Disclaimer- I do not own Inuyasha. That honor belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.
A/N- If you haven't noticed, I'm using the first few chapters to establish the characters.
Chapter Two: Baby Troubles
It was the next Saturday after Rin's first date that Kagome strode in to the living room right after lunch, followed by a disgruntled and mumbling Jaken.
Kagome was Sesshoumaru's brother's wife, and she was probably one of the nicest people that Rin knew. The older woman smiled brightly at the teenager. She then nodded to Kagura and Sesshoumaru, the smile still adorning her face. Kagura nodded back, her red painted lips quirking slightly in greeting. Sesshoumaru did not look up from the book he was reading.
"Good afternoon, Kagura," Kagome said. "Hello Sesshoumaru. I was wondering if I could kidnap Rin for awhile."
Rin's eyes widened, and she turned to give Sesshoumaru a pleading look.
"Very well," he said stiffly, and Rin jumped to her feet, lunging forward to hug him tightly.
"Oh, thank you very much, Sesshoumaru-sama!" she exclaimed.
She pulled away, turned to Kagome, and said, "I just need to put shoes and socks on, Kagome-chan, and then I will be ready."
She rushed to do so, and then she met Kagome at the front door. Kagome smiled at her.
"Hurry, Sango-chan's waiting in the car," Kagome said, opening the door. "We're going shopping for baby clothes."
"Oh!" Rin said excitedly, following her out the door and into the car. "This will be so much fun!"
It was a few hours later that the three young women sat at a booth in Wacdonalds, laden with shopping bags filled with baby items.
"I know I shouldn't have bought so much," Sango said around a mouthful of her second hamburger, "but all I have is girl baby clothes, and I know that this one will be a boy." She patted her very slightly swollen belly for emphasis.
Kagome giggled. "And he's not even due until June—and it's mid-January!"
Sango blushed, looking sheepish. "Well I got excited."
Kagome and Rin laughed.
"I am worried though," Sango started saying, "About leaving the girls alone with Miroku and Inuyasha."
Kagome chuckled, "Oh, they can handle themselves just fine."
"It's also good practice for Inuyasha for the future," Sango said slyly. Kagome's face turned a beet red and Rin had to put her hand over her mouth to stifle the giggles that threatened to erupt from her.
"She won't go to sleep!" Miroku said in a panicking voice to his best friend, whom was busy trying to ignore the large, staring brown eyes of a three-year old toddler, Sakura.
"Feed her some whiskey," Inuyasha replied, shifting slightly in his chair at the kitchen table so he would face away from Miroku's oldest child.
Miroku threw him an icy glare, still bouncing the red-faced infant in his arms in an attempt to quiet her screams. "Do you know how violently Sango would kill me if she ever found out I even thought of doing that?"
"Keh! Figure something out then!" Inuyasha snapped, abruptly getting up from the chair and pacing towards the refrigerator, grabbing a can of soda. He opened the tab, swearing as foam burst from the little hole, drenching his hand with it.
"Damn it!"
"What's that mean?" a small little voice asked sweetly from somewhere near his feet. Inuyasha looked down, his golden eyes meeting the light brown ones of Sakura. She stared at him unblinkingly, her eyes wide as dinner plates. It rather unnerved him.
"Nothin'," he muttered, turning away and making his way towards the living room, in hopes of escaping by watching the television.
He collapsed on the couch, grabbed the remote control, and clicked on the picture box.
"What are you watching?"
"News," Inuyasha grunted.
"What's that?"
"News."
"But what is that?"
"Keh! It's the news alright?" Inuyasha snapped, turning the television off with a sigh. The girl seemed unfazed by his behavior. She scooted closer to him, her wide eyes coming within inches of his face.
After several seconds of her just staring at him and making him fidget, he got up abruptly and started walking around the house, trying the shake the girl off away from him.
It did not work.
She kept following; asking questions that only one of the insane could answer.
And he was not one of the insane.
"Are you sure Inuyasha won't be a little to harsh on them though?" Sango asked, finishing her fries. Kagome shrugged.
"He's not the most patient guy in the world," Rin supplied an answer, "but he's not bad. He won't be yelling at them like he does with everybody else. I remember when he babysat me a couple times. He acted like he didn't want to play board games with me, but he was actually really in to it. He was always a sore loser when he lost to Candyland."
"I'm just nervous," Sango admitted, "it's the first time in a long time I left them home with Miroku."
"Stop worrying, Sango-chan," Kagome soothed. "They're fine."
"Why did the soda explode? Aren't you supposed to clean that up? When are you going to clean that up?"
Inuyasha stopped and whirled towards the little girl. "Shut up!" he finally snapped. Sakura immediately quieted.
Inuyasha regretted his outburst as he watched her big brown eyes fill with tears, her lower lip trembling slightly. Then she let out a piercing wail.
"Why—are—you—so—mean—to—me?" she choked out between sobs.
"Don't cry," Inuyasha pleaded, a note of panic seeping in to his voice. "Please, please, don't start crying!"
Sakura burst out a fresh wave of salty tears.
The doorbell rang. Inuyasha let out a momentary sigh of relief before he rushed off to answer the front door, glad for an escape from his mistake. Sakura followed him, her breathing coming in strangled gasps. Inuyasha wondered if she was going to hyperventilate; he'd worry about that when he answered the door.
It was his father. Known as Inutaisho, Inuyasha's father stood beaming at him at the front door, with the same silver hair pulled back into a high ponytail. He was taller than both Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru, although the elder was closer in height. Adorning his smooth face was a jagged purple stripe on each cheek, and the same golden irises that he had passed down to both of his sons.
"Inuyasha," his voice was rich and deep, "I have a favor to ask of you," he said as he let himself in, closing the door behind him.
Inuyasha took a moment to answer, getting over his shock at finding his father in his friend's house. "What?" he asked, a bit of irritation lacing his tone. He watched as Inutaisho strode towards the crying three-year old, a look of concern etched across his handsome features.
"I need you to pick up a dress that I had ordered for your mother," he answered, "I will be unable to do so in time for tonight as I will be busy." He reached down and lifted Sakura up securely in his arms, and asked her softly what was wrong.
She didn't answer, but her gasping sobs died down slightly.
"There is no need to cry, young one," Inutaisho said soothingly, rubbing his clawed hand gently up and down her small back. "Whatever Uncle Inuyasha did, he didn't mean it. He's a very stupid young man sometimes and should keep his foot in his mouth."
Sakura giggled slightly, not exactly understanding what the demon had said, as he ran a thumb over her cheek, wiping the tears away. Her eyes were still glassy, but she had stopped crying.
Inuyasha was about to protest when Miroku entered the room, still bouncing Haru in an effort to calm her down. "Oh, it was you at the door, Inutaisho-sama."
"Yes, I just stopped by to ask Inuyasha a favor," Inutaisho said as he gently set Sakura down firmly on her feet on the floor. She immediately ran to Inuyasha, her arms sticking out towards him as a bright smile adorned her face.
"I forgive you," she said in the sweetest voice and Inuyasha sighed in resignation, bending down and scooping her up, and settled her on one side his hip. Her small fingers immediately entwined themselves into his silver hair that she held such a fascination with.
"You will never get that babe to sleep jittering her around like that," Inutaisho reprimanded, taking the infant out of her father's arms before settling her in his own. He started rocking her gently, cooing to her softly as she immediately quieted. Her eyes, which had not yet changed to their permanent color and were still gray, drooped closed.
"Oh this brings back fond memories," Inutaisho sighed wistfully. "I sure hope that I will get to hold my own grandchild in my arms like this soon," he said pointedly.
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. His father chuckled, knowing exactly what his son did.
"Your brother does that too," he said, a smile gracing his lips, "It does get rather tiresome."
He passed Haru back to her father, smiling. "You have such sweet children, Miroku. You are very blessed, indeed."
He turned to Inuyasha, taking a pad of sticky notes out of his chest shirt pocket and a pen. He scribbled something down, before handing it to his son.
"That is where the dress is," he said, sounding businesslike now, "I'm sorry I just didn't call you. But your mother would have found out if I did," he tapped his temple twice. "That woman always has a way of knowing things. Now, don't you dare mention a word of this to her, it's a surprise for her birthday. Good-day to you both." And he let himself out the door.
Silence followed after the door snapped shut. Inuyasha set down Sakura, and made his way to the kitchen. In a daze, Miroku followed him.
The hanyou was boiling water for ramen before Miroku spoke.
"How, in the name of Buddha, did he do that?" He asked in amazement.
"Keh," Inuyasha grumbled, before digging in to the cooked noodles.
I hope I have everyone in character!
Ages of the new characters featured in this chapter:
Inuyasha- 26, nearly 27
Kagome- 24, nearly 25
Miroku- 28, nearly 29
Inutaisho- Unknown…pretty old, but looks perhaps in his early to mid-forties.
Sakura- 3
Haru- will be one year in 2 months