A/N: for those who where wondering about Sesshoumaru in the previous chapter, you can refer to the following post for context:
inukagkids tumblr com [slash] post [slash] 123776005874 [slash] dont-know-if-youre-still-doing-the-oc-asks
.oOo.
September 1560
Kagome was greeted by the cool, crisp wind of late September as she slid open the doors to her home. For a moment, she stood there in the threshold, admiring the leaves that had begun to change color and the distant sound of the afternoon hustle and bustle of the village.
Kiotsu and Yukio had finally gone down for their afternoon nap, her older three children were off playing with their friends from the village, and her husband had left that morning with Miroku. There were, for once, no major chores to take care of. Could it be that she had some quiet time for herself?
Kagome leaned slightly against the doorway, allowing her mind to relax and wander as she stared out at the scenery surrounding her small home. She soon subconsciously found her hand tracing gentle circles across her swollen belly. Not too long from now her sixth child was to arrive, the last-one-for-sure, she and her husband insisted ("yeah, that's what you said about Kiotsu," their friend Sango had teased when they'd broken the news).
As she often did before the arrival of a new baby, Kagome began to wonder about what her new little one would be like and how he or she would fit in to their family. She wondered vaguely whether the child was a boy or a girl. She would be happy with either, of course, but she was still curious. A woman in the modern era would've known the sex of her baby weeks, even months ago, and Kagome supposed that if she really wanted to, she could've gone back through the well to her mother's home and scheduled an ultrasound appointment to find out…but she never had, not with any of her previous five children, and not with this one, either. Waiting until the birth to know was one of those bittersweet gifts of life in the Feudal era, and she'd found that she rather liked it that way.
Kagome was shaken from her train of thought as the sound of jovial giggling drew closer. Glancing over at the path leading towards the village, she saw her two daughters, Izayoi and Kikyo, ages 6 (almost 7) and 5, prancing excitedly back towards the house. There was no sign of their older brother, Michi, and Kagome assumed that he was still off playing with Sango's son.
"Hi, Mama!" called Izzy as she and her sister stepped up onto the wooden platform in front of the door, kicking off their sandals. Before Kagome could return the greeting, Izzy continued, "You wait right there!" and dashed off into her room. Moments later, she returned, carrying the plastic toy stethoscope that had come in the doctor kit their grandmother from the modern era had given them a few years ago. Though her children had never been to a modern-era doctor's office, Kagome had explained the uses of all the equipment in the kit.
"I'm a doctor! And I need to give you a check-up!" Izzy exclaimed, grinning widely.
"Oh?" said Kagome, slightly cocking an eyebrow. "What do you need to check?"
"I'm gonna use this stethoscope to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl! So sit down, please!"
Kagome giggled lightly, but nevertheless complied, carefully lowering herself to the ground.
"I don't think you can hear the baby's gender, sweetie," she said kindly.
"No, but I can ask! And he-or-she'll just tell me!" explained Izzy, clearly proud of her reasoning.
Kagome laughed. "Is that so?"
"Mmhmm!"
The young girl fumbled with the toy stethoscope. Like her half-youkai father, rather than normal human's ears, Izzy had fuzzy puppy's ears near the top of her head. As such, she could only put the stethoscope—made, of course, for human children—in one ear at a time. Once she was adequately situated, she knelt down and leaned in close to her mother's abdomen.
"Ok, baby, listen up!" she said loudly and slowly. "This is your big sister Izzy talking. I need to know if you're a boy or a girl." The she stuck the end of the stethoscope to the place her face had been just moments before, copper eyes rolling back in concentration as she 'listened'.
"Hmm…mmhmm…uh huh…ok!" She removed the bud from her ear as she grinned widely and sat back, announcing: "It's definitely a girl, Mama!"
"Who's a girl?" came a deeper voice from the door. "What's going on in here?"
"Welcome back, Inuyasha," Kagome greeted warmly as her husband entered the room. "Izzy here was just giving me a little checkup."
The hanyou observed the scene for a moment, his wife smiling and rolling her eyes good-naturedly as though suggesting he just play along as their daughters quivered with excitement.
"A checkup, huh?"
"Yeah, I asked the baby if it was a boy or a girl. It's a girl!" repeated Izzy proudly.
"We're gonna have a little sister! Yay!" exclaimed Kikyo, clutching her fox doll tightly as she ran towards her father and leapt up at him. Despite the suddenness of her action, he caught her smoothly, holding her comfortably on his hip.
"A sister? Are you sure?" he gasped in mock surprise.
"Yeah! Izzy heard it! She heard it!"
"I did, Daddy! The baby told me so!" Izzy insisted.
"You…heard the baby tell you?"
"Uh huh! I used the stethoscope!" She held the toy up proudly. "And also I have really good ears."
Inuyasha paused a moment, then closed his eyes and nodded curtly.
"Can't argue with that, can I? Now," —he set Kikyo down— "why don't you two run along? I'm sure Mikomi will be wanting to hear all the cool stuff you discussed with her new baby cousin."
"Oooh! Yeah!" gasped Izzy, leaping up immediately. "Good idea, Dad! See you later!" And with that, she practically flew off the platform, hurriedly put on her shoes, and was scampering off back down the path towards the village.
"See you!" parroted Kikyo, following close behind her sister. The adults watched them go as Kagome stood back up, clutching Inuyasha's arm for support. After a moment, the hanyou cast a sidelong glance at his wife, a hint of amusement shining in his golden eyes.
"What are we gonna tell 'em if it's not a girl after all?"
Kagome laughed.
"Well, I guess we'll worry about that when the time comes…if we need to, of course."
Inuyasha smiled. As he put an arm around his wife and watched his daughters disappear into the village, he wondered how he could possibly have adequate space in his heart to love yet another.
But then, he realized after moment's reflection, he'd though the same before Izzy and Kikyo's births, and for his sons' births, and when he'd first begun to fall for their mother, and he figured perhaps he could do it again.
After all, he'd come to learn, love isn't finite.
Love grows.
