A/N: Now, where to go after that lovely chapter? Another cute chapter, of course! (Also, I have been asked if I am going to put in any SM fluff. There will be some, but you'll have to wait a bit.)

Chapter 9: Parenthood

Kagome smiled down at the tiny baby in her arms. It was sleeping, and she couldn't help but gently touch the black ear. Baby Kuro was already a week old, and already she had become so attached to him, that she didn't want him to leave her sight. She didn't mind that it was a boy anymore, since it was her and Inuyasha's child.

Inuyasha didn't want to admit it, but he was happy to be a father. He had his own child to raise, his own son…it was something he would have never dreamed of before. He couldn't help but fond over it. A baby might be more responsibility than he was ready for…but he didn't care. If he had to, he would learn responsibility.

Inuyasha also looked down at the sleeping Kuro. "He looks so much like you." He said.

"What are you talking about?" Kagome asked. "He's got your ears." She tweaked Inuyasha's ear.

"Besides that, he's got your looks." he said.

"And your behaviors." Kagome said. "Remember how much he cried before we could get him to sleep?"

Inuyasha shuddered. "That's enough to scare a youkai…"

She laughed. "That's exactly what I was thinking."

"Still…" Inuyasha said. "I think he's going to turn out just like me!"

His mate looked a bit frightened at that prospect. "Oh great. Another you."

"And what," he asked. "Is that supposed to mean?"

"Wait until he grows up and figure it out for yourself."

Kuro opened his eyes and started to coo. He lifted up one of his tiny hands and made a fist. Inuyasha stretched out his finger and the baby grabbed it. He looked at Kuro's hand.

"He's got his claws…fangs should be coming in soon."

Kagome stared. "They get them this early?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "I suppose so. Hanyou and Youkai grow faster."

"Oh! Inuyasha, I forgot to tell you, Sango, Miroku, and Shippou are coming over today to see Kuro."

"What?" he asked. "But it's too early for them to see him!"

"Inuyasha, you haven't let them see him all week, when are they going to see Kuro?"

Inuyasha made an annoyed noise, but besides that he didn't argue. "Just don't let that monk get too close, I don't want our son picking up any of his bad habits."

Kagome snorted. "You're worried about his bad habits?"

He glared. "That's not funny." He got up and leaned against a wall.

"From your point of view." Kagome said. Just as she said that, Sango, Miroku, and Shippou walked into the hut.

"Oh! Is that it?" Shippou asked, running towards Kagome.

"Yes, Shippou-chan. This is Kuro." She said, as Shippou looked at him. Kuro seemed to have a puzzled look on his face as he looked at the kitsune youkai.

"Kagome-chan, he's beautiful!" Sango said, sitting down carefully. Now that she was in her sixth month, she had to be careful.

"Yes," Miroku said. "You are quite blessed to be bestowed on you a son."

"Yeah, yeah, monk, we all know you're jealous." Inuyasha said.

"Jealous? No! I'm just exited that soon, I too, shall have a son."

"You hope, you mean." Sango said.

Miroku pulled her closer. "Now really, Sango, you don't have to be so mean. We all know you want a daughter, but really, would it be so bad if we had a son?"

Everyone in the group except Miroku pictured a three year old version of him asking a toddler to bear his child.

"Yes." Sango hissed. "Very bad."

"But think, Sango! Of all the things I could teach my son—"

"That's what I'm worried about." She said.

"You know Sango-chan, while I agree with you, a boy wouldn't be too bad if it is one. I mean, I wanted a girl, but I wouldn't exchange baby Kuro for a million girls." Kagome said.

Miroku sighed. "When you say things like that, it makes me think that maybe I wouldn't mind a girl too much…"

Everyone stared. Sango slapped him. "YOU PERVERT! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU EVEN THINK THOSE THINGS!"

"I didn't mean it like that!" he said, trying to defend himself. "I meant that maybe you could train a girl to fight youkai too."

But it was apparent that Sango was not calming down any time soon. "What, so now we're weak?"

"No! I didn't say that Sango, honest!"

While Sango rounded on a very terrified monk, Inuyasha and Kagome shook their heads. "As long as Sango's pregnant, he's not getting a break, is he?" Inuyasha said.

"Nope. I suppose this is karma…" Kagome replied.

"Can I hold him?" Shippou asked.

"Sure Shippou." Kagome said, passing the baby into his arms. "Be careful, he's heavy."

"How long until he's old enough for me to play with him?" Shippou asked.

Kagome shrugged. "About a year or so."

"But that's so long!" Shippou said.

"It won't seem that long." Kagome said. "I mean, these last nine months really flew by, didn't they?"

"Not fast enough for me." Inuyasha muttered.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with Inuyasha." Miroku said, massaging a large bump on his head.

"It's your own fault for saying things like that." Sango said. "I swear, you are not even getting near our child until you stop acting…like you always do."

"So have you decided on any baby names yet?" Kagome asked.

"No." Sango said. "This baka can't make up his mind. I'm afraid that it may not ever end up having a name."

"Well, Sango, you know you have to pick the perfect name, or else—"

"Or else it ends up with a less then perfect name. You know, Kagome, you never said it was this hard."

Kagome looked back at Kuro, who was now making cute baby noises. "Well, I suppose its all worth it in the end. I mean, even Inuyasha is happy."

Everyone looked at him, he just muttered a "Keh!"

"Well, Inuyasha." Miroku said. "I never considered you the father type, but I guess it goes to show that even I can be wrong now and again."

"Heh…what are you talking about monk? I just can't wait to teach it how to use Tessaiga."

"Inuyasha, our baby is NOT learning how to use that sword of yours until he's as old as you are." Kagome said.

"Well, that'll take some time, so why not teach him sooner?"

"If you even THINK about taking him out to slay youkai before he's ten—"

"They have to learn early you know! How about five!"

"FIVE YEARS OLD! ARE YOU CRAZY! He'll be killed!"

"Keh! As not as long as I'm around!"

"Like I don't already worry about you when you go do that! Now I'll have to worry about Kuro too? Not a chance!"

"Sango, I think we'd better leave. It looks like they started fighting again."

Sango nodded and shakily stood up and followed Miroku out of the hut, while Shippou handed Kuro back to Kagome, who was still fighting with Inuyasha.

"Once he starts to walk, he's gotta learn to start hunting or he'll fall behind!"

"DO YOU THINK I CARE AS LONG AS HE IS ALIVE!"

"And what of when he's older and he won't know how to take care of himself? What about THAT?"

Kagome was about to make a remark, but then she noticed Sango and Miroku had left the hut. She sighed and looked back down at the bundle in her arms. "It doesn't matter. We have plenty of time to think about it. But at least this baby has done one good thing for us."

"What's that?" Inuyasha asked.

"We've stopped arguing about ourselves, and started arguing about something that's worthwhile."

After that remark, Inuyasha couldn't help but smile.

A/N: Well, again this was just for the cute baby lovers. But I will get back to the evil dude...eventually. But right now, its squee time!