CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
*
"Why the hell won't he SHUT UP?" Inuyasha almost bellowed.
The only effect his demand had was to make the baby howl louder, right in Kagome's ear. His shrill shrieks had been echoing through the darkened woods for hours now like a siren.
Shippo floated past as as a walleyed pink bubble. "Goo gah!" he said cheerfully. "Wanna play some ball? I bounce!"
The baby looked briefly at Shippo. Then his little reddened face crumpled into another wail. Kagome joggled him gently against her shoulder, hoping that he would show some signs of going to sleep. Her eyes felt like they were full of sand, and her shoulder was sore from the little clawed fists that had been pounding it for as long as she had been holding him.
Miroku and Sango were sitting nearby, having given up on sleeping. "I see he has Inuyasha's lungs as well as his ears," Miroku said, not quite sotto voce. Kagome almost told him to be quiet, but the demon-slayer and monk were handling the sleep deprivation fairly well. Except for that argument they had had earlier, where Sango claimed that Miroku had been jealous when they thought the baby was Inuyasha's...
"Gawaaabboooo!" Shippo gurgled. He floated over the baby, turning red to yellow to electric blue.
"Aw, dammit," Inuyasha groaned. He pressed his hands over his drooping dog ears. "Why won't he SHUT UP?!"
"He doesn't feel well, Inuyasha," Kagome said loudly. "His stomach hurts."
"Don't that book of yours have anything for it?" Inuyasha demanded.
Kagome dumped the baby in his lap and began flipping through her book. "Let's see -- dietary changes, stomach discomfort... I think he has colic," she announced.
"Great. What do we do? How do we stop it?" Inuyasha shouted over the baby's wails.
"We can't."
"Whaddaya MEAN, we can't?!"
"We have to wait for it to go away," Kagome said. She took the baby back from Inuyasha and joggled him against her shoulder. She rubbed his little stomach, which caused the cries to stop... for about ten seconds. She was starting to feel really ticked off at the baby, who wouldn't calm down and wouldn't shut up. But then she saw his little face, tearstained and flushed. He was looking at her in the same way Inuyasha did, when something was really upsetting him. And Kagome felt a little tug in her heart for the poor little motherless half-demon baby...
The difference was that Inuyasha didn't scream his lungs out whenever he was worried.
"Please, please, please shut up," Kagome mumbled, joggling the baby against her shoulder.
"I knew we should have left him at the village," Miroku muttered.
"YOU WANNA PIECE OF ME, MONK?" Inuyasha shouted. Then he looked somewhat startled, as the baby's cries got louder.
"Sit down, Inuyasha," Miroku said calmly. "You're upsetting your baby."
"HE IS NOT MY BABY, DAMN YOU!"
"The more upset you get, the more upset HE'LL get," Miroku added, tossing a log into the fire. "So why don't you try to be quieter until his stomach improves."
"Feh!" Inuyasha said. He crouched by the fire and watched Kagome walk by again. The baby's cries were hurting his ears. Not just because the whelp was LOUD, but because... nobody could really comfort him. Even Kagome, who was the next best thing to his mother, couldn't help him. And over the hours, the baby's cries had become more hopeless, like a little lost creature wandering in the woods.
Dammit, he thought. I can't keep the baby. It isn't safe. If Naraku got news about it, he'd try to take the baby, or hurt it, to harm me. That bastard doesn't care about the helpless. He'd harm the baby in a heartbeat, and I might not be able to protect everyone...
He sat back and sighed. And even if it weren't for Naraku... dammit, I don't know anything about babies. I didn't even know how to feed him with those bottles Kagome brought.
"You're doing an awful lot of sighing," Shippo commented. "Does your stomach hurt now?"
"Shaddup."
*
The baby stopped howling and went to sleep sometime in the dead of night. The next morning, Kagome could barely keep her eyes open. I can't understand how Mom did this, she thought, yawning.
Inuyasha was just as tired, but determined to get to the summit. The sooner they found this relation of his, the sooner they could rest. And possibly, hand off the baby to somebody who didn't spend every day in danger.
"There it is!" Sango shouted.
The clouds parted to reveal a majestic castle near the peak of the mountain. It was half-built, half-carved into the stone. Snarling, gargoyle-like statues sprouted from the cliffsides. Their eyes really glowed. Kagome got the chills just looking at them -- which was probably the intent.
"In we go!" Inuyasha leaped up toward the doorway.
TO BE CONTINUED
*
"Why the hell won't he SHUT UP?" Inuyasha almost bellowed.
The only effect his demand had was to make the baby howl louder, right in Kagome's ear. His shrill shrieks had been echoing through the darkened woods for hours now like a siren.
Shippo floated past as as a walleyed pink bubble. "Goo gah!" he said cheerfully. "Wanna play some ball? I bounce!"
The baby looked briefly at Shippo. Then his little reddened face crumpled into another wail. Kagome joggled him gently against her shoulder, hoping that he would show some signs of going to sleep. Her eyes felt like they were full of sand, and her shoulder was sore from the little clawed fists that had been pounding it for as long as she had been holding him.
Miroku and Sango were sitting nearby, having given up on sleeping. "I see he has Inuyasha's lungs as well as his ears," Miroku said, not quite sotto voce. Kagome almost told him to be quiet, but the demon-slayer and monk were handling the sleep deprivation fairly well. Except for that argument they had had earlier, where Sango claimed that Miroku had been jealous when they thought the baby was Inuyasha's...
"Gawaaabboooo!" Shippo gurgled. He floated over the baby, turning red to yellow to electric blue.
"Aw, dammit," Inuyasha groaned. He pressed his hands over his drooping dog ears. "Why won't he SHUT UP?!"
"He doesn't feel well, Inuyasha," Kagome said loudly. "His stomach hurts."
"Don't that book of yours have anything for it?" Inuyasha demanded.
Kagome dumped the baby in his lap and began flipping through her book. "Let's see -- dietary changes, stomach discomfort... I think he has colic," she announced.
"Great. What do we do? How do we stop it?" Inuyasha shouted over the baby's wails.
"We can't."
"Whaddaya MEAN, we can't?!"
"We have to wait for it to go away," Kagome said. She took the baby back from Inuyasha and joggled him against her shoulder. She rubbed his little stomach, which caused the cries to stop... for about ten seconds. She was starting to feel really ticked off at the baby, who wouldn't calm down and wouldn't shut up. But then she saw his little face, tearstained and flushed. He was looking at her in the same way Inuyasha did, when something was really upsetting him. And Kagome felt a little tug in her heart for the poor little motherless half-demon baby...
The difference was that Inuyasha didn't scream his lungs out whenever he was worried.
"Please, please, please shut up," Kagome mumbled, joggling the baby against her shoulder.
"I knew we should have left him at the village," Miroku muttered.
"YOU WANNA PIECE OF ME, MONK?" Inuyasha shouted. Then he looked somewhat startled, as the baby's cries got louder.
"Sit down, Inuyasha," Miroku said calmly. "You're upsetting your baby."
"HE IS NOT MY BABY, DAMN YOU!"
"The more upset you get, the more upset HE'LL get," Miroku added, tossing a log into the fire. "So why don't you try to be quieter until his stomach improves."
"Feh!" Inuyasha said. He crouched by the fire and watched Kagome walk by again. The baby's cries were hurting his ears. Not just because the whelp was LOUD, but because... nobody could really comfort him. Even Kagome, who was the next best thing to his mother, couldn't help him. And over the hours, the baby's cries had become more hopeless, like a little lost creature wandering in the woods.
Dammit, he thought. I can't keep the baby. It isn't safe. If Naraku got news about it, he'd try to take the baby, or hurt it, to harm me. That bastard doesn't care about the helpless. He'd harm the baby in a heartbeat, and I might not be able to protect everyone...
He sat back and sighed. And even if it weren't for Naraku... dammit, I don't know anything about babies. I didn't even know how to feed him with those bottles Kagome brought.
"You're doing an awful lot of sighing," Shippo commented. "Does your stomach hurt now?"
"Shaddup."
*
The baby stopped howling and went to sleep sometime in the dead of night. The next morning, Kagome could barely keep her eyes open. I can't understand how Mom did this, she thought, yawning.
Inuyasha was just as tired, but determined to get to the summit. The sooner they found this relation of his, the sooner they could rest. And possibly, hand off the baby to somebody who didn't spend every day in danger.
"There it is!" Sango shouted.
The clouds parted to reveal a majestic castle near the peak of the mountain. It was half-built, half-carved into the stone. Snarling, gargoyle-like statues sprouted from the cliffsides. Their eyes really glowed. Kagome got the chills just looking at them -- which was probably the intent.
"In we go!" Inuyasha leaped up toward the doorway.
TO BE CONTINUED