the hut. "AN DON'T BE MAKIN SUCH A BIG FREAKIN DEAL OVER IT!" he warned.
Kagome and Kaede shared an amused smile.
"I wouldn't dream of it." Kaede chuckled.
Later that evening, as they all lay sleeping in the hut, Inuyasha cracked an eye and checked to see that all the others were asleep before reaching over to touch the egg softly.
It was just a stupid egg, some ridiculous project from Kagome's weird school. And yet, now that the idea had been placed in the open, he suddenly wondered what sort of father he might be. He'd barely knew his own father, and the lack of male influence hadn't seemed
to effect him in a bad way. But what would he be like now if he'd been able to identify with his dad? Would he have resented his half self so much for so long?
Kagome sighed softly in her sleep and turned over. Inuyasha snatched his hand back and quickly shut his eye, blushing furiously at the thought of being caught doing something as silly as caressing the egg. He peaked out when her breathing became deep and even again and this time studied her.
'Kagome would be a great mother,' he thought to himself. 'She already takes good care of all of us, and Shippo's attached to her at the hip.' He sighed deeply, then gave a low growl of irritation. 'What a baka I am! What the hell am I worrying over this shit for? IT'S AN EGG!'
But he couldn't resist the urge to lightly brush a stray lock of hair away from Kagome's forehead, and offer the same gentle caress to the still, white egg.
"Goodnight, little Aiko," he mumbled, then shut his eyes and concentrated on sleep.
Kaede smiled into the darkness. She had thought the whole egg thing to be a bit silly. But it seemed that the concept was a good one in respects to Inuyasha. His feelings towards Kagome were obvious to everyone but he and Kagome. Perhaps with the pretend child between them, things would progress a bit more.
Kagome awoke the next day feeling refreshed and in better spirits. The rest of her companions were still asleep. Everyone that is except Inuyasha, who was absent. With a bit of a panicked shock she also noticed the absence of the egg.
"Oh no! He's eating it!" she wailed out, scrambling to her feet and dashing out the front door.
"INUYASHA!" she called out frantically. "INUYASHA!"
"SHHH!" he landed behind her, scaring her half to death. "What you screamin' about? Trying to wake half the village?"
She spun about and was about to sit him for eating her project when she noticed a make shift pack wrapped about his chest. The tiny outline of the egg could be seen and she could do no more than stare in shock at him. He'd made a baby carrier for the egg?
"What's a matter with you? First your screaming for me, now you just stare at me?" He was adjusting the strap and keeping one hand protectively covered over the egg.
"I-I just woke up and saw the eeg- I mean, Aiko was gone. I panicked," she said with a blush. She wasn't about to admit that she'd thought he'd taken off and eaten it.
"Oh," Inuyasha nodded his understanding. "I didn't want Miroku stumbling around, half asleep and squashing her, so I figured I'd take her out with me."
'Her?' Kagome thought with wonder. 'Wow, he's really getting into this. Maybe Sota was right. Inuyasha WOULD make a good father.'
"Now what?" he snarled grumpily. "Yea got that goofy look on your face again. What gives?"
'Inuyasha, you sure know how to ruin a moment...'
She rolled her eyes, then waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Nothing. Let's get some breakfast. I'm starving."
"Great!" Inuyasha grabbed for her hand and pulled her towards the hut. "Me and Aiko are hungry too."
'Maybe he's a little TOO into it...' she worried as the ducked inside.