Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me

Chapter Eight: Babies are Contagious

Day Twelve –

I know I'm lucky, I really do. I have friends and family who help me with the baby. So even though according to my assignment I'm a single mother, I know that I'm not really alone. I re-read the instructions again to make sure that wasn't cheating. Thank the stars above that it isn't, otherwise I'd never make it through this assignment alive.

Having other people help me means that this baby is affecting more people than just me. She is affecting everyone around me in one way or another.

Kagome snickered softly as she looked at her friends across the camp fire. I really am very lucky.

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"Are babies contagious?"

Kagome stopped feeding Mikomi and arguing with Inuyasha about the right way to do it to look at Shippo in shock. "Contagious?" Good heavens, what malarkey is Miroku feeding the boy now?

The fox kit scooted closer to his adopted mother and straightened the blanket that was covering the doll. The care he took in the act tugged at her heart and made Kagome smile warmly.

"What do you mean?"

Shippo sat back and looked over his shoulder to where Sango was knocking everyone's favorite lecherous monk unconscious. "Every since you and Inuyasha left, all Miroku can talk about is babies. More than just asking women to bear him a child, too. He's really serious about it. He's talking about how could take turns caring for one, like we do with Mikomi. He also started talking about names for them." He came closer and whispered the next part in her ear, "Sango hasn't been hitting him much when he talks about it and has even been talking about babies too."

Her mouth dropped open as she looked over to her friends. "Really? Sango?"

Shippo nodded. "Yep. She even mentioned missing holding Mikomi. Miroku said he wanted a dozen children, but Sango said she only wanted as many children as she had hands. They argued for a bit and decided on five kids. Do you think they'll start having babies soon? If they have a baby will I be an uncle or a cousin? Are you and Inuyasha going to have more babies soon too?"

Instead of bopping Shippo over the head, Inuyasha made an odd squeaking sound, sputtered and backed up fearfully. Kagome tried not to drop her electronic doll and desperately tried to regain her composure. She wasn't sure if she was insulted by Inuyasha's reaction, or if she wished she could join him while he cowered across the campsite. Shippo continued to look on with big innocent eyes.

"Soon?" squeaked Kagome.

With a quick shake to bring back his senses, Inuyasha stormed over to the kit and lightly bopped him over the head. "NO ONE is having babies until we defeat Naraku!" He said it loud enough for the other two to hear.

The now conscious Miroku whispered to Sango as he moved closer to her, "He said no having babies. He didn't say anything about making…" But alas, he was unable to finish his sentence as a giant bone boomerang crashed into his skull and he sank once more into blissful sleep.

"He'll never learn," Shippo shook his head sadly.

"Idiot," said three voices in unison.

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"You know," said Kagome to her dog eared friend, "I kinda miss holding Mikomi."

Inuyasha snorted rudely as he glared into the distance. "You should be grateful to get a break from that thing. I'm surprised it isn't permanently attached to your hip. It takes you twice as long to do ANYthing with that baby in your arms. And THREE times as long to make decent ramen!"

"Ah, yes, and that IS the important thing isn't it?"

"Uh… yes?"

When she opened her mouth to yell at Inuyasha, no sound came out. She froze and looked off to the west. The hanyou knew that look. She didn't have to announce that she sensed a jewel shard, but she did anyhow. Kagome ran forward to scoop up Shippo and take Mikomi from Miroku's arms. She didn't miss the look of disappointment that crossed his features and had to keep herself from smirking.

The snake demon was upon them in moments. Kagome took off to hide her treasures behind a boulder without having to be told. She peeked out once they were safely tucked away to see her friends already in battle.

"Stay here, Shippo. Will you protect Mikomi?"

The fox kit stood tall and gave her a solemn look. "With my life."

Kagome kissed him on the top of his head and ruffled his hair. "No, Shippo. Not with your life. Your safety comes first. But thank you."

Grabbing her bow and arrows the miko joined the fight.

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"Why does demon blood have to smell so BAD?" whined Kagome as she shook a good deal of blood and guts off of her once green skirt.

"Keh, just find the shard, wench."

As Kagome rooted through the demon guts while holding her nose, Shippo came out from hiding holding the doll in his arms.

"I did good didn't I?"

"Feh."

"Yes, Shippo. You did very well." Miroku praised the kit. "You will make a fine cousin one day. A perfect babysitter and protector while we battle. I'm sure any parent would feel safe with you watching their child." He looked over at Sango while projecting his voice loudly.

Kagome rolled her eyes as she tried to keep her breakfast in her stomach. How could anyone think about flirting while they are knee deep in demon innards? Then again, the monk was safely on dry ground without a speck of blood on him. How does he do that? A barrier maybe? Blood proof cloth? The glow of the shard of the Shikon jewel drew her attention away from her increasingly irate thoughts.

When her fingers touched the jewel it turned from black to crystal pink. She held it tight for a moment before adding it to the little jar where she kept the other jewels.

"I need a bath," she said wearily as she walked back towards the group.

"Feh, you always say that. What is it with this obsession with baths any…" he sniffed the air a couple of times and wrinkled his nose before covering it with the sleeve of his fire rat robe. "Yeah, you DO need a bath."

Kagome smiled sweetly at him. A little tooooo sweetly. "Inuyasha…"

The dog demon cringed, ears flattening to his skull as he braced himself. He knew that tone of voice. Oh cra…

"SIT!"

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Shippo waved to Kagome and Sango from his spot on the shore. Since submerging the electronic Mikomi into the water would have been a very bad idea, he babysat on the bank while the girls bathed in the hotspring.

After Kagome finished scrubbing her hair for the third time she glance slyly at her friend, her adopted sister.

"Soooo… Sango…" She began as she squeezed soap out of her hair. "Five kids huh?"

Sango's cheeks burst into flames and she began to sputter. Kagome giggled and ducked under the water to rinse out her hair. While underwater she swam to the other side of the demon exterminator, hoping to catch her off guard.

"Only five? Why not… a dozen?"

"I… we… It was just TALK, Kagome! It's not for sure! He hasn't even really asked. Marriage. I mean, that comes first. Right? It was just talk!"

It wasn't often that anyone got a chance to see the booty whooping demon exterminator blushing and flustered, so Kagome enjoyed it while she could. She gave her friend a knowing smile, then raised one eyebrow slightly. This only sent Sango off on another bout of disjointed denials. Kagome continued to give her that same smile, the one that said she knew what Sango WASN'T telling her, as they finished their baths and got out to get dressed.

"There's nothing wrong with wanting a baby," Kagome said as she put on her shirt. "It's normal. In fact, it's healthy."

Tugging ruthlessly at her clothes, Sango grunted. "I know it is. But… we can't be thinking of babies and families while we are hunting for Naraku. It's too dangerous. We have to wait."

Kagome looked down, paying extra attention to buttoning her skirt. "How long are you going to wait?"

Sango stopped and looked at her friend.

"How long are you going to wait to have a family, Sango? What if it takes years to find and defeat Naraku? What if it takes fifty years? Will you wait that long to have your babies? We have no guarantees that we will survive even the next battle, but even the villagers who never see battle have no guarantee that they will see the next day. No one has that gurantee."

Sango was silent, contemplative.

"And what about Miroku? What if the wind tunnel consumes him before he ever had the chance to hold his baby in his arms?" Kagome pulled up her socks and slipped on her shoes. "Just stuff to think about. C'mon, the guys are waiting. We might be able to get to the next village by nightfall."

The walk back to the road was quiet for the most part, only Shippo was talking. He was playing a game he made up to play with Mikomi with. Kagome ruffled his hair lovingly.

"You really will make a great cousin, or big brother."

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Are babies contagious? Maybe they are. Maybe holding one of those cute little bundles suddenly makes every woman within a ten mile radius start having their maternal instincts kick in.

At least until it starts crying and needing diaper changes…

I'm beginning to think that I may be getting the hang of this 'being a mother' thing. I think I can actually do this now. Well, as long as my friends and family are there to help.

Are you sure you want to be encouraging us to have these motherly instincts? Aren't you worried that as soon as class is over we'll all be wanting babies of our own? Real babies. Somehow I don't think the school board would like that very much… or our parents.

Kagome Higurashi

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Author's Notes:

Thanks for your reviews! They are wonderful and really help keep me motivated.

One reviewer asked if Kagome knew that Inuyasha asked her mom to be his mate. Nope, they decided to not say anything about it just yet. He probably thought it would be awkward to keep traveling with her with that up in the air. She might want to (gasp) talk about it.