Well for heads up on the boyfriend deal, it is finally over between us. Am I sad, well yes and no, I was kind of expecting this. Now I'm a free woman! Yeah! Anyways I've decided to work on the next chapter as I sit her, downloading music, and watching Aladdin. God I love this Disney movie, I remember seeing it in Theatre's as a kid.
Oh and I have a small issue that needs to be dealt with. I don't mind you guys telling me when I do something wrong in my story, and I try to fix it and learn from my mistakes. However the spelling and missing words is a little problem for me. I can review it as much as I like, and still not find anything wrong with it. That's because I'm the author and I can't catch it. I need someone else to read it because in my mind the missing words are there. So, any volunteers who would like to be my editor?
Well now that that is out of the way, shall we move onward with the story?
Winter Wonderland
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Souta lay on his stomach while his legs kicked back and forth, watching the television as the program went over the events of this year. The time was 11:00 PM and just an hour to go before ringing in the New Year. Mrs. Higurashi sat down on one of the chairs with a bowl of chips in her lap, and Grandpa was cross legged on the floor, sitting closer to Souta. On the couch, Kagome was laid down on her side as she watched the television screen with her head resting on her husbands lap. Reaching down to the ground to grab the other chip bowl and a handful of chips, she offered some to her mate before she placed it back down on the ground, her eyes meeting his. Violet eyes met hers, and he slowly shook head, declining her offer of the food. Smiling softly Kagome set the bowl of chips back down and returned her attention to the television once again. Inu-Yasha flicked a strand of his midnight hair out of his face before returning it the arm of the couch, while the other arm was rested on Kagome's side as she laid on his lap. It was one of the few moments where he felt safe on his human night, and not scared that a demon or enemy could attack at any moment. A soft yawn caused the human Inu-Yasha to look up at the tired fox sitting on his head.
"If your tired Shippo, go to bed," said Inu-Yasha.
"I'm not tired . . ."
"Feh, yeah right," snorted Inu-Yasha.
Shippo growled softly, but decided to ignore the comment. Inu-Yasha was about to make another snide remark, but felt Kagome wince and heard her small whimper.
"Kagome . . . are you okay?" asked Inu-Yasha, panic slightly in his voice.
The half demon calmed down a little when she placed her hand on his and smiled softly, "I'm just fine . . . our little one was just reminding us that she's here with a little kick boxing," whispered Kagome.
Inu-Yasha chuckled softly and leaned down to kiss Kagome's forehead.
"So Sis, I'll get to be an Uncle soon right?" asked Souta.
Kagome smiled and nodded, "In less than a month,"
Souta sat up and crawled slowly towards the couch, staring up at his sister, "Do you guys really have to go in two days?"
Inu-Yasha answered, "Of course we are . . . we haven't been home in almost a month,"
Souta frowned softly, "You mean I won't be able to be there when my nephew's born.
Inu-Yasha sighed at the boys sad face, but then smiled with an idea, "Tell you what . . . soon as the pup's old enough to go through the well, you'll be the first to hold her, how's that sound?"
Souta's face lit up, "Sounds like a deal to me!"
"So Inu-Yasha, you say by two month's your daughter will be able to talk, and maybe start walking?" asked Mrs. Higurashi.
Inu-Yasha frowned softly, "Maybe . . . that is if our pup is a half demon,"
Seeing the look on his face, Mrs. Higurashi said no more. It was still clear that whether the child would be a half demon or human was still on Inu-Yasha's mind, and most likely Kagome's as well. Feeling Kagome tense on his lap, Inu-Yasha started to lightly massage his wife's back as best as he could from his position, and felt her start to relax.
"Thank you . . ." whispered Kagome, her hand lightly squeezing his thigh.
Inu-Yasha felt a small tremor shake through him and tried to ignore it, "Anytime my love,"
Looking at the clock, it now read 11:15 PM, only forty-five minutes to the New Year. Taking his eyes off the TV Inu-Yasha took a look around the room. In three month's the well would close, him and Kagome would be on the other side, living out through time. And yet the question of why the well would close was still a mystery to him. No problems had occurred over the past four years. There was something that Hiroshi had not mentioned to them the last time they had seen him. Inu-Yasha started to shake slightly and snuggled closer into the couch for warmth. His gut was telling him that something pretty serious would have to happen for the well to close, but what was it?
His mind came back to the real world as Shippo shifted on top of his head. Mrs. Higurashi stood from her seat and started to head into the kitchen.
"Oh by the way, Grandpa . . . what kind of drink would you like to ring out the New Year?"
"Sake will do my dear," said Grandpa.
"Hey mom! Do I get a drink?"
"Souta your way to young. Inu-Yasha would you like some Sake?"
"Uh . . . I guess . . .Kagome do you want some?"
"Inu-Yasha, your not supposed to have alcohol when you're pregnant," stated Mrs. Higurashi.
"Oh . . . I see,"
Mrs. Higurashi just smiled and disappeared into the kitchen for a few moments before coming back out again. "I'll leave the drinks in the cooler so they stay fresh,"
Taking a seat back on the chair they all continued to watch the New Years Program on television.
Soon enough, it was 11:55 PM and Kagome's mother went to get the drinks. Kagome had sat up by that time and was leaning on her mate, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Souta had run into the kitchen and grabbed a can of pop for him and Shippo, but put it in a whine class so he could join the rest of them. He had also filled one with a glass of milk for Kagome. Coming back from the kitchen, Souta started to hand out firecrackers and hats for everyone to wear. Inu-Yasha was of course reluctant to wear a paper hat, but after some convincing from Kagome he finally put it on.
"Ten . . . Nine . . . Eight . . . Seven . . . Six . . .Five . . . Four . . ." Everyone started to count down the New Year, watching the seconds go by on the TV, "Three . . . Two . . . One . . . HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
Everyone took a sip of their drink and firecrackers went off, celebrating the New Year. After another yawn from Shippo and a first one from Kagome, Inu-Yasha insisted that they go to bed.
The lights and TV were turned off as everyone prepared to go to sleep. Shippo gave quite a fuss when Inu-Yasha refused to let him sleep with Kagome and ordered him to go to Souta's room. After a few kind words from Kagome, Shippo finally agreed and headed off into the other room.
Inu-Yasha helped Kagome to their room, shutting the door behind them so they could change. Inu-Yasha changed first before helping Kagome into a cotton nightgown, slipping it over her form.
"Kagome . . . we are going home in two days right?" asked the half demon, helping her lye down on the bed.
Kagome nodded softly, "Yes . . . we can go home in two days . . . I know your home sick and want to get back to our house,"
Inu-Yasha laid down beside his mate and sighed softly. His ears hurt, his nose itched and his eyes were started to irritate him. The pollution of sound and air was the cause of the irritation he was feeling. Back in the feudal era, the air was much clearer, and there weren't any loud noises that could leave his ears ringing for hours. Inu-Yasha closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Kagome from behind, feeling her large belly beneath his hands. Resting his head on her shoulder, his hands slipped under the nightgown to feel the flesh of her growing belly. He could hear his daughter's heart beat, beating strongly along with its mothers. A small kick at his hands made him smile, feeling his unborn pup kick at his clawed hands. He could feel the small life moving inside his mates womb, and it would be less than an month until he held that pup in his clawed hands. His mind started to fill with images of what their daughter would look like. Would she get his ears? What color would her eyes be? Would they be gold like his? Or Grey like her mothers? Would she have small claws? Would they be human like with no points? Would her hair be as silver as the moon? Or as dark and midnight as Kagome's was?
Inu-Yasha opened his eyes and turned his head to kiss Kagome' cheek softly and once again cursed the night he was human. On the moonless night he was usually come over be strange human emotions, and tonight was one of those nights. Even though it had almost been over a year since he and Kagome had become a couple, it was still hard to believe that he now had a mate. She would stay be his side forever, he was a husband . . . and would soon become a father a well. He finally belonged somewhere . . . and was no longer the out cast half-demon that everyone had treated him before, he now belonged somewhere in the world.
At the time with Kikyo, when she said he could have become human . . . there were no second thoughts in his mind. Becoming human would mean he would no longer have to fight for his life, and he would find a place in the world at Kikyo's side, as her husband. Looking back at it, he was never meant to be with Kikyo. Maybe he could have belonged somewhere . . . but it would have been a lie. When you finally find your place in the world, you are supposed to be yourself, and not change at all. For him to finally belong somewhere, he would have had to turn human. With Kagome though, he was still himself. A half demon with his puppy ears, golden eyes, fangs and claws. She accepted all of him without asking him to change at all.
'I belong somewhere . . .' thought the half demon, burying his head into Kagome's hair and trying to control the emotions raging inside of him. He could almost feel the tears stinging in his eyes, but tried to keep them back. It was grief and happiness at the same time. Happy that he finally found a place in the world . . .and grief for all the hell he had gone through to finally get to it.
He could feel Kagome shift slightly, but refused to lift his head from her hair. Even though it was dark in her room, the light from outside would shimmer the tears welling up in his eyes.
"Inu-Yasha?" asked Kagome sleepily, "Are you okay?"
'I'm more than okay Kagome . . . I finally have what I've always dreamed of and thought that I could never have it' thought the half demon, but merely answered with, "I'm fine . . . you should get some sleep,"
He felt Kagome nod and rest her head back on the pillow. Cursing his human emotions again he tried to clear his mind and try to get some sleep since tomorrow him and Kagome would go shopping for supplies. Even though it would be New Years day, there would still be a few stores open. Closing his eyes he held Kagome tighter, knowing that he was safe and so was she.
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Inu-Yasha growled softly under his breath, his eyes shifting back and forth, and his fist clenching in and out. It wasn't because of the loud noises, or the awful smell that the cars were giving off, or even the long line up at the grocery store where they were now at getting food to bring back with them to the feudal era. Kagome had made him wear a pair of jeans and a plain red T-shirt with a leather coat, which he kept open, and not to mention the blue ball cap on his head. Kagome of course was wearing her maternity clothes and a long coat to keep her warm. Her one hand was resting on her womb and the other was through his arm as they stood side by side in the grocery line up.
What irritated the half demon was the whispering going on around them, and the two of them seemed to be the hot topic. For those that were younger and around Kagome's age either whispered about him on how cute and handsome he was. Or it would be how strange he looked with golden eyes and silver hair. Or they would talk about Kagome, and pity her for being so young and pregnant and surprised that the father of the child would actually stay with her. Then there were the older ones who seemed to already have children of their own. They some how envied Kagome since she had a handsome and good looking man with her, but then the whispered darkened of whether the young handsome man would actually stay with her. The whispers started to irritate him more as they got worse, talking about to teens having a child without even being married. Smirking softly, Inu-Yasha stretched his arms above his head, giving the whispers a good look at the golden wedding ring on his left hand. Kagome's arm, which had been linked with his fell to her side for a moment, also revealing her wedding ring. A few whispers stopped and began to talk about something else. Now it was more about envy than anything else and what irritated him were females staring at him. Here he had clearly shown he was taking, and yet they were still . . . Kagome had called it 'checking him out'. So girls were checking him out when it was clear that he was already promised to someone else. A particular girl not to far away started to whisper about 'his sexy body', which caused him to growl softly, and glared at her, which clearly meant 'back off'.
"What's wrong Inu-Yasha?" asked Kagome as she heard his growl and felt him tense slightly.
"Nothing . . . it's just . . . people are whispering about us and it's getting really annoying,"
"Well what are they talking about,"
"Mostly how lucky you are to get someone like me . . . or pity that your pregnant at a young age . . ."
"I take it that' not it,"
"Two girls behind us are talking about me?"
"Is it really that bad?"
"They . . . they're . . . checking me out,"
Kagome giggled slightly as he used a term she had told him, "Oh . . . and that bothers you?"
"To have a female other than you stare at me? Yes!" he hissed softly.
"Maybe they don't know your taken,"
"Trust me they know . .. gave them a show of my ring,"
"Why would it bother you to be looked at by other women? It may bother me, but usually guys find it flattering that other girls stare at them. It's like some sort of male pride for them, which means they are good looking and could have any girl they like,"
"Your joking right?"
Kagome shook her head as she started to load the groceries onto the till, "Nope,"
"The guys in this era are weird and obviously don't want to set their eyes on one woman,"
"So your saying you don't look at other women?"
"Why would I? You're my mate, and your perfect in every way, why should I look at someone else?"
Kagome sighed softly and turned her head to kiss her husband on the cheek, "Your so sweet you know that?"
There was a soft 'Awww' around them, but Inu-Yasha chose to ignore it as he help Kagome unload the groceries from the cart, and made sure no one got to close to her.
Even though they had gotten many groceries and the bag boy tried to put their supplies into bags, Inu-Yasha clearly told him to put it all in a box, which caused a small scene. The bag boy had argued that 'there was no way in hell you can carry all this!'. Inu-Yasha of course had argued back that he could. As the groceries were put in a large box, and Inu-Yasha easily lifted it with one hand, the girls who had looked at him earlier started to whisper louder about him, about fantasy's they could have with him. Choosing to ignore them he looped one arm with Kagome's as they walked out of the store with a box full of groceries over their head.
Walking through the busy streets of Tokyo they started to head back to the shrine where everyone else was waiting for them. Inu-Yasha made sure that Kagome was dressed all warm before taking her out into the cold weather.
"Kagome? Are you sure you don't want to take a taxi home?"
"I'm fine Inu-Yasha, you don't have to my great-protector all the time you know,"
Inu-Yasha just chuckled softly, "Of course I do, and otherwise you would be in trouble without me,"
"Oh is that so?"
Inu-Yasha growled lovingly down at her before nipping her chin, "Of course I think so . . . what are you going to do about it?"
"Oh I can think of plenty of things to do to drive you crazy,"
"Do I even want to know what you are thinking?"
"Hmm . . . I could easily do bodily damage to you,"
"You wouldn't dare . . ." whimpered Inu-Yasha, trying to pretend he was actually scared.
"Well . . . no I wouldn't want to hurt you . . .maybe I'll just leave you high and dry,"
Inu-Yasha just laughed, "I'm already high and dry woman,"
"Oh I know . . .and I have a feeling you've already started to make plans for 'that night'," teased Kagome.
"Of course I have . . . Miroku did give me that book,"
"You mean you've actually read the books he gave you?"
"Of course I have! Not that I'm some kind of pervert like the monk or anything . . . but I . .. I . . ."
"You what?"
"I want to be good lover to you . . ." hissed Inu-Yasha, his cheeks turning red.
Kagome giggled and rested her head on his strong shoulder, "You already are Inu-Yasha,"
"Keh, I've read some stuff that could have made our nights greater,"
Now it was Kagome's turn to blush, "Oh really? Well my mighty half demon, you will have to teach me what you have learned in these books of yours,"
"Oh I will . . . especially during the spring . . . I won't be letting you out of my sight for a single moment,"
"Why is that?"
"Well spring is of course the mating season,"
Kagome blushed even more, "I see . . . and yet last spring you weren't so . . . so . . ."
"That's because you . . . you . . . you were already pregnant with our first pup," whispered Inu-Yasha as sadness started to fill his voice.
Kagome frowned as her half demon brought up the painful memory, and held onto Inu-Yasha's arm more tightly. Inu-Yasha smiled inwardly at her small gesture to comfort him and chuckled softly at the conversation they had just had. It had been a while since him and Kagome had joked and had 'adult' conversations in so long. Of course they were getting the odd weird stare from someone passing them by, but at the cabin he had to hold his tongue because of the children. Leaning down he kissed Kagome's lips softly, "I love you,"
Kagome smiled and kissed him back, "I love you too,"
"Your public display of affection is rather disgusting," came a voice from in front of them.
The scent of the two girls who always seemed to tick him off wafted into his nose, causing him to growl, and avert his gaze from his mate to the cold eyes of Eri and Yuka, who were still in crutches.
"Don you two have something better to do than pester us?" asked Inu-Yasha.
"A worthless half demon in the streets isn't worth our time, were just worried about Kagome," said Yuka.
"Aw, didn't know you cared, but you should know that she is in good hands,"
"I highly doubt that . . . I overheard Kagome's discussion with Ayume and all the dangers you have faced,"
"Well she's still here and healthy . . . not to mention in one piece, so what does that tell you?"
Yuka was about to answer but winced as she bumped her broken leg against the side of the building.
Inu-Yasha chuckled softly, "What happened to you two? Slam into a skidoo?"
"How the hell do you know that?" asked Eri.
"Hojo told me," said Inu-Yasha walking past the ladies, "Oh, and I met the one who slammed into you,"
"We know it was that damn doctor! He had no right to do that to us! Claimed it was an accident, but we both know he did it on purpose," hissed Yuka.
"Well you did tick off his father, so I can't blame him," said Inu-Yasha before they disappeared into the crowd.
If circumstances had been normal, Inu-Yasha would have taken great pleasure in arguing with the two girls, but with Kagome in her delicate condition, and both Yuka and Eri in crutches, the situation would have seemed pretty bad. Two girls with broken legs arguing with a man in perfect health would make him look like the bad guy.
Turning at the corner, the shrine stairs came into view and Inu-Yasha sighed with relief. They walked up the shrine stairs, taking it slowly. While Inu-Yasha's one arm carried the groceries, the other was wrapped Kagome's waist as he helped her climb the stairs.
"Kagome, I can just drop off the groceries at the house and then come back to get you . . ." offered Inu-Yasha.
Kagome shook her head, panting slightly, "I'm fine Inu-Yasha, nothing to worry about,"
Inu-Yasha frowned but nodded his head, helping her as much as he could with every step.
Once they reached the top, Inu-Yasha relaxed a little as they headed over to the Higurashi house. Souta and Shippo were outside playing in the snow with Buyo watching them from his perch on a lawn chair covered in snow.
"Hey sis! I see you got lots of groceries!"
"Kagome!" cried Shippo, leaping at the girl in an attempt to give her a hug, but Inu-Yasha knocked him away.
"Waaaah! Kagome, Inu-Yasha is being mean!" whined Shippo, clutching his head.
Kagome glared at her husband with cold eyes, but remained quiet as she was escorted into the house where her mother was waiting.
"Ah Kagome, was your trip to the grocery store okay?" asked Mrs. Higurashi.
"It was alright . . . I think I want to go to bed and sleep for a while," sighed Kagome.
Mrs. Higurashi nodded and made room for Inu-Yasha to walk by and set the box of groceries on the table. Kagome started to walk up the stairs, and in a heart beat Inu-Yasha was by her side.
"I can walk up the stairs by myself Inu-Yasha," sighed Kagome.
Inu-Yasha's ears drooped, "But Kagome . . ."
Kagome sighed and gave in, letting Inu-Yasha help her up the stairs. Mrs. Higurashi watched them from the bottom of the stairs, frowning softly before starting to put the groceries away.
When Inu-Yasha came back down, Mrs. Higurashi offered to watch over Kagome so he could go have fun with Shippo and Souta outside. Inu-Yasha nodded, his ears still drooped slightly as he dressed in his winter clothes again and heading back outside. When the door closed shut, Mrs. Higurashi headed up the stairs to her daughters room and knocked softly.
"Kagome . .. can I come in?"
"Yes," said a soft voice.
Mrs. Higurashi stepped into the room to see Kagome lying on her side on the bed, the light slightly dark except for a little light coming from outside.
"How are you doing?"
Kagome sighed softly, "I'm fine mama,"
Smiling softly Mrs. Higurashi took a seat at the side of Kagome's bed, staring down at her oldest child, "I see that your rather . . . ticked off at Inu-Yasha,"
Kagome gave a small groan, "He's getting worse mama . . . Shippo tried to give me a hug and Inu-Yasha just pushed him away,"
"He's just worried about you Kagome, that's all,"
"There's worried about me and then there's suffocating. He doesn't leave me alone for a moment and I . . . I kind of need my space now and then. Inu-Yasha just seems like . . . like . . ."
"A nervous wreck?"
Kagome nodded.
"Kagome . . . what do you know about demons and their mates?" asked Mrs. Higurashi.
"Not much mama . . ."
Kagome's mother smiled, "I kind of gave a small lecture to the others . . . hoping I wouldn't have to bring it up again. But I think you need to know,"
Kagome stared up at her mother, listening intently.
"In the case of demons Kagome, their mates are their life . . . their world to them . . . if anything bad were to happen . . . do you have any idea how they would feel? And that's just in a normal situation . . . when the mate becomes pregnant, they become more protective than ever. Kagome, I know that Inu-Yasha has always been protective of you, and he's definitely showing now that he is,"
"I know . . ."
"And yet you don't. His instincts are the real reason he is being so protective. When he sees you in discomfort, in a situation that could possibly be difficult for you, his instincts are telling him to help you and protect you. Do you understand what I'm saying? And when he hears you tell him off for something that just comes natural for him, well . . . you've seen how his ears drop,"
Kagome sighed softly and nodded.
"Of course your reaction to his over protection is natural cause your pregnant, which gives you mood swings, and you weren't prepared for him to be this over protective of you. Am I right?"
Kagome smiled, "Yeah . . ."
Mrs. Higurashi gave a small smile and kissed her daughter on the forehead, "Not to mention it's going to get worse when you get closer to your due date,"
"I know . . . I was kind of guessing that would happen,"
Standing up, Mrs. Higurashi walked out of the room, "You have a good nap sweet heart, I'll make sure for Inu-Yasha to come wake you up when supper is ready,"
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The tickling of hot breath on her neck caused Kagome to stir, and meet sleepy eyes with her mates. Inu-Yasha had laid down beside her and was staring down at her as he was propped up on one elbow.
"Did you sleep well?" whispered Inu-Yasha.
"Yes . . . it was really nice . . . is supper ready?"
"Yeah . . . are you hungry?"
Kagome nodded, "Starving,"
Inu-Yasha chuckled, "Shall we go down and eat?"
Giving another nod, Inu-Yasha helped Kagome to her feet. Glancing at the half demons ears, they were now straight up and normal, no longer drooping like before. Kagome figured he had forgotten her small lecture or her mother had talked to him. She knew that if she tried to apologize, Inu-Yasha would only blame himself for being over protective, or for her mood swings. Deciding not to have an argument with him, she became quiet and let him carry her down the stairs. Resting her head on his shoulder, she decided to watch him carefully. His hands were around her securely, and he was taking each step slowly so he didn't jostle at her. He was treating her with such gentleness, trying to make things easier for her. Kagome smiled softly and sighed, deciding to let him do as he pleased.
"Are you okay Kagome?" asked Inu-Yasha, setting her down as they reached the bottom.
"Yeah I'm okay, I just feel like a beached whale,"
Inu-Yasha chuckled softly, kissing her cheek softly, "You still looked beautiful to me . . ."
"I'm big as a house, with swollen ankles, and I haven't seen my feet in almost two month's . . ."
She was cut off as Inu-Yasha pressed his lips to hers, "I said your beautiful . . . besides you always will be beautiful to me,"
Kagome smiled softly and wrapped her arm around his waist as they headed to the kitchen table where everyone else was waiting for them. Souta got up and pulled out a chair for his sister to sit down before scampering back to his seat.
"Thank you Souta," said Kagome.
Her little brother beamed proudly and smiled. Mrs. Higurashi placed the food on the table before sitting down herself.
"Alright everyone! Let's eat!" announced Grandpa.
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Kagome and Inu-Yasha returned to the past two days later as they had planned and were greeted by everyone. Inu-Yasha was glad to be home, and vowed never to stay that long again in Kagome's time.
As the days started to go by and by, everyone started to see what Mrs. Higurashi had said was coming true. It was to the point where Inu-Yasha wouldn't leave Kagome alone for a second as her due date started to creep closer and closer. Kagome of course didn't seem to mind as much as she had before, which practically shocked everyone since they were expecting Inu-Yasha to eat dirt every day with the magic word. As January started to proceed on, the weather took a turn for the worse as it started to get colder. Inu-Yasha took an entire day of chopping wood for everyone in the village with Sango and Kirara's help. Soon, everyone was stocked with lots and lots of firewood that could last them almost the entire winter.
Since Kaede's hut wasn't really warm, Inu-Yasha had managed to persuade the old priestess to come live with him and Kagome. Inu-Yasha of course had asked for two reasons for the old priestess to come stay with them. One, he was concerned about her health in the colder weather, and two, since Kagome was getting closer and closer, he wanted her as near as possible. Kaede had taken one of the extra bedrooms to sleep in and not to mention that Kirara had also started to stay with them just in case if anything happened, the fire cat could rush over to Sango and Miroku's to get help. As the last week started to approach, Inu-Yasha wouldn't leave Kagome alone at all, but that was alright in Kagome's eyes since all he did lately was sleep, eat, and lye down. She started to become more exhausted as the due date got closer and didn't mind at all that Inu-Yasha would lay with her while she slept. Miroku and Sango would usually come visit with their children to see Kagome and the others. They also wanted to give Inu-Yasha some practice with handling children since he was going to become a father soon.
Three week and a few days had passed since Inu-Yasha and Kagome had returned form her time and it was less than three days until Kagome was expecting to go into labor.
Kaede sat by the fire as she separated plants and roots for medicine with Shippo helping her. Inu-Yasha came walking into the room, scratching the back of his head.
"How's Kagome doing?" asked Kaede.
"She's fine, just taking another nap," sighed Inu-Yasha.
"And you actually left her alone?" joked the old priestess.
Inu-Yasha caught the humor in her voice and laughed along with her, "Yeah, imagine that . . . but can you really blame me?"
"Well no . . . her condition is of course all your fault," said Kaede.
Inu-Yasha once again caught her joke, "Yeah I know,"
Shippo gave a small yawn as he stared out the window, "I think it's time to go to sleep,"
Inu-Yasha gave a nod in agreement, "Well it is starting to get pretty late,"
"Will you be returning to be with Kagome?" asked Kaede.
"Yeah, I just needed to get up and stretch a bit," sighed Inu-Yasha, already heading back to his and Kagome's room.
Kaede smiled heartily at the half demon before heading to her own room as she watched Shippo scamper up to his. Passing by Inu-Yasha and Kagome's room, Kaede glanced in to see the half demon lye down beside his mate, making sure she was wrapped up warmly in the blankets. She couldn't quite hear what Inu-Yasha was whispering to his mate, and decided it was probably none of her business anyway. Stepping into her room she closed the door and lied down on the futon.
The wind started to howl loudly outside, indicating that there was a small blizzard outside, but luckily in this house Inu-Yasha had a more than one fireplace, the house was rather warm, and would be all night.
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Kaede wasn't sure how many hours of sleep she had gotten, but while she had been sleeping peacefully, the sound of a door suddenly being slammed open, the pounding of feet on the wooden floor, and then her room door being slammed open caused her to wake up. Inu-Yasha was suddenly knelt beside her, his eyes wide and his breath coming out in small pants.
"Inu-Yasha what is it?" asked Kaede.
"It's time . . ."
"What?"
"Kagome . . . that baby . . . it's time . .. "
Kaede's eyes widened as she scrambled out of bed and followed Inu-Yasha out of the room and towards the master bedroom where she could barely hear Kagome's small whimpers.
TBC . . .
Dodges flying objects and hides behind brick wall. Popping my head up wearing an army hat I wave a little white flag Okay, I have a feeling that most of you are going to hate me for that cliffy, but hey what can you do? I'm evil of course! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Anyways, I decided that the anniversary chapter should be when Kagome has her baby, which I will immediately work on after I give my poor fingers a break for trying to type this chapter up as fast as I could. So please review and I promise that the Anniversary chapter of Winter Wonderland will be great, so you guys had better be prepared to see the next chapter posted October 28th 2004.
See ya then!
Lynns