A/N: IMPORTANT!! I decided to change the time from Thanksgiving to two weeks before Christmas!!! Now on with the story.
The next morning, Kagome yawned and turned over in her bed too look at her clock. It read '6:01a.m'. Kagome groanes and pulled herself out of bed for work. Walking down the hallways she poked her head into Ketiaro's room, then into Ami's. Both were sleeping soundly. Stretching, Kagome made her way to the bathroom for her shower.
2 Hours Later
Kagome rushed to put her shoes on as the doorbell rang. She rushed to the door and opened it to see a boy of about 16 with dark, shaggy hairb and a backpack, " Souta! Hey!"
Souta smiled and stepped into his older sister's house, ready to babysit his nephew and niece, " Hey, where are the kids?"
" Watching cartoons. They're not exactly awake yet." Kagome said as she closed the door and Souta followed her to the spacious living room where Ami and Keitaro were sprawled on the couch watching TV, " Guys look who's here?"
Keitaro looked up and then rushed over, " Uncle Souta!"
Souta bent down and pulled Keitaro into a loose headlock, then rubbed his knuckle lightly into his nephew's head, " Hey squirt!"
Keitaro punched Sota in the gut, who pretended like it hurt and backed away yelling, " Truce, you win!"
Kagome smiled and looked at Ami, who had fallen asleep. Kagome grabbed her purse and headed back towards the door, "Thanks, Souta. I'll be back around four and then we'll go to Izayoi's for Miroku's birthday."
4:30 At the Taisho's
Inuyasha took another sip of his beer as he sat in an uncomfortable silence in his parent's living room. Apparently, it was Miroku's birthday so Miroku's family, Sesshomaru's family, and Kagome's family were all coming over to celebrate. So far, Sesshomaru, his wife Kagura, and his daughter Rin were the only people there.
Izayoi entered the room smiling with a trayful of snacks, " Kagome just called. Ame fell into a puddle when they were getting into the car, so they'll be a little late." Just as she finished, the doorbell rang, " Oh, that'll be the birthday boy!"
Izayoi went out of the living room to the door and opened it to see a smiling Miroku. Izayoi smiled and ushered Miroku, Sango and their son Jiro through the kitchen to the living room.
" Heeeeyy! Happy Birthday!" Sesshomaru, Kagura, and Taisho yelled as Miroku walked into the room.
" Thanks everybody," Miroku smiled and his eyes landed on Inuyasha, " Uh, hey, Inuyasha. I heard you were back in town. How long are you here for?"
" Not sure, probably until Christmas." Inuyasha said as he slapped hands with his long time friend.
Miroku sat down with his back to the doorway and started to catch up with Inuyasha. Before long, the doorbell rang again and Izayoi went to answer it. A couple of seconds later, Izayoi entered the room with Ami and Keitaro. Keitaro, after saying a quick hello, ran over to Jiro and they started playing with his toy cars. Ami, however, let out a shriek when she saw Sesshomaru, who had been away on business for a month.
" Uncly Sesshy!" She screamed and ran over, slmibing onto his lap and clinging to his neck.
Inuyasha watched the girl, his daughter, with interest, wondering how he hadn't known about her, Sesshomaru noticed his brothers confusion and smirked, " What's the matter, little brother?"
Inuyasha growled but Ami looked up at Sesshomaru and said, " Brother? Is he my Uncle too?"
Inuyasha smirked, " No kid. I'm your D--" Before Inuyasha could finish something hard, yet soft collided with the side of his face, then plopped into his lap. Inuyasha reached up and wiped off his cheek something that appeared to be frosting, then looked down at the cupcake in his lap.
Inuyasha growled and looked up and the doorway where Kagome stood smiling and licking some frosting off her finger. Next to her was a teenager who Inuyasha recognized but couldn't place.
" What the hell is you're problem, bitch?" Inuyasha growled and was smacked across the back of his head by Sesshomaru, who had gotten up to greet Kagome and Souta.
" Watch your language in front of the kids," Sesshomaru said before hugging Kagome and shaking Souta's hand, " Hey Souta, long time no see."
Inuyasha's eyes widened.Souta??? He must had grown about a foot since he ahd last seen him, " Well fe-fi-fo-fum. What beanstalk did you fall from?"
Sota turned and smiled, " Hey, Yash. How's it going?"
The two caught up while Kagome just glared at Inuyasha. After a few minutes, Inuyasha turned to her and acted surprised, " Kagome? What are you doing at my parents' house? Are you stalking me?"
Kagome smirked, " Only so I can get a good shot of you to blow your head off."
" Now, now, Kagome. I know my face looks great but blowing off my head so you can keep it all to yourself is a little selfish." Inuyasha taunted, smirking while Kagura, Sesshomaru, and Izayoi left the room.
" You know, that smugness of yours is a really attractive quality." Kagome said sarcastically as Ami and Rin came and started to drag her out of the room so that they could play.
" Thanks. It was either that or get my hair highlighted. Smugness is easier to maintain." Inuyasha retorted, confident that he had won their subtle argument.
" Well, I think you should consider lowlights, not highlights. You already look like Grandma Barbie." Kagome said sweetly as she let Ami and Rin lead her away.
Miroku burst out laughing as Inuyasha pouted in his chair, with a soft, almost inaudible, " Feh."
Suddenly, Jiro, Ami, Rin, and Keitaro came running in, all yelling, " Present time!" The rest of the adult's filed in while Jiro handed Miroku a small gifts saying, "Its from me and Mommy!"
Miroku smiled and opened the gift, revealing a small bottle with French written on it. Miroku frowned, " Toilet Water?"
Sango giggled and smacked him on the arm, " No! It's eau de Toilette. It's a very expensive French cologne."
" Ohhh, French. Gracias!" Miroku joked and smiled as he gave Sango a side hug, kissing her temple, then blew a rasberry on Jiro's cheek.
Later that Night
Kagome laughed then took a sip of her drink. She, Sango, Miroku, and Inuyasha were all sitting around the kitchen table reminiscing. Well, Inuyasha sat at the counter while the others sat at the table, five feet away from him.
" So, Miroku," Kagome said, " I was looking through my pictures the other day. Guess who has a picture of Miroku running through a sprinkler naked?" Kagome said the last part in a sing-song voice.
" Um, helooo. I was like 4." Miroku laughed.
" Actually, you were like twelve." Kagome said and everyone burst out laughing.
Miroku just shrugged his shoulders, " Eh, what can I say? It was refreshing."
" Well, that's a couple of years worth of blackmail right there." Kagome smiled.
" Hmmm. I seem to remember Sango having some pictures of a certain someone with...Hojo." Miroku smiled as Kagome paled at the name of her ex-boyfriend, " Now that, my friend, is blackmail for life."
" Hey, everyone makes mistakes." Kagome defended herself.
" Pssh. Your whole life is a mistake." Inuyasha said jokingly like he used to in the old days..too bad it wasn't the old days anymore.
Kagome glared at Inuyasha, " And the biggest one was marrying you!" Everyone stopped what they were doing, with wide eyes.
" Maybe you shouldn't have gotten pregnant then!" Inuyasha yelled.
" Oh, so that's my fault, huh? You didnt do anything to make that happen?"
" Fine...FINE! It was my mistake for asking you out, and my mistake for getting you pregnant which made us get married. Everything was my MISTAKE! Well I fixed that mistake by leaving!" Inuyasha yelled.
" Oh, well--" Kagome stopped and looked at the doorway where she saw Keitaro peeking in, before he ran away, " Shit. Keitaro!!"
Kagome shot out of her seat and chased after her son. Inuyasha took a sip of his drink before standing and following Kagome at a much slower pace.
Kagome followed Keitaro until she say him duck into a room up ahead of her. When she reached the door, she stopped and caught her breath before walking in. Kagome looked in the room and saw Keitaro playing with his toys, refusing to look up at her as she walked in.
" Hey, buddy. You ok?" Kagome asked as she sat on the benck in the bay window in front of Keitaro.
" Fine." Keitaro said, not looking up at her.
" You want to talk?" Kagome rested her elbows on her knees.
" About what?" Keitaro asked as though he were uninterested.
Outsied in the hallway, Inuyasha had reached the same door and was about to enter when a hand shot out and grabbed his arm. Inuyasha frowned and looked down at the hand, then up at Miroku who shook his head 'No' and put a finger up to his lips. Inuyasha sighed softly and decided to just watch and listen.
" About what you heard just now." Kagome said inside the room.
Keitaro looked up slowly and asked, " Did I make Daddy leave?"
Kagome felt as if her heart was breaking as Keitaro climbed into her lap and buried his head into her shoulder, " No, sweetie. Its not your fault. Listen to me, okay? I know you heard a lot about different mistakes tonight, but you never have and never will be on that list...EVER. Do you understand?" Keitaro nodded, but a tear fell down his cheek, " Hey, what's the matter?"
" Nothing." Keitaro sniffed.
" Hey, mister. Don't you lie to me?" Kagome said jokingly and Keitaro smiled, " Now tell me why you're crying?"
" Umm...remember my brithday when you got me that game and Uncle Souta took me to get a better one?"
Kagome smirked at the memory, " Yeah?"
" Well, that's what Daddy did to us. He got a new, better family." Keitaro said and wiped away a tear.
Inuyasha watched sadly as silent tears streamed down Kagome's face. Kagome wrapped her arms around Keitaro and said, almost too quietly for Inuyasha to hear, " There is nothing better than you and your sister. You're the best thing that ever happened to me," Kagome said then added as an afterthought,"...and Daddy. Daddy's just too dumb to see it."
Inuyasha couldn't take it anymoer. He went to pull his arm out of Miroku's grasp, but Miroku was too quick. In one swift movement, Inuyasha's arm was twisted behind his back and he was pulled into a room down the hall. When he got in the room, Miroku pushed Inuyasha onto the couch. He walked back to the door, closed it then locked it, and turned back to Inuyasha.
" Ow. What the hell? You had no right to do that." Inuyasha exclaimed.
" Actually, as a cop, I have that right." Miroku corssed his arms.
" As a father, I have the right to talk to my wife and son!"
" You lost that right when you walked out on them, and I'm saying that as a friend." Miroku said and watched his friend sadly.
Inuyasha sighed and rubbed his head, " What does that have to do with you?"
" Kagome and the kids aren't the only ones you walked out on." Miroku said and Inuyasha's eyes widened.
" Dear God, you're in love with me arent you?" Inuyasha said as Miroku shook his head 'no'.
" You were my best friend. You helped me through everything and...you're the closest thing to a brother that I ever had. When you left..." Miroku paused and let out a bitter, sad laugh, " Hell, you didnt even come to my wedding."
Inuyasha pointed at him with a stern face, " I sent a gift though, and a card."
Miroku shook his head, " It's not the same though. You were supposed to be my best man, but you didnt even come to the ceremony. Do you know how shitty that made me feel?"
Inuyasha hung his head and sighed, " I...I'm really sorro, Roku, but I didnt...it was just too soon to see Kagome. Plus...I had a meeting so--"
" Oh, please tell me you're kidding? You skipped my wedding because of a meeting? There will always be another time for a meeting, but my wedding was once in a lifetime, and you missed it." Miroku finished sadly.
" Well, you never know. There could always be another one. I mean, everyone thought Kagome and I would be together forever, but I'm marrying someone else." Inuyasha shrugged.
"So that's it, huh? You're not here to see us, you're here to get your divorce, then ditch us lowly country-folk. Well good luck, and good riddance." Miroku started to leave but stopped, " And by the way, I am happily married to Sango and always will be. That's more than you can say for yourself." With that, Miroku stormed out of the room, and down the hallway.
Inuyasha sat in the room for a few seconds, then got up to leave. As he stood up, Kagome came charging in looking ready to kill, " What did you do?"
Inuyasha frowned, " Huh?"
" What the hell did you say to Miroku?" Kagome shouted, pushing Inuyasha back onto the couch.
" Well I---" Inuyasha started.
" Don't even bother. It'll just be another lie. Just do what you came here to do and leave. And don't even try using that 'I cam to see you' bullshit, because I know its not true." Kagome yelled.
" Then you better sign these so I can get out of this town, if you can call it that. There are dumps in the city that look, and smell, better. So just sign these so I can get back to my life!" Inuyasha pulled the divorce papers out of his pocket and thrusted them towards Kagome.
Kagome skimmed over them and smirked, "So I can either sign these paper, which will make you happy, or I can not sign then and make you miserable? Hmm...I choose not." Kagome shoved the papers back into Inuyasha's hand.
Inuyasha was shocked for a second, then looked up at Kagome's retreating figure, " Oh, I see. You're still in love with me, huh?"
Kagome froze and turned back around with a glare that made Inuyasha scared for his personal safety, " The only reason I'm not signing those papers is because you've turned into this rich, high-n-mighty, big city ASSHOLE, and right now, I wouldn't like anything more than to piss you off!" Kagome turned and stormed out of the room, leaving behind a shocked, yet thoroughly pissed.