A/N: Well…3 billion reviews on the first chapter! I'd say that this story is pretty popular, ne? Anyway, I forgot to mention that this story will have mention of "special hugs" (If anyone read that amazing story, here's a cookie!) and it will have a more mature-er theme than the last one, so I hope no one is offended by that or anything…

Chapter 2: Some Not-So-Unexpected News

Inuyasha walked inside his hut to see his mate sitting comfortably in the corner, a nice change since she had spent a month throwing up. He had just come from yet another pounding on the monk. It had been a month since Inuyasha and Kagome had let slip that she was pregnant, yet Miroku still found the need to make comments every so often.

Today Inuyasha was especially upset since Miroku pointed out that Kagome would be getting bigger. Of course, Inuyasha preferred not to think about that, even though he knew in order to have a baby, the female must get bigger. But his Kagome…getting bigger on his account…it wasn't a pretty picture. He had to fight himself in order not to kill the lecherous monk right there, but then when Miroku said other things would get bigger as well, Inuyasha lunged.

Miroku probably wouldn't be making any more comments for a while.

Kagome held a yellow piece of cloth in her hand, and when Inuyasha came and sat next to her, she smiled at him. "Where have you been?" she asked.

"Keh! Just killing Miroku, that baka."

she rolled her eyes and returned to the cloth which Inuyasha could now see she was sewing. "What did he do this time?" Usually whenever her hanyou would hit anybody, he'd get sat right away, but Kagome knew the type of comments Miroku would say nowadays, so she had given Inuyasha full permission to kill him.

He didn't want to repeat what Miroku said, for fear of getting sat. Kagome's mood swings had kicked in, but usually, all he had to do to avoid them was do whatever she asked, and be extra careful what he said. "Just said some…stuff." he said.

"I'm beginning to wonder if we should ask Sango to keep a better watch on him."

"Keh! Keep him tied up, more like."

Kagome laughed and Inuyasha put his arm around her. "So, what are ya doin'?" he asked.

She smiled and held up the fabric, which he could see her neat stitches all the way around it. "Making baby blankets."

Inuyasha stared. "You need those?"

"Of course we need them! And a cradle too, unless you want the baby to sleep in our bed…"

He didn't even need to think about that one. "So how many of these blanket things do you need?"

"A few." Kagome said. "And then we need a pillow, a few diapers, some clothes… and perhaps a towel…"

Inuyasha stared. "We need…all that?"

"And besides the clothes, we'll need a cradle or something, a playpen might be nice…a few bottles, some toys, a harness or something for us to carry it around in since there are no strollers around here…and I know I'm forgetting something…"

The hanyou had never comprehended how much stuff one needed for a baby. "So, somehow we need to get all that stuff?"

His mate rolled her eyes. "We have seven months, Inuyasha. I'm pretty sure we have more than enough time."

Inuyasha sighed. "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

Kagome glared "More than you know."

Oh great. Must not get Kagome mad…"B-but its not so bad, right? I mean, we'll both look after it, and I'm sure Sango and the monk will help out…right?"

She put down her sewing. "I'm not really worried about what we are going to do with the baby."

"Then, what are you worried about?" He said, wrapping an arm around her and bringing her closer to him, so he could see into her eyes. They held tears.

She looked down. "It's just…Inuyasha, I'm only 16. Even though I act like I'm really happy about it, deep down…I mean, my friends, they're still in school. I should still be in school, but…I should be enjoying myself at this age, and instead…I'm having a baby!"

She burst into tears and buried herself into Inuyasha's haori. Inuyasha wrapped one arm around her waist and the other stroked her hair. He leaned his head against hers. He also felt worried, perhaps scared, but not so much about the baby. He was worried about Kagome. He didn't need his mate telling him she was too young for him to know it. He was worried about the pregnancy, and more worried about when she would have to give birth.

"I know, Kagome." Inuyasha said in a calming voice. "I'm scared too. I mean, look at me! I don't know the first thing about kids! But we can't be sad about this happening. You'll make a great mother, no matter what you think. And…" he said, placing one hand on her abdomen. "Kagome, you've given me something more than I could ever hope for. I never, ever thought in my wildest dreams that I might one day be a father! We're in this together Kagome, and you can bet that I'll help you out in anyway I can."

Kagome looked up at him, no longer crying. "You're right, Inuyasha. This baby is…it isn't a curse. And…" A small smile found its way on her face. "I wouldn't have anyone's baby but yours."

Inuyasha smiled, and wrapped his arms around her tighter and kissed her. It wasn't an intense passionate kiss, like the ones that were used when the world melted away and all that mattered was the feeling of their two bodies being together, but he showed her that he was happy she felt that way. In his own way, he told her that he would have allowed no other woman to bear him children except her.

He sniffed, letting her sweet scent wash over him, but he suddenly smelled another scent.

He pulled away from her, sniffing intently. "Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.

"No…" Inuyasha growled. "He can't come here."

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked again.

He stood up. "Stay here!" And he bound out of the hut headed straight for the woods.

Of course Kagome didn't stay, she ran right behind him, following the red blur that was heading into the forest.

Once Inuyasha was in the woods, he yelled, "I know you're here, come out here and face me!"

With a low growl, Kouga emerged from the trees. "So you could smell me then, dog crap?"

Inuyasha didn't answer that. "You had better tell me what you're doing here or you'll pay!"

Kouga was about to reply when Kagome also walked into the clearing out of breath. "Inuyasha...oh, Kouga-kun." She said exhaustedly.

"Kagome, what are you doing out here?" Inuyasha asked. "I told you to stay in the hut! It's for your own good!"

But before Inuyasha could get to Kagome, Kouga had already gotten there. "Kagome, its been—" Then he stepped back, sniffing her. He turned around and looked at Inuyasha with fury. "You."

"What?" Inuyasha asked. Before he could respond, Kouga lunged and pinned Inuyasha against a tree. Inuyasha clawed at Kouga's arms. "You bastard!"

"You…you…you" Kouga couldn't seem to find a word appropriate for what Inuyasha had done. "YOU MATED WITH HER!"

Inuyasha grinned. "What, sad you lost?"

Kouga raised a fist. "I'M GONNA—"

"Stop!" Kagome ran forward. "Please, Kouga-kun, calm down! Please, don't hurt him, for me…"

For a minute, Kouga looked like he was seriously considering hitting Inuyasha, but then he sighed, and let go. Even though they weren't physically fighting, Kouga still gave Inuyasha looks of fury, while Inuyasha returned the glare.

Inuyasha walked over to Kagome. "We've been mates for five months and if you have any problem with it, I'll take you on!"

Kouga wished he could have taken Inuyasha up on his offer, but he knew Kagome and her "sit" command well enough that he knew she wouldn't have been mated to Inuyasha unless she wanted to. Somehow, he had always known her heart lay with the hanyou, but he had never really admitted it to himself.

"Kouga-kun," Kagome said. "I'm sorry. But…I like you as a friend."

"Don't be sorry." Kouga said. "As long as you're happy, then I'm happy. And," he pointed to Inuyasha. "You had better take care of her, or you're going to hear from me!"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Keh! Whatever."

"I mean it mutt! You really had better be taking care of her, especially now, you know!"

Inuyasha sighed, he knew Kouga would be able to smell his kid. And speaking of scents, "Hey, wolf, what are you getting all sad about, after all, you have a mate, too."

Kouga cringed. "What?" Kagome asked.

The hanyou grinned. He thoroughly enjoyed this. "I caught a bit of Ayame's scent on him a long time back. So, you already have a mate, and yet you still come after mine, eh?"

Kouga clenched his fists. "Her grandfather forced me into it. I had no say in the matter."

"Oh is that so?" Inuyasha asked. "You had no problem denying her before, I wonder why you would suddenly agree?"

Kouga glared. "None of your business." And he stormed off, his warning to them quite forgotten.

"Well," Kagome said. "It looks like Kouga found someone after all."

Inuyasha shrugged. "Yeah, well, at least he won't be after you anymore." He picked Kagome up. "Come on, I gotta be taking better care of you, remember? Or wimpy wolf will have to drag himself from his mate to come punish me!"

Inuyasha gave a laugh while Kagome muttered. "That's not funny…" and they went back to the hut.

Far away from the village, in a deep, dark, dank cave, that had not been disturbed for a time, something stirred. Two eyes opened in the darkness.

The eyes looked up at the giant marks on the cave's walls, blast marks, spots of impact, scars from a great battle. It looked across to where a giant body had been ripped into pieces, a giant mark, a burn mark, across where this body had been. Though the body was destroyed, the evil from the soul still remained.

It remembered, though it had not been present, how this being had died. Most importantly, it remembered an inu hanyou, with silver hair and ears, protecting a strange miko, who had used the shikon no tama in order to kill this enemy.

The eyes glared as hatred welled up inside it against the hanyou and the miko. They will pay… it thought. The hanyou and the miko…will pay…

A/N: Oh no…a new evil dude! Anyway, I just had to add in Kouga to the picture just because. I don't buy those fics where Kouga goes "RAWRRR DIE INUYASHA!" and seriously tries to kill him. (Just like I hate the Kikyou, 'RAWRRR DIE KAGOME!" ones.) I don't think Kouga would do that, even if he found out Inuyasha had mated with Kagome. He would be extremely pissed and want to punch Inu…but if Kags was there, he'd probably just stop before doing that. But I do wish Kagome would tell Kouga to hook up with Ayame and stop chasing her though…